Okay, just when did the party of "Yes We Can!" become the party of "No We Won't?"

No: We won't post the health care bill online.
No: We won't meet face to face with town hall meetings.
No: We won't submit ourselves to the health care plan we provide for you.
No: We won't give you access to the Office of Attending Physicians for $503 per year.
No: We won't permit you to have national health care competition.
No: We won't tolerate dissenting opinion.
No: We won't offend trial lawyers with Tort reform.
No: We won't give you the transparency that we promised.

We have real chutzpah calling the Republicans the Party of No.

My friend Ann Zucker wrote a wonderful President's message in the October issue of the Weston Democratic Club newsletter.  The article basically asks, "why are we fighting each other?"  Since I am the only local OUTSPOKEN Democrat, the comment is targeted directly at me and that's good.

My answer is that we must not only disagree, we must fight.  It's the only way to keep the effort honest. Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and the others would not sit quietly and accept "take what we give you and be glad you're getting it" style of government, so why should I?

For that matter, why should any of us?

I am offended by single mindedness and bumper sticker mentality.
I am offended by insistent parroting of whatever the DNC or some reprehensible Congressman proclaims.
I am offended when Americans who disagree are dismissed with derogatory comments.
I am offended when fellow Democrats will not consider independent thought. 

For a party that lays claim to a broad umbrella, there is virtually no room for opposing opinion.  Perhaps the mechanism for the umbrella needs a little lubrication.

We do need health care reform.  We need to provide access to care for those who cannot afford it on their own.  We need portability of health care.  We need to ensure some form of coverage for those saddled with major health issues.  And I agree that nobody should die or go broke for lack of health care coverage.

Even as a licensed Florida health insurance agent, for almost two years I too was without health insurance simply because of pre-existing conditions.  But I was NOT without health care.  There are other solutions besides first dollar coverage.

Those of my fellow "do gooder" Democrats who have not been in my position cannot legitimately assume a moral imperative to speak for those who have been.

Fines and jail time for people who won't purchase health insurance is not the answer.

Ann points to the Post Office and Public Schools as an example of public options.

The Post Office is a BAD example.  It's a model of waste and inefficiency that has had decades to clean itself up.  But it hasn't.  We can't mail a letter through private delivery service by law. 

Remember that first FexEx commercial years ago, where Post Office employees were counting the years and days to retirement?  It's the rule, not the exception. 

Oh, it's no big deal if a letter takes anywhere from two to twelve days to reach it's destination for the same low price.  It's our only choice and we've gotten used to it.   Package delivery by competing private entities always beats the Post Office by DAYS. 

It's not okay if such delays and inefficiency affects our health care.

Take your heads out of the sand, because private schools almost always do better than public schools and its our own fault.  Or are we content with 60% graduation rates?  Would we be content to accept 60% recovery rates from illnesses that routinely hit 95% or better under private care?

Is there a really good reason why Democrat officials talk a good game when it comes to public education but put their own children in private school?  We all know who they are.

I hate to say it this way, but Ann, who is a magnificent leader for local issues, has a mind numbed robot concept of Congress' or Obama's desire to take care of us.  She complains about the high cost of health care, but ignores the fact that Congress is responsible for it.  Just ask Rep. Pete Stark (D) who blocked Medicare from requiring bids for supplies.

Ann states that the very people who fight reform will not give back their Social Security or Medicare.  Again, that's me and I certainly won't.  But it doesn't deny me the right to search and fight for a better solution. 

I've been forced to pay into both programs throughout my working life and I will take my share of payback for that imposed contract.  Each program suffers from bad management and direct Congressional interference.  Is this what we want for the health care public option?  Is this what we want for single payer?

I want both programs managed properly by professionals rather than an incompetent Congress that couldn't care less when it comes to efficiency. Privatize Social Security and Medicare?  No, but there's probably a middle ground that will work.

Meanwhile, Medicare and Social Security are going bankrupt.  So is the Post Office.  Yet the Post Office has thousands of workers that sit idle for hours at a time, on the clock, while there are still long lines at the counter.  Is this what we want for national health care? 

Yes we need health care reform.  Congress can certainly move it forward.  But Congress still has a dismal record of managing programs.  Take the law of unintended consequences.  Cash for Clunkers was a good idea.  Payback to dealers still isn't complete but then it's the Government.  And if we haven't noticed, car sales are now 45% lower than they were projected to be.

I have been extremely vocal  in damning Congress over the health care plan. First of all, there is no such thing as a "President's" health care plan.  It never existed.  HR 3200 was the plan that Congress and the President wanted to force down our throats sight unseen by August 1. 

It's a BAD plan.

Obama hadn't read it.  Most in Congress refused to read it.  Why? 

Who wrote it? Nobody seems to know.  Obama didn't.  Nobody in Congress or at the White House is taking credit.

I have constantly hammered the point home that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz publicly stated that Americans deserve the same access to health care that she has.  In that, we have no disagreement.

Only we can't get what she gets.  We can't have access to inexpensive primary care such as the Office of Attending Physicians. Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a local walk in clinic with no waiting, all the primary care needed, specialists, tests, minor surgery for $503 per year?

We can't have access to our choice of competitive national insurance plans like she has. The White House has already said "no."  And Congress will not submit itself to the plan they want to force on us.

Is Debbie lying or is it that she's being misled?  That's not for me to decide, it's for you, the reader.

When Congressmen like Alan Grayson state that Republicans want the sick to "Die and die quickly," it only deepens the divide and prolongs the process of finding the right solution. 

Democrats in Congress insist that the public wants their plan.  No they don't. National polling says no, and these are the very same polling organizations that pointed to Obama's win.

Which means one thing:  If Congress forces a plan down our collective throats, what happened to Congress during Clinton's first mid term will pale in comparison.

We already have a Congress full of arrogant Democrats.  The last thing we need is a Congress full of arrogant Republicans.  It's way past time for real bipartisanship.

Ann ends her message with "We are Democrats.  We are the party that cares!"

She's darned right.  At least one of us cares enough to fight the system and keep the debate honest. 

The country is depending on it.

Me?  Like Will Rogers; "I'm not a member of any organized party.  I'm a Democrat."