The Health Care Reform Sham

I tried not to get too upset when I heard that a public option was off the table.

I tried to get excited when the co-op idea seemed to gain traction.

But deep within me, I knew we were probably squandering another opportunity for necessary change. And I'll be damned if Bob Herbert hasn't gone and backed me up.

Corporations and the profit motive, coupled with lining the pockets of politicians with campaign cash, will always prevail over doing what is right for the people. I wonder when we will finally say, "enough!"

Giving consumers the choice of an efficient, nonprofit, government-run insurance plan would have moved us toward real cost control, but that option has gone a-glimmering. The public deserves better. The drug companies, the insurance industry and the rest of the corporate high-rollers have their tentacles all over this so-called reform effort, squeezing it for all it’s worth.

Meanwhile, the public — struggling with the worst economic downturn since the 1930s — is looking on with great anxiety and confusion. If the drug companies and the insurance industry are smiling, it can only mean that the public interest is being left behind.