Blue Dogs and Unicorns
I had dinner with our representative, Mike Thompson, last night (July 11). An intimate affair with a hundred others.
The good news is that Single Payer advocates showed up in force. There were activists outside with flyers and placards, and many more paid their way inside. I think Mike knew we were coming, as he closed his speech with a big healthcare-reform finish. Then he opened up the Q and A session. The subject of Single Payer dominated that last half hour, and everyone that spoke was for it.
Mike’s rhetorical tautology against Single Payer is that we just can’t have it. (What that really means is that he is unwilling to take on one of his primary donors, the medical industrial complex.) He’s just another off-the-table democrat. One of Mike’s favorite excuses is the mythical American unicorn who “likes his healthcare plan” and is “terrified of change.” Mike is terribly concerned about this person, and doesn’t want to scare him.
Look, we can always find some kook out there who believes anything, but should we base our public policy decisions on the fears of the most uninformed and ignorant among us? Non-kooks would say no. The real reason Mike keeps trotting out this aberration is it is about all the industry has left to fight with. Imaginary fear. This unicorn is the 2009 version of Harry and Louise.
The bad news is that Mike Thompson was pretty much as expected, a career politician who has become comfortable in his position. Let’s just say this blue dog spends a lot of time curled up by the fire, at the feet of Master.
The most disappointing aspect of the evening, for me, was the high level of prevarication that is tolerated in such a forum. The whopper of the evening was when Mike told us that money has absolutely no effect on legislators. Imagine that! “Attention, lobbyists and PACs, your money has no effect on Mike Thompson and friends. Attention, Health Insurance Industry, your $1.4 million spent every day is being wasted. Go home. Your money is no good here.”
Folks, I’m here to report that Mike Thompson isn’t about to represent us in congress. He has other priorities. Twelve years of this is enough. We need to find another representative come 2010. Preferably, a progressive independent. Anyone out there?
P.S. It’s a shame Christina Aanestad wasn’t available to cover the event. It was a real public disservice to dismiss such a competent local reporter. Here’s an example: Christina’s report of Mike’s previous appearance at a local business luncheon (last month) caught some of his reactions to the Single Payer protest outside the venue. One of his statements was (paraphrase), “Look, there’s only twenty people out there, and the numbers go way down from there.” At Mike’s dinner, last night, he told the crowd he never said that. It would be harder to refute that if Christina hadn’t recorded it.