Paul Krugman has a good op ed in today’s New York Times about our prospects of achieving universal health care. According to Mr. Krugman, Senator Clinton’s recently announced health care plan is very much like the plan Senator Edwards put forth in February. As Mr. Krugman put it, “Still, this week she did deliver a plan, and it’s as strong as the Edwards plan — because unless you get deep into the fine print, the Clinton plan basically is the Edwards plan. But the most important part of Krugman’s piece is what he says about Senator Clinton’s evolving position on providing universal health care in the near future. Mr. Krugman quotes Senator Clinton, from a 15 month old New York Times story, as saying with regards to the cost of universal health care “it depends on what kind of system you’re devising. And that’s still not at all clear to me, what the body politic will bear.”
As illustrated by the lateness of her health care proposal and the above quote, it is safe to conclude that Senator Clinton will—regarding serious health care reform–refuse to lead. While Senator Clinton continues to tell us how her experience makes her the most qualified to lead our nation her action on critical issues like health care reform let’s us know that what she has chosen to take from her experiences is that she should be a very cautious, calculating politician.
From where I sit, America needs a president who is willing to lead the nation in a progressive direction, not someone who is going to consider what policies will be the easiest to get passed. If we are ever going to have the kind of reforms that our nation needs we must use the advantages that Democrats have in today’s political climate to elect someone who will not be afraid to begin our nation’s progressive movement. Obviously, that is not someone like Senator Clinton who is more worried about polling data than what is the right thing to do.
