“Public Option” becomes a misnomer Re: CNN (Update)

Misnomer
An error in naming a person or place.
Application of a wrong name.
A name wrongly or unsuitably applied to a person or an object.

Five minutes into the 5:00 PM news on CNN I turned it off. The lead story was about the President and his up-coming speech next week regarding the Healthcare Reform Bill and his struggles with the Public Option portion.


Long story short, most of us know what we are talking about when we speak of “Public Option” in the Healthcare Reform Bill so let us not get into alley fights over that. My concern at present is the reported difference between what Nancy Pelosi has articulated regarding the bill and the desires of Sen. Olympia Snow. It is reported Ms. Snowe wants to put a trigger in the bill: That is, if the insurance companies do not do blah, blah, blah, the Public Option will kick in.

If Public Option has now become a misnomer, what is it exactly that will kick in? Is it a new version of what we thought it was? Is it a variation? At this juncture, if the White House tries to alter perceptions of what Public Option is, it will only add insult to injury. It will be so insulting and it will finally drive the nail in the coffin saying the Obama White House does not know what it is doing! If they want to insult their base by going that way, it would be clear as shit to me they are lost in the wilderness of Washington politics.

First of all, let’s take this typical Washington route: the word “Trigger” has the word “Tri” which means three. If I have this right, the White House, along with Sen. Snowe, want to put something in the Healthcare Reform Bill that is called a “Trigger?” Let’s see how well that stands up in court and for future interpretations when disputes arise and they will arise. You can bet your mortgage payment on that one!

Secondly, before we Villagers sign up for this “Trigger”, it would be nice to know its history and how many other important legislation had it and whether it was fully implemented when it came into effect. We need concrete examples to investigate and ponder. You can not throw something like that at us and expect us to gravel. We know you.

Thirdly, I am mindful how the recently bailed out banks are re-constituting themselves with ever more money, how the credit card industry is responding to a law enacted to go into effect almost a year after its passing and how the Civil Rights Act was halted until women were added to the term “Minority” and they were the ones who benefited the most from the law. Include No Child Left Behind and we are off to another planet. All of them the results of laws being written, voted on in the full Congress and signed by the President.

There are some of us Villagers who love this country but would not trust it as far as we could throw the Jefferson Memorial. We watched it as it was growing up!
Fighting for the dignity of my Ancestors,
God bless Bill Gates, WPFW, C-Span and the spirits of the unborn for the help,
BB
P.S. I personally feel it is much to late for the President to breath air into the patient. The heart monitor in the operation room has registered a flat line for far too long now. The body is decomposing and fowling up the air and I am getting sick. To try to bring it back to life now will only create for us a monster. Let’s call it a day. Maybe we could try again next time. Hopefull by then the administration will have learned how to act in public. (Smile)

(Update)
Why The Trigger Is So Dangerous
by thehouse1
Excerpt:
The trigger is so dangerous because it is so malleable. Progressive would need to guard it like a hawk and there would still be no guarantee that they would not be stabbed in the back at the last minute without media fanfare. If the Congressional progressives embrace a well designed trigger they are setting themselves up for a swift, subtle, and complete betrayal.  The trigger could quickly go from a real tool to control cost to a fig leaf, or even a leaf poison ivy.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/9/3/776169/-Why-The-Trigger-Is-So-Dangerous