I was on Rachel Maddow last night talking about Harry Reid’s announcement that a health care bill might not pass until next year, and the White House response that they still wanted it in 2009.
Why is this happening? Pure guess: White House and Reid argue about who’s going to take the heat for ditching the public option. Reid decides the price is too high to have that tin can tied to his tail, and goes with the opt-out. White House says “good luck with that, don’t look to us to whip for you,” and Reid says “okay, hope you don’t need a bill this year.” The White House starts releasing statements reassuring everyone it’ll be done soon because after all, Rahm wants his “w.”
The President has been meeting with ConservaDems, but no telling what he’s asking them for. Sounds like a big game of chicken.
Meanwhile, Reid says:
The liberal blog Firedoglake.com said it was calling thousands of Nevada Democrats, urging them to support an opponent in the Democratic primary if Reid does not force a Senate vote on strong government-run coverage.
“I’m not aware of them,” Reid said when asked in a brief interview about pressure tactics aimed at him. “I don’t read blogs, I don’t listen to talk radio, I don’t watch cable TV.”
FWIW, while I thought that letting the Blue Dogs stall through “teabag August” was bad for the public option, I don’t think that’s the case any more. And there are other bad parts of the bill — like Anna Eshoo’s PhRMA giveaway — that need time to gestate in the public consciousness in order to reach critical mass. I actually think time is more on our side than not now.
After yesterday’s poor Democratic turnout, nervous Dems are going to want to be reassured that labor will turn out for them, so the White House will start getting pressure from the caucus to move EFCA. Which they don’t want to do until health care is over. And then they’ve promised to deal with immigration. They want to clear the decks and pass nothing but feel good stuff starting early in the new year in anticipation of the midterm, so the pressure will be on the White House to start twisting ConservaDem arms to get health care passed — while we keep whipping progressives to hold their firewall.
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Oh, really!!! Too clever by half.
Or maybe this is the answer to our health care blues. Don’t die.
I don’t think a few crumbs before the mid-terms is going to do much for the Dems. Way too many pissed off people already.
Jeebus. Ineffectual AND senile, is he?
I can think of a lot of things that Obama could do that would bring most people back into the fold right away. Is everyone in DC so isolated that they can’t see what’s going on out here?
Jane,
“Pure guess”
your take on events goes some distance in explaining the timing on this:
OFA Goes ‘All In’ on House Version of HCR
Jane you were great on Rachel’s show last night! I admire the balance you find between your cool quick wit, and the thoughtful well-researched informative answers you provide. I sometimes try to pretend I’m a casual watcher as opposed to a daily FDL junkie and imagine you and Marcy bring in many new readers with each appearance.
And I am always extremely curious about what conversations you and Rachel might have offscreen. There was that tantalizing last sentence about the “opposition” noticing what you say on her show! Was she referencing something particular?
I’m also curious about your response to the snippet of Al Gore’s interview she showed. Do you think he’s got some inside info? Could it be reconciliation?
If that’s the only hand Reid has to play, it’s a weak one. Obama is patient. He’d like the bill passed this year, but if it goes through in January or February it isn’t a disaster. The problem is that it bumps the immigration debate forward into election season, where nothing can get done.
Primary challengers need to be identified and they need to start running now for the 2010 election.
Reid:
who am I?
why am I?
and what am I doing here?
absolutely yes. even the mention of a challenger might get some blue dogs in line.
Typical response. We were talking about this over at Naked Capitalism yesterday re a meeting at Treasury with economics bloggers. The vast majority of politicians don’t get or understand blogging or bloggers. Some try to exploit them. As we have seen with some of the progressive candidates’ lists, some succeed, but usually only once. Obama needless to say has a much better track record jerking quite a few bloggers around. All that 11-dimensional chess stuff. But most commonly there is the media-type dismissal echoed by Reid. “Don’t read them” with the subtext they’re not important, they’re just unsupported opinion, etc. which is always quite funny because if bloggers were so inconsequential why is Reid bothering to talk about them and their efforts?
I didn’t think back in August that it was such a bad idea to let the teabaggers rant like crazies, though I suppose it did give an opportunity for Blue Dog stalling…
Seem to remember Yves admitting that bloggers, in effect, lack mass.
I think it was back during the campaign that Move-On put up a petition – can’t remember what it was for – and in 24 hours had 400,000 signatures. That’s a mass.
“I don’t read blogs.”
You should, Harry. You might learn something.
I hate people who are proud of their ignorance.
uh Knox, it were them Blue Dogs (w/their patrons Emanuel and Hoyer) who gave us August
Big muddier.
I don’t see how delay has worked in any way to the advantage of progressives on healthcare. Support for the public option has declined since the summer. It is still supported by a majority but that majority is smaller and the attacks against it have only ramped up since it’s been included in the House and Senate bills, albeit in anemic forms.
