Lots of chatter from all kinds of places about how health care might die with a whimper rather than a bang, as Democrats claim to still want to do it but just never quite manage to prioritize it enough for things to actually get done. This is bolstered by Rahm Emmanuel basically stating that this is the plan, and by a bunch of Senators (the old, endlessly frustrating 54th-60th most liberal Senators) talking about how they’ve got the ‘message’ from 52 percent of the voters of one state.
It’s worth remembering amidst all of this that the only true blockage is the House. While I believe that an Obama administration who made this a priority could help build up the willpower, ultimately it comes down to Nancy Pelosi and her capacity to get 217 people to vote with her.
And, importantly, if they can manage to do it, then the whole calculus changes. At that point, health care reform will be LAW. It will be the new status quo, the point of departure which the Senate will have to consider. The question of whether they can push the ‘patch’ through in reconciliation will seem a lot more imperative, because if they truly believe that they’re going to get dinged for some of the garbage they tossed into the Senate bill, then they will sure be motivated to fix it.
Basically, while House Democrats seem to want to hold out for some kind of complicated dual process where the patch and the actual bill all get deposited on the president’s desk at basically the same time, I really hope they understand that if they make the first move all the Senate’s bluster will get revealed as such.
Remember, once again, that back in the pre 1/19 days the relevant parties had all pretty much agreed to the various deals – and 60 Senators were set to vote for the revised bill. As much as people would like to think that Scott Brown ‘changed everything’ the mechanics of the deal are just as workable now as they were then.
Dems right now should be thinking about FDR. The only thing (well, the primary thing) they have to fear is fear itself. If they’re too terrified to govern, then they can go into November looking like a party too terrified to govern. Let’s see how that goes…
Yesterday I caught myself wondering if this whole disaster isn't an argument for… wait for it… term limits.
Obviously, I'd prefer a Congress where the Bernie Sanderses of the country can just camp out and spend their lives doing Bernie Sanders-like things, but if the new way of doing things is "60 votes or bust," it seems like any deterrent to people running for office because they think it would be fun (rather than because there is something the want to actually *do*) would be worth the trade-off.
This is clearly an absurd argument, but it's an interesting window into the soul of the Gingrich revolution.
I think I need a shower.