Healthcare reform under the Corporate Party

I have voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since I became old enough to vote in 1988. Dukakis lost to Bush Sr. in 1988. Clinton won in 92 & 96, Gore "lost" to Bush Jr. in 2000, Kerry "lost" to Jr. in 2004 and Obama won in 2008. I realize the man has only been in office a year now and he has a ton of left-over crap on his plate to deal with. I think he is trying to get us moving in the right direction on things. He is pulling troops out of Iraq. He is focusing on health-care reform. I still believe he was definitely the right choice when considering the alternative of McCain & Palin.

He has also told the DEA to lay off the marijuana enforcement in states that have legalized medical marijuana. Fourteen states now allow some use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. That's great. I'm all for it. Wasting resources on that is just that....a big waste.

However, I naively thought that if the Democrats controlled 60% of both houses of congress like they do and the white house, they would be able to get a hell of a lot more done by now than they have. They shouldn't have to compromise on anything. They should just be up there writing laws and letting Obama sign them. They could have brought all the troops home by now (if they wanted), forced the banks into paying back the $800B of our tax money that Bush handed them and into playing fairly with the American public if they wanted. They could have reformed and re-instituted environmental and food and drug safety regulations that were over-ruled under Bush by now if they wanted. They certainly also could have passed a comprehensive health-care reform bill with a real public option, not a big compromise to the pharma and insurance industries that have caused the mess we are in right now, like the bill that is now being proposed.... if they really wanted to!

I am finally coming to understand that the Dems and Republicans aren't that much different after all. They aren't actually two parties at all but actually differing factions of the same Corporate Party. They are both slaves to the banks and corporate America. They are both beholden to their special interests and lobbyists and whomever funds their next campaign or vote counting. Silly me.