The Carter Gilson ReportIf no one knows what you stand for, then you don’t stand for anything.The Right and the Paucity of IdeasAugust 16th, 2009  ::  7:17 pm  ::  adminI was watching Meet the Press this morning (okay, afternoon), and what they had was a roundtable discussion on the healthcare debate.  The two sides were actually balanced in representation.  On the Right was Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK, and former Rep. and current head of Freedom’s Watch, Dick Armey.  On the Left was Tom Daschle, once nominated for HHS secretary by Obama, and Rachel Maddow, one of the smartest (and most prepared) left-leaning TV hosts out there.My wife and I watched the discussion, and the thing that struck me (beyond the arguments from the right boiling down to, if you think things are bad now, wait until the boogeyman comes) was that whenever the discussion turned to actual policy, Daschle and Maddow were the only ones talking.  When what a public option would mean on a structural level was the topic, Coburn and Armey had nothing to say.The reason for this is simple enough, of course.  When it comes to policy, the Republicans aren’t interested.  If they had any ideas, they could easily put up their own plan, but the only idea they have is to scare people into leaving things the way they are.  Their hope is that the nebulous idea of “change” that won over the electorate will become frightening if they can tie it to their Soylent Green nightmares.  And why do they want that?  Well, I can’t speak for anyone on the right, but this is what it looks like.  They are looking out for the interests of insurance companies, and don’t care the slightest bit about any actual Americans.  Worse, they are trying to push the binary politics of Republican vs. Democrat for the sole purpose of bringing their party back from the brink of irrelevancy.  Politics may have become binary, but policy is not.  A public option for insurance is a relatively new idea in the debate in this country, but it’s a damn good idea.  It’s the bridge between a Massachusetts-style personal mandate requiring the purchase of insurance and a single payer system where everyone is covered.  It also uses the power of the market and competition to drive down costs, which you might think the Right would cheer, if you thought they were honest brokers.August is half over.  Congress comes back into session soon.  The President has signaled that he’s open to compromise on the public option.  But compromise only works when both sides are willing to give something up. The Right is intransigent. It’s time to give up on the notion of bipartisanship and actually have a good bill.Posted in Uncategorized |   No Comments »AMA: Time for a Boycot?June 11th, 2009  ::  6:12 am  ::  Jeff Carter GilsonNYTimes:As the health care debate heats up, the American Medical Association is letting Congress know that it will oppose creation of a government-sponsored insura