My observation was this: Edwards refuses to take much of a stand on anything. He makes statements that sound unequivocal, but are really meaningless. He says "I won't support a Canada-style health bill." Well, that's not what's being proposed (maybe it's the eventual goal, though). He also says "I won't vote for a bill with death panels." There aren't any of those in this bill (boards that regulate allowable treatments - maybe). So while it sounds like he's taking a stand against the more extreme Democratic ideas, he said nothing indicating he might actually vote against the bill.
Whenever questioners expressed opposition to government health care, he would lean on the Medicare crutch. "Oh, Medicare's popular. Who here wants to get rid of that?" He probably expected nobody would raise their hand, but people did, and he said he disagreed with those people. The fact is, though, that Medicare will go bankrupt in 10 years, and Medicare is consuming an ever-growing portion of the federal budget. He did not touch upon these problems.
As a final House vote approaches, people will have to keep the pressure on Edwards, and try to get some statement from him on his intentions. Edwards needs to take a stand on this.
No comments :
Post a Comment