Hey Democratic Party..... Remember Us?

I don't like to dabble in politics on this blog, but our country is at a rather crucial juncture just now, and I would like to discuss some of the implications thereof. There just might possibly be a "silver lining" for the Democratic Party in its loss of Ted Kennedy's senate seat. Having "only" fifty-nine seats in the senate may be "just what the doctor ordered"; an opportunity for the Democratic Party to re-connect with its base, and to part ways with all those well-healed industry lobbyists that it has been assiduously courting on its merry way to a Health Care Bill. We shall see:

The current Democratic administration has "lost the base". In pandering to the demands of Big Money (Wall St. Bail-out) Big Insurance, and Big Pharma, it has no room on its plate for Little Old Us. If Obama wants any chance at a second term, he better mend fences with the little people, and fast. We couldn't have a Public Option (for the little guy) because the Insurance Industry objected. We can't negotiate the price of pharmaceuticals (downward) because big drug companies wouldn't like that. We could bail-out the "too big to fail", but there is no money for helping out people who are upside-down on mortgages for the house that they live in...mortgages that "made sense" before the bubble burst.. (I am not talking about sub-prime...that's a whole 'nuther problem of "fraud" that needs investigating). And there is no “stimulus/rescue program” from the Small Business Administration  that would "do something"  for the small businesses that big banks currently aren’t lending to.

So, Democratic Party, if you want to remain in office, wise-up. Pander to the voters for a change. Give us a Health Care Bill that contains only  the following:

A robust Public Option; a Medicare Buy-In for 55 and older would be nice, with a Medicaid Buy-In for the working poor, regardless of age, who make a tad too much for "free Medicaid".  And give us a Public Pharmaceuticals Option that would allow us to buy our drugs from Uncle (from the VA, perhaps?) at “big discount pricing” based on Uncle's negotiating muscle. And let us buy our drugs from Canada  if we want to.
And don't offer anything to the Insurance Industry lobbyists.

 Don't offer anything to the Pharmaceutical Industry lobbyists. Just go after “51 votes in the Senate”, forcing anyone who wants to block “People Power” to read phone books into the Congressional Record...in public...televised. Maybe then you will be deserving of re-election. In any event, the Democratic Party will have reclaimed its base.