Via a State House source, this State House News item on a speech given today by the Senate President:
Senate President Robert Travaglini on Thursday morning admonished his fellow lawmakers to exercise caution as they advance legislation designed to restructure the state?s health care system. Addressing the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Travaglini called for a prudent pace in the effort to overhaul the system under which residents receive health care…. Travaglini said he thinks an arbitrary deadline to cut off debate and vote on a bill ?is absurd,? and is urging his colleagues: ?Go easy here. Remember your mission.?
Look, obviously no one wants a bill that has big screw-ups in it – that’s why, for example, Speaker DiMasi agreed to fix the way the employer assessment is calculated when he learned that it would hit some employers who already provide health care. So I’m all for "prudence," at least to a point. But it’s worth remembering that the House is NOT passing the final bill today – whatever the House does must be reconciled with whatever the Senate ultimately decides to pass. There’s still plenty of time for detail work.
What we don’t need is such an abundance of caution that nothing significant gets done. Health care is a really big problem, and really big ideas are needed to address it in a serious way. DiMasi has put some really big ideas on the table, and for Trav to try to put on the brakes like this just makes him look timid.
His final admonishment – "Go easy here. Remember your mission." – is half right and half wrong. Our representatives’ "mission" is to serve the people that elected them. Right now, half a million of those people don’t have health insurance, and big ideas are needed to change that. So legislators would indeed do well to keep their "mission" in mind when they debate this bill – as long as they’re clear on what that "mission" is.
The "Go easy" notion, on the other hand, is exactly wrong. Our representatives’ "mission" is emphatically NOT to move so cautiously that no one’s ox gets gored. If the health care problem is to be seriously addressed, someone – most likely, in fact, a lot of people (*cough* Chamber of Commerce *cough*) – will not be entirely happy with the solution. Sometimes, elected officials have to make the tough choices, piss off the monied interests, and do the right thing for their constituents. Now is one of those times. Don’t "go easy," folks. Go for the gusto.
