Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President
I understand the importance of health care reform. I have followed the debate closely. I watched as townhalls demonized the public option until it was compromised to only covering 5% of the population and would cost more than it should. Then I sat in horror as it was stripped from the bill. I still supported the bill because, while it was important to the process, it was not the be all end all. Seeing Medicare expanded to cover more people seemed like a worthwhile compromise, even though neither measure would be an option for me, my friends or most of my family for nearly 25 years. I know the stakes, I know the political ramifications. I see that the State of the Union looms on the horizon and to come to the American people and say we still haven’t fixed health care after a year of work is a hard sell. You’ve said that 80% of the bill we all agree on. I feel I must remind you that 80% of Christianity, Judaism, and Islamic teachings are exactly the same, and we have tried to achieve compromise and understanding on that from for eons.
This is not a question of the perfect being the enemy of the good, far from it. Perfect would have been having a serious discussion of a single payer system. Perfect would have been having an audit of Hospitals across the nation to get to the bottom of cost discrepancies that go beyond “demographic differences.” Perfect would have been enacting state boards composed of doctor, physicians, nurses, and education institutions to explore better practicing principles. Perfect would have been a gutting of Pharmaceutical IP law to ensure that drug technological advances bend to the economic curve the same as every other technological advance. In 10 years the computer that sat on my desk now fits in my pocket, literally, and cost a fraction of what it once did. Pharmaceuticals do not expend any more resources than these companies and therefore do not deserve any special breaks.
This is not about the perfect being the enemy of the good, this is about the good staying good. Compromise only works if both parties have something to gain AND something to lose. You cannot compromise with someone who has nothing to lose, because if they have nothing to lose they have nothing to compromise. Senator Lieberman feels immortal, Senator Nelson feels righteous, Senator Lincoln feels petrified, and the entire Republican Party feels virtuous. Blinded they cannot be bargained with, not without willingness to exact punishment. Put everything on the table, including their positions on important committees. If these Senators can’t understand that the people who elected them are expecting them to enact policy that reflects not only the will of the people, but these senators’ own campaign assurances they are not fit to lead the discussion. This is not about revenge this is about representation.
I know you feel that the public will support what is passed as soon as they see the full details. I respectfully do not agree, because the public will know that so much more was possible, so much more was discussed and what is left while important will feel like a bitter pill. Worse still, it will feel like a placebo, because without at least a public option, and or an expansion of Medicare men and women will be forced to purchase a product that will be expensive enough to cripple them, and still leave them sick and dying.