What the hell is going on in Vermont?

[camac.livejournal.com]

Ok I was driving back from the animal shelter today when I heard something incredible on NPR. I haven't seen any cartoons about it but this shit is important so I'll just post a video with the wonderfully animated and sometimes funny Rachel Maddow talking about it:

This is kind of amazing. I hope other New England states pick up on this idea and find the courage to come up with similar plans. I'm looking at you RI.

Comments

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

This won't end well for Vermont.

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

If it does end well, will you change your tune? :P

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Absolutely, but I'm not too worried.

[blueduck37.livejournal.com]

And if it ends up saving Vermont (the state itself, local businesses, etc etc) money, and becomes very popular, will you agree that other states nationwide should implement it?

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

You need to set some rules on what "success" is now, otherwise those goalposts will shift faster that a politician looking at an opinion poll.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily.

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

How have I moved the goalposts? "It saves money and is popular" is not in and of itself a reason to favor a policy. There are still many, many different reasons to oppose UHC of any sort.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Jeff will whistle another tune, we can be sure.

[mikepictor.livejournal.com]

You've got no reasonable basis to say so until people can see more about how it's implemented.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Let's put it this way - the problem with the Massachusetts system definitely isn't that it doesn't go far enough.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

You're right for once. The problem with the Massachusetts system is that it's the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of Vermont's. Vermont's plan is socialist. The Romney/Obama plan is corporatist/fascist.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Those two words are interchangeable.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

And that's one of the biggest lies ever told.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

What is, exactly?

[madscience.livejournal.com]

The notion that the word "socialism" is interchangeable with the words "fascism" and "corporatism". Or even "communism", for that matter. It's Cold War linguistic propaganda.

Or were you saying that "fascism" and "corporatism" are interchangeable? Because history and I would agree with that.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, I am, but there's no fundamental difference between socialism and fascism. They go hand in hand. To say that the Massachusetts plan, which offers more choice, is more fascist simply doesn't add up.

[madscience.livejournal.com]

"there's no fundamental difference between socialism and fascism"

You didn't just drink the kool-aid; you drowned in it.