It's no secret that Max Baucus is a corrupt politician who is completely bought and paid for. Here are the three main goals of his "healthcare reform" legislation.

1) Fining people who can't afford health insurance.

2) Raising taxes on middle class people who have relatively good health insurance, though no private health insurance is really good.

3) Shoveling money at the HMOs and health insurers.

What seem to be kept secret are the political consequences for the Democrats if they pass this piece of shit. Robert Parry of Consortium News did an excellent analysis of it. Here's the upshot:

Indeed, if the Democrats abandon the public option for the sake of passing a bill like the one that came out of the Senate Finance Committee, they may be courting electoral disaster once voters grasp that they will have to wait years for the law to be implemented and then that it could lead to higher costs for much the same unpopular private insurance plans.

The public option offers the only means for a reform to be quickly implemented and to demonstrate a beneficial effect for the people by 2010 and 2012. It has the potential for reducing costs, especially for small businesses and individuals who are now being soaked by private insurers or denied coverage.

There is deep, simmering anger in this country at the way people are being treated by the HMOs and insurance companies. Here are some protesters against the company ironically named Wellpoint. The public option is a small step towards single payer, which is the most cost effective and moral health policy. There is 65-70% support for single payer among the public, but not among big money campaign contributors or among corporate media moguls.