Bernie Sanders says "enough is enough", let's get Sen. Kennedy's bill from the Health Committee passed. As Keith and Bernie note during the segment, here is some of what Senator Kennedy is hopefully remembered for.
Olbermann: Meals on Wheels, AIDS research, other medical research, cancer research, nutrition programs for pregnant women and children, expanded uninsurance to the unemployed, occupational safety regulations. That's just the first few items on the list of things brought to this nation by Senator Kennedy. It is so long it is hard to imagine that there is an America living today whose body, literally body, is not in better shape than it would have been were not for this man. Correct?
Sanders: That is exactly right. I mean among so many other things, pushing Medicare, pushing Medicaid, pushing children's health insurance for eighteen million Americans today who have access to primary health care through community health centers. That program was developed by Senator Ted Kennedy.
Bernie goes on to explain that Kennedy felt that all Americans should have health care as a right of citizenship and how woefully behind we are with other industrialized nations with what we spend on health care compared to our health care outcomes.
As Bernie notes, what came out of the Health Committee was actually a decent piece of legislation and it would be nice to see the Democrats get on board with it and at least not filibuster the legislation if they could manage to get Kennedy's bill rather than the mess that's coming out of the Finance Committee on to the Senate floor for a vote.
Personally I'd like to see them force any of them to do an actual filibuster if they don't want to see some real reform get through. Make them go stand up on the Senate floor and defend the insurance industry profits until they're blue in the face if that's the line in the sand these guys want to draw. And let them break out the cots and diapers while they're at it.
I'm glad to see Bernie as usual being one of the ones speaking up about real reform means. We could use a whole lot more like him. Unfortunately I get to pick from the choice between right wing crazy and Republican-lite where I'm from.
