The Fall of the Democratic Party?

This could be it, the swan song for the big tent party.

Obama's Health Secretary today said that a public option is "not the essential element" in a health care deal. It's over. Health care reform is dead. What ever comes from the Blue-Dog led Senate Finance Committee is a joke, and a gift to big pharma, and the rest of the health care industry. There is no "change" (TM Obamacorp), just more of the rich getting over on the poor and middle class.

Is Obama better than Bush? Of course, a hundred times better. But what is 100 times zero? Zero is certainly what the average American gets out of this deal.

And negative numbers is what the Democratic party will get out of this deal. They have, with total control of the government, managed a deal which will help rich corporations, make progressives unhappy, not get universal coverage, and raise my health insurance rates yet again, and validate nearly every Republican talking point on health care. (Way to go political geniuses.)

It could also crush the Democratic party.

2008 can only be seen as a validation of PROGRESSIVE Democratic ideals, and a repudiation of the neoconservative ideals of the Republicans. It was, also a vote for real CHANGE. Republican behavior since the election has been aimed at keeping their base, a permanent minority. This seemed, even a couple of weeks ago, like a suicidal plan for a party in a country undergoing dynamic demographic changes.

The Democratic party on the other hand, with control of both Congress and the Executive Branch, have the power to make the kind of changes that Americans want, according to poll after poll. They can put a chicken in every pot, so to speak, and win electoral loyalty for a generation. My god, if you really lowered my monthly health care expenses, made my son's pre-existing condition a non-factor, let me get the meds that actually work (instead of the over-the-counter ones that I can afford, that half work), I could almost forgive handing Wall Street criminals the keys to the treasury. (By the way, if you think those guys are done asking for our money, you are deluded.) But they have done the opposite. They have caved in to every special interest and right-wing criticism. They started the process by denying the one thing that would guarantee huge savings: national single payer. And they have slowly whittled down the expectations of the public option - killing it today with Sebilius' remarks. Thanks for nothing, literally.

This is a bell-weather issue for the Democratic Party. It was Obama's #1 legislative priority, and he has made a huge mess of it by means of weakness. He will get something called health care reform passed, and call it a "victory," but it will be a huge failure. Ultimately, it will not control costs or insure all Americans, and will be publicly deemed a failure by 2012, if not before. Republicans will be proved "right" on the issue, and real reform will be dead for at least another decade. And he will fail to do even what the Republicans have managed to do: fight for what their base thinks is right.

This deal will:
1. Piss off progressives! Hell, I was ready to vote for the Green party after 2006 Democratic wimp-outs. I certainly won't give a DIME to ANY Democratic candidates if they choose big phara over my family. Progressives will look for alternatives, or become disengaged.
2. Make moderates waver in support of Democratic policies. "Regan Democrats" will look closely at Republicans again, and will remember a party that got things done when they were in power. Never mind that it nearly broke the country.
3. Make Blue-dogs and conservative dems the feared and favored faction of the party. Progressives are openly hostile to this faction, and there is bad feelings on both sides. This is a rift in the party that will not heal soon, especially if they prevail in giving more of my paycheck to the health care industry than goes to my mortgage. If these Republicans in sheep's clothing from small states are going to kill progressive policies before we can even fight the out-of-the-closet Republicans, then progressives will be effectively ousted from the party. The Democrats are gearing up to oust their base.
4. Make sure that Obama and the party does not do the right thing for the American people.

How can thinking citizens in a Democracy support a party that does not do the right thing, over and over again. Progressive thinkers can't do it for much longer. A new party will emerge, one that will promise to fight for our ideals, or just to put up a fight for a change, maybe by 2012.

Even if I don't have a real progressive choice in the next election, I will definitely keep my wallet closed. I don't suppose that would inspire campaign finance reform? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha.