Mr. Obama: Listen to Vermont

During the campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, this paper at one point wondered whether Barack Obama might become "the Great Compromiser," rather than a strong, effective leader for change. Observing the staggering health care reform bill the president now is urging Democrats to rally around, we may have our answer. It is not a development to gloat over, but there it is.

As former Vermont Governor Howard Dean said this week, the current reform bill version in the Senate -- minus any public option on health insurance -- "is not worth passing," and would not meet the original goal of controlling medical care costs. Yet, President Obama, publicly at least, is urging his party members to do just that -- to get what he thinks they must settle for, not what most of them wanted.

In truth, what this bill accomplishes is very little, since it will greatly increase spending by the federal government but provide no public option competition to pressure the private health care and insurance sectors to lower medical costs. In other words, this is a time bomb that will blow up on Democrats -- and rightly so -- when the bill comes due and no striking benefits are perceived by most of the American public.

The bill also mandates that almost everyone have health insurance, which, in the absence of a public option, means private insurance companies would gain tremendously in increased business. Dr. Dean pointed this out in an op-ed in the Washington Post, saying he would not, if he were a senator, vote for the bill in the current form. He argued, and we heartily agree, that with people forced to have insurance, whether subsidized by the government or not, there is no incentive to control costs, which might justify such a massive government commitment.

Nowhere does the bill begin to break the grip large, for-profit corporate entities have on our health care system. In this sense, it would be a huge failure despite the positive aspects of this bill, such as an end to denial of coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. And it will fail to lower costs while creating expenses the federal government cannot sustain. All of this will come back to haunt the government, especially the Democrats.

By pushing harder for a public option or an expansion of Med-icare, which also was proposed -- in other words by taking more of a chance on something many lawmakers say they believe in -- the Democrats might have passed a reform bill that would prove highly popular over time. Instead, they will hike spending without accomplishing the major goal of making insurance affordable and releasing health care from the chains of a for-profit mentality.

This will hurt the Democrats in future elections, even if the president himself avoids defeat in 2012.

The fervor of many of his supporters certainly will be dulled, if not destroyed, by this middling effort on health care reform. Especially coming on the heels of his decision to send more troops to Afghanistan.

The president deserves a large measure of blame for this pending fiasco, having allowed the process to drift along without ever standing firm for even the basic element of a public option. At no point has he passionately staked his political reputation and legacy on a public option, which very likely would have made the difference.

The president suddenly seems a calculating policy whiz and incrementalist who is not willing to go to the mat for a cause. In the long run, supporters will demand this of any leader, or they will begin to stay at home or go elsewhere come election day.

Mr. Obama inspired tremendous passion in the 2008 presidential election, in part because he was the first African American with a real chance to win, and because of his oratory skills. But now it is time to show some passion in a legislative battle very close to the hearts of most Democrats. It is not too late, Mr. President.

Try listening more to Vermonters like Howard Dean and Senator Bernie Sanders, one of the few in Congress willing to propose the best public option out there -- expansion of Medicare for all Americans.