Senate Finance Committee hearings

I'm watching the Senate Finance Committee hearings on the Rockefeller amendment to include a "public option" in the Finance Committee markup. I'm kind of riveted - the level of debate is quite high, excepting Chuck Grassley. I appreciate Orrin Hatch's point of view, which he expressed eloquently, though I believe it is 100 percent wrong. So hurray for representative democracy.

But here's Kent Conrad comparing health insurance systems in the UK, Canada, France, Germany and so on, and he has to have a staffer hold up a big poster board behind him with summary notes. Why is there no computer projection system in the Finance Committee hearing room? Have these people never heard of Powerpoint?

Public option bait and switch

Apparently the Senate is now considering an alternative to the public option under which people aged 55-65 could buy into Medicare instead of buying private insurance. This sounds to me like an ingenious bait and switch; I can't believe liberals could be this clever:

1. Liberals want single-payer universal coverage - Medicare for Everyone.
2. But that won't fly politically, so they push a "public option" instead.
3. The public option is whittled down in negotiations to a mere shadow of its desired self, off-limits to the 85% of Americans who currently have insurance.
4. But for Republicans and key conservative Democrats, even the emasculated public option is too much. The Democrats threaten a filibuster if the public option stays.
5. Meanwhile, John McCain and other Republicans take to the floor of the Senate to defend Medicare against the Democrats' promised cuts. Don't throw Granny under the bus, they cry, she loves her Medicare so!
6. So Harry Reid comes back at them: all right, we'll ditch the public option and cover the uninsured through Medicare instead. What, Medicare is socialism? But you're on record extolling its virtues - so Medicare is good enough for Granny but not good enough for her 55 year old son?
7. Befuddled, the wavering Democrats accept Medicare for Everyone (55-65 years old) in place of the public option - the liberals win! Next up: Medicare for those aged 45-55.