The rope-a-dope worked for Ali versus Foreman, but Democrats has shown no inclination — or ability — to strike at their weakened opposition when opportunities present themselves. Instead of recognizing the weakened state of their opponents, they focus on the beating they’ve taken in wearing them out.
And who among progressives will stand with us as more time passes? Time has been working against us.
Considering the lack of leadership from the White House and the lack of spine among Democrats in the Senate, I don’t see how stalling for more time is going to work to our advantage now.
Somebody has got to pass a bill. That will have to be the House. That will change the dynamic and force matters to move in the Senate. Doesn’t anyone really believe that the current situation is killing people? Or, is that fact only useful as a rhetorical device?
Mee too. This needs to gestate, but health reform needs to not be the focus so that the Congress can work on other important matters.
No matter what passes it’s not like everything will change “presto”.
It’s not the delay in getting the bill through that is bothersome, IMO. It’s that Harry decided to announce on election day that HCR will have to wait.
Not smart, Harry. That’s a great way to further supress Democratic turn out at the polls and anger those undecideds enough to vote R in protest. Stupid, stupid, stupid!
o/t
Holy Crap !
Can You Say Governor Lamont ??
Reid will have a lot of time to catch up on his blog reading after next November.
Dumber than a bag of doorknobs and proud of it!
Where does gore see lieberman being “forceful” on “womens rights”?? maybe in the NEGATIVE sense?
Maybe Harry and Rahm were strategizing about how to win yesterday and came up with delaying HCR to kiss up to the Blue Dog types. Great strategy!
Garbage in – garbage out?
What great news ! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if HoJo had to see Lamont as Governor !
proud of their ignorance
that would describe a goodly portion of americans these days
I don’t agree that we simply need to pass a bill. What we need is health care reform. At this point I don’t think the bill’s we’re looking at accomplish that goal.
Yes people are dying due to lack of access to health care, but passing a bad bill will mean even more people die, get sicker or go bankrupt.
Even if these politicians don’t give a damn about what’s good for the country (which evidence suggests is the case for too many of them), they need to realize that it’s also going to be good for their political careers.
Passing good health care reform will be a shot in the arm for Democrats. Bad reform will be a shot in the foot. Right now, they’re walking around with bull’s eyes painted on their shoes.
I’m here at work and noticed a patient’s Tricare card, the card reads “Tricare – The World’s Best Health Care for the World’s Best Military”, thought that may interest everyone, I guess the government does provide the best health care – we knew it all along.
Excellent!!!
did not see that one coming – although I was generally curious about his joining forces w/ Sestak – told oldnslow at the time that it sure as hell looked like a ‘profile raiser’ gonna have to go over to the CT blogs and see how long this has been percolating
Hi Jane, Glad you’ve come around to the idea that not having a bill this year isn’t as bad for progressives as having a bad bill this year. I’ve felt the same way for a long time now, and think that Democrats, especially blue dogs and the President will be under greater pressure to pass a bill in next year’s session. Progressive’s if they hold firm can use that pressure to get a better bill. How much better depends on the messaging strategy. What’s your take on that?
There is no public option in the bill. It’s now called the consumer option and will probably cost more than private insurance. No wonder support is dropping.
You also overlook the fact that the House health plan won’t actually work. It’s paid for with accounting gimmicks rather than real cost controls. The subsidies are inadequate and not properly indexed to inflation. Whoever passes this bill is going to be punished by voters. We’re actually doing Dems a favor if we don’t let them pass it.
For the Senate’s top Dem to claim that he doesn’t read blogs – presumably that goes for his staff, too – Harry Reidless knows one hell of a lot about which liberal bloggers oppose his do nothing for Main Street America policies.
PDA of MA is endorsing Mike Capuano for Senate. This senate seat will be up for primary election Dec 8.
Well, I disagree. Part of the problem during the August Tea storms was that there was no healthcare reform bill to discuss, so anything in any bill could be blown up into someone’s worst nightmare. This issue has been out on the table for half a year. The lack of progress is depressing supporters (see the NYT story from Iowa about people having expected more change to have occurred by now).
This is turning into too much of a Washington game. I am not a villager.
People outside of DC want action. We are not lobbyists. I’ve got a job. I’ve got other responsibilities. Yet, people whose only job is to work the political process are fine with dragging out this debate.
The more time passes, the greater the influence of lobbyists becomes and it shows in the comments and votes of Democrats.
If you accept as true the recent number that 40,000 plus Americans die every year because they do not have access to healthcare, then this delay of another three or four months will ONLY cost about 10,000 people their lives. Small price to pay for sticking it to Rahm and Harry, right?
KO or Rachel, hell, maybe even Tweety had a fella on about a month ago who had written a book about it – and how it had in fact been quantified as the best – will do some digging
He obviously missed Short Ride’s “short ride” comment.
