Cross-posted at Daily Kos and Open Left

The story that hasn't been told enough is that the rising cost of private insurance is hurting corporate America.  It's been a terrible strategic mistake.  Progressives could have a powerful ally in the fight against Big Insurance/PhRMA: Corporate America itself.

Consider that even Wal-Mart, which spends far less than its peers just to offer it's employees a junk insurance package, spent an average of $3,500 a year per employee on health insurance in 2002.  The way to beat UnitedHealth Care and Blue Blue Cross is by offering Wal-Mart a public plan that is cheaper, yet offers better benefits: Medicare for Anyone Who Wants It.  

Allowing any person, business or local/state agency to buy into Medicare is not single-payer, because it allows private insurance to continue to operate.  But unlike the other falsely-advertised "robust public options," Medicare for Anyone Who Wants It will actually lead to a public plan that covers at least 164 million Americans and will control cost.  It makes real the false rhetoric for the public option.

I'm frankly shocked at the willingness of this Democratic Party to be so unnecessarily stupid political masochist.  For everyone that's been watching it's been clear for some time now that Barack Obama would be the Democratic presidential nominee.  

Why then did the Rules Committee make such an idiotic decision on Saturday, and more importantly why would the presumptive nominee allow such a politically-harmful decision?

People talk about a true "compromise," well here's what a true compromise would have looked like:

OPTION 1
Florida: seat the delegation in full
Michigan: seat half the delegation as reflected by the 1/15 vote, with the other half determined in the already scheduled and paid for 8/5 state primary (64 up for grabs)

OPTION 2
Florida: seat the delegation in full
Michigan: full delegation to be determined based on the 8/5 primary (128 up for grabs)

I found myself on the California Secretary of State's website looking at the Boxer-Bill Jones Senate results from 2004.  In my research, I began to notice that Boxer won or was competitive in a lot of districts currently represented by Republicans.  Now if it were just a handful of districts this would be mentionable but not a web-wide call for action.  However, the number of districts I came up was TWELVE!  Let me say that again: TWELVE!!!!!  OVER HALF of the California Congressional Republican delegation (20) represent districts with substantial Democratic/Boxer supporters, and in three districts Boxer got more votes than Jones.  

This isn't that rare for strong statewide candidates with no-names as opponents, but the Republican nominee was Bill Jones, the former two-term Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate.  He had great name-recognition, and while he was outspent 2-to-1, he still raised $7.3 million.

If a Democratic tide is going to rise in 2006 to sweep in a Democratic Congress in the House it will begin in California.  

Take a look...