This is a piece that I wrote for TheRoot.com. Considering the events of the last week, though, I thought it was important to re-post it here.
When Illinois Sen. Roland Burris took office almost a year ago, he already appeared to be a lame-duck politician.
After being appointed by the shady Gov. Rod Blagojevich in late December, Burris found himself shrouded in a haze of suspicion and controversy. With such a troubled introduction to national politics, it seemed as if “Blago’s boy” was little more than a political eunuch.
But the hard-knuckle Chicago politician seized his moment a few weeks ago when he proclaimed that he wouldn’t sign a health care bill that didn’t include a public option. With that, he not only propelled himself into prime time, landing spots on C-SPAN, MSNBC, and Fox, but he also made himself relevant.
The landmark bill that passed the House on Saturday likely included a government-sponsored plan because of Burris. And if all goes right, he might just emerge as the savior of the public option. Read more here.
3 Comments
November 12, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Glad to see someone else wants a public option. We have been duped into believing our government is looking out for us. They have NOT been – but perhaps this is a turning point in the backbone of the USA. We can only hope. It will be interesting to see what happens to get this done … who will stand up for the right of the Americans.
November 13, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I agree. Too many people depend on the government to bail them out or that they have our best interest, when that it not the case. Americans need to get educated and stay on top of the issues, so we are not left in the dust, scratching our heads wondering “how did that happen?…”.
November 21, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Good for Burris. Too bad he won’t be in office long. His days are numbered because of the Blagojevich mess and his connection to him.
A public option is great but it’s the tip of the iceberg from my experience from working at a hospital the bigger problem is the lack of regulation of insurance companies. This is the bigger problem. You can have insurance and the providers can still renege on agreeing to cover you. They can do this any time they want, whenever they feel like doing it. So at the end of the day, having health insurance means little if the company providing it doesn’t have to honor it.