Interesting take on Bush's healthcare proposal, by Michael Barone of Realclearpolitics.com. While the President's proposal obviously has truck-sized holes in it -- how will a tax deduction assist the poorest in affording health care premiums, when those people already are paying almost nothing in taxes? -- it is both revolutionary, and progressive. And it brings to mind a couple of larger issues.
The first is that it is the first serious healthcare proposal that acknowledges the 21st century reality of non-lifetime employment. Unlike the industrial age, most people won't, and don't want, to stay at one company for 20,30,40 years. Jobs no longer equal careers. So delivering a benefit needed throughout a lifetime via a system marked by regular changes of scenery is illogical. This proposal recognizes that reality.
The second is that this proposal is a truly bold and forward-thinking idea put forward by a President who has lost all credibility, and as a result has absolutely no chance of going anywhere, because neither Dems nor Repubs have any reason to give the lame-duck President a victory. Count it as a hidden casualty of the Iraq War.
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