Krugman calls out America’s ‘democratic centralists’

The primary issue is health care and the secondary issue is the politicking which surrounds health care reform. Krugman asserts that:

…the fundamental fact is that we can afford universal health insurance — even those high estimates were less than the $1.8 trillion cost of the Bush tax cuts. Furthermore, Democratic leaders know that they have to pass a health care bill for the sake of their own survival. One way or another, the numbers will be brought in line.

The real risk is that health care reform will be undermined by "centrist" Democratic senators who either prevent the passage of a bill or insist on watering down key elements of reform. I use scare quotes around "centrist," by the way, because if the center means the position held by most Americans, the self-proclaimed centrists are in fact way out in right field.

We are fortunate that America has a representative democratic system and that those individuals and parties representing America's citizens can be held accountable for their actions — they can, in principle, be held accountable. As a matter of fact, the American system takes great care to safeguard the political autonomy of those individuals and parties that represent its citizens. And it is thanks to this protection that we can read sensible assessments such as this one from Krugman: "What the balking Democrats seem most determined to do is to kill the public option, either by eliminating it or by carrying out a bait-and-switch, replacing a true public option with something meaningless."

Why would America's "bought and paid for" Democrats represent the views and interests of most Americans when they really do not have to provide this service? They will not if they are rational. They will represent instead the groups that bought their care and concern.