TheLoop21.com

By: Devona Walker (Add to your loop)
Tue, 06/30/2009 - 13:54

Al Franken and his wife, Franni Franken, celebrate his win, which could help win health care reform.

Health care reform is the most important issue today when it comes to working-class Americans. Blacks are woefully over represented among people who are underinsured and uninsured, which makes health care reform the issue to which we should all be paying very close attention.

But Tuesday, President Obama got a "gimme" from Minnesota, when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Al Franken, a Democrat, the winner in his race for U.S. Senate against Republican Norm Coleman. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, once a likely Republican hopeful for the presidency in 2012, has said he would abide by the high court's ruling.

The decision gives the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, feasibly enough votes to get something meaningful done on an assortment of issues, most importantly health care reform.

It gives the Obama administration and the Democratically-controlled Congress the ability to put aside partisan and political theatrics and think solely about the correct course of action.

Perhaps now we can put the idea for a public health care plan back on the table and have an honest, reasoned debate about its merits without having to worry about the GOP's new catchphrase of the month — "socialized medicine."

With every passing day, and every million spent by insurance lobbyists on misleading advertising, the narrative of health care reform in Washington has been moving away from a public plan that would help people in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, and across the country. Instead, many Democrats are questioning a public option, favoring some incremental program that will not do much of anything when it comes to actually reducing the cost of health care for working Americans.

But Franken changes things. He offers the Democrats and people who desperately need accessible and more affordable health care not only a big majority, but possibly support for a public health care plan. This morning, he told Minnesota Public Radio affordable health care is a priority for him, and that he's likely to support a public option.

Now, there are no more excuses. All the Democrats have to do to pass a plan to improve health care for all of us is get their own house in order.

Devona Walker is TheLoop21.com's senior reporter/blogger.