Že sama kolobocija okrog uvedbe približka osnovnega zdravstvenega varstva za revnejše je nam – socialističnim – Evropejcem in Kanadčanom, ki smo navajeni na obvezno osnovno zdravstveno varstvo, absolutno nerazumljiva. Ne razumemo, zakaj Američani tako komplicirajo s sklepanjem zasebnih zavarovanj tudi za revnejše, ki jih bo zdaj subvencioniral proračun, če pa obvezno zdravstveno zavarovanje povsem spodobno deluje (in je “državno” zdravstvo dvakrat cenejše od privatnega v ZDA). Ne razumemo, zakaj so republikanci tako močno zapeli z vsemi silami in privlekli najtežjo artilerijo, da bi preprečili sprejem takega – še vedno zasebno  sklenjenega in financiranega – zdravstvenega zavarovanja za revnejše. Toda gre za očitno tako hud ideološki spopad (v ozadju katerega so najbrž materialni interesi), da so republikanci pripravljeni zapreti vlado (in tudi poslati ZDA v bankrot, če bo treba). Ker sta se ponesrečila plan A in plan B, je zdaj očitno na vrsti plan C. Ki pa je še bolj zmešan. Moje sposobnosti racionalnega dojemanja stvarnosti so tukaj trčile na svoje meje.

Naj vam razloži Ezra Klein (in preberite cel članek na tem linku, da boste lažje razumeli celo komplot):

Plan A, of course, was tying funding of the government to defunding Obamacare. The Senate brushed that off. Plan B, which House Republicans initiated over the weekend, ties funding the government to delaying Obamacare. The Senate will reject that too. Plan C is the most bizarre of the bunch: It ties funding the government to ruining the lives of congressional staffers. It’s pointless and cruel, and in the long-run, it will make Congress worse and K Street more powerful.

Plan C is the “Vitter amendment,” which asks members of Congress and their staff (as well as the president and top political appointees) to choose between going without health insurance or accepting a massive pay cut.

…

Plan C won’t matter that much for members of Congress or the president. They make plenty of money. For them, buying health insurance might be an annoyance, but it will rarely be a hardship.

Rather, Plan C acts as a massive pay cut to congressional staffers who need health insurance, as they now have to pay for it themselves. The result of that kind of pay cut will be that top staffers leave Congress for employers who will pay them more — and offer them health insurance. It’ll be a boon for K Street, which will see a massive influx of new (and well-connected) talent. It’ll be bad for taxpayers, who are directly subsidizing congressional staffers and, more importantly, paying the costs of a Congress that’s worse at its job and more dependent on lobbyists.

And it won’t undo the special treatment Obamacare gives to members of Congress and their staffs. That would mean ripping out the Grassley amendment entirely and letting Congress act just like any other large employer under Obamacare. But as has become a pattern, Republicans don’t want to fix the things they say are problems with Obamacare. They want to make them worse and then use them as proof that the law really is as bad as they’ve promised. That’s now led to its logical conclusion: Republicans in Congress demanding an act of self-mutilation against Congress’s own benefits package.

The good news here is that Plan C might not be extreme enough to appeal to Republicans who want Obamacare actually stopped. The bad news, I guess, is that Plan C might not be extreme enough to appeal to Republicans.

Vir: Ezra Klein, Wonkblog, Washington Post