Should We Laugh? Cry? Both?
Jonathan Cohn
snip//
The bill Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced last week is not everything it could be--not by a long shot. And progressives will try their best to improve it.
But the real battle will be an ongoing rearguard action, to fend off changes from the right--amendments that, in many cases, Republicans will support even though they have no intention of voting for the final bill. Abortion. Immigration. The mandates, for individuals and employers. You name it.
For progressives, victories are more likely to come in the form of ground not conceded than ground gained. Every day that legislation doesn’t get worse is a day to cherish.
That may not sound like much to celebrate. But to get a bit of perspective, glance over to the other ideological corner--where the right, and many of its kindred special interests, are going absolutely crazy. To some extent, they are reacting merely to the possibility that President Obama and his allies will get a political victory. But they are also reacting to the fact that health care reform, even in this highly compromised form, will have an impact.
Reform will mean government meddling with health care in a way it never has before, to discipline the insurance industry and reorient the incentives that make our care so expensive in the first place. It will mean offering financial support to millions--no, tens of millions--of poor and middle-class Americans struggling to keep up with their medical costs. And on and on and on.That doesn’t mean the blows don’t hurt. Blanche Lincoln’s speech on the Senate floor Saturday was like a gut punch. Her condemnation of the public insurance option was not particularly persuasive, at least not if you believe--as I do--that reform with a public option would mean better, more affordable insurance than reform without one. But her stance seemed unambiguous--and unyielding. Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson seemed equally obstinate.
Maybe somebody (Charles Schumer?) will find yet another twist on the idea, one that all three would find acceptable. It might even involve a trigger--which, truth be told, may not be as awful as its reputation. The left treats the idea like poison, perhaps because it’s so closely associated with Olympia Snowe and the frustratingly futile hunt for bipartisanship that soaked up so much of the summer. But, at least on paper, you could make the case that a well-designed trigger--emphasis on “well-designed”--could be as, if not more, effective than a poorly designed public plan, which seems to be the only kind of public plan that might possibly get by with conservative Democrats in support.
To be sure, Liberals can flex their muscle, too. Bernie Sanders made very clear, in his own statements over the weekend, that he wasn’t guaranteeing to give his vote--particularly if conservative Democrats (and former Democrats) extract even more concessions.
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http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/should-we-laugh-cry-both
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