Thank the gods for Jane H and others without whom we would have had a monstrously shitty bill months ago, and right now be looking at some other senatorial slime and crap-fest. this works ..keep the light shining on the senates’ bought and paid for relationship with the insurance and pharma lobby and they wont be able to pull the trigger on their sleazy sell out. more time? NOOOOO problem. we got more time! take all the time you need and the light will keep shining.
couldn’t agree more.
what dems oughta do is announce that their goal is medicare for everyone and that they’ll not bother with any other version of a healthcare bill. Of course they’d need to explain WHY that is, and who knows if they can do that effectively (not likely so far), so convince voters, most of whom are leaning that way anyway.
o/t anyone hear that the cap on interest rates for credit card companies in frank’s bill is 36%?? that’s a cap!!?? what a bummer.
So, you agree with the Republicans? Start over?
whatever you say
I agree with a lot of your points about the causes of August, but the fact remains that the bills we have before congress now suck, and only make the problems worse.
People ARE dying. This is literally a matter of life and death for too many people, but just passing anything so it looks like you did something is not the answer. The placebo effect does not work on public policy matters.
One again Jane, great post. Even HR 676 is incomplete. There has to be “public option” for “biologics”. An alternative non-privatized maniufacturer of new medications. The Pharmaceuticals have a monopoly on research, production and prices of meds. They are predators.
I am guessing Rahm and the PhRMA’s will try a bipartisan solution to protect the Robber Baron’s profits. It is also a typically neo-conservative solution. Let the health care corporations violate any law they want to violate. Also give it a positive and deceptive name, rather than say the “2009 NeoCon Health Care Death Panels Act”
Our critters just don’t make enough of an effort to explain the quantity and quality of health care our government DOES provide – inexplicable.
interesting
in 07 a 42 Billion$ budget and 9 mil beneficiaries.
http://www.tricare.mil/stakeholders/statistics.cfm
I’m really beginning to think there is really really something wrong with Harry Reid. I mean his good buddy Lieberman is an insane, corrupt, narcissistic neocon, hellbent on destroying other Dems. And Reid lets him retain all the laurels and honor and glory and chairmanship of the Dept. of Heimat Security and more, and he’s probably okay with the idea of Lieberman spreading more harm.
So I have to wonder whether Reid is also insane and corrupt. The corrupt part I already figured. Insane though? I am beginning to wonder.
I happen to be one of those new readers, I’m a huge RM fan and every time I have seen Jane on her show I found her to be engaging, smart and informative so I decided to check out her blog.
maybe Jane will have her own show like Rachel.
edited to add:
better yet why not the Jane & Rachel Show ;~)
Blue Texan’s regularly scheduled post is up and ready: “After Suffering Humiliating Defeat in NY-23, Sarah Palin and Teabaggers Declare Victory”
Best way to avoid that is to use credit cards for emergencies only (a wide screen TV for Xmas is not an emergency) and live within one’s means.
Can you use the health savings account to pay for bankruptcy?
Emphasis.
Lets not forget Swine Flu is changing voters opinions about healthcare my Brother coughed blood for two days before he saw a Doctor and he has healthcare he was just worried it might end up costing to much.
His wife made him see the Doctor when she found out he’s better now but as the Swine Flu rages more minds will be changing on healthcare.
Plague fights for us now! Just as the Plague fought to free the Hebrews from Pharaoh! Does the GOP want to risk this disease coming back next year and maybe mutating before we can get a Vaccine?
We just got a Vaccine finally being distributed in my old home town I read last week lots of GOP voters there. Higher unemployment rates mean less people with healthcare. 10% unemployment means everybody knows someone without healthcare.
The GOP can’t scapegoat this and say this is just Government spending on Poor (code word for Dark People) although I am sure they will try.
i stopped using card a long time ago, but really, this is unconscionable! 36%?
gimmie a break. how does this protect consumers? Frank is a perpetual disappointment.
Kill this bill, which is the most regressive “tax” in history. By mandating citizens pay up to 11% of their income to the health insurance crooks, Congress has bypassed the progressive tax system, in favor of a system that charges higher prices to the poor and middle class. Wages are decreasing; insurance premiums soaring. This is ultimately unsustainable. As things get worse, there will be more pressure for universal health care, supported by a PROGRESSIVE tax system.
and, recall him pointing out that they are continually lauded by GO’s and NGO’s for communicating and messaging on what is clearly a daunting subject – damn I wish I could find it
Welcome to firedoglake!
Forcing a vote (in the House) forces a debate, forces amendments to be brought to the floor, debated and voted on.
People are paying attention to real stuff. They want reform. Let’s put it all on public display in the place where it is supposed to be — on the floor of Congress, live on C-SPAN, covered by the media, the blogosphere — everyone.
The action is on Congress. Hold people accountable by making them speak for what they believe in, vote for what they believe in.
Expose the big PhRMA giveaways in public on the floor of the House. Expose the windfall to the insurance companies in public on the floor of the House. Explain the public option from the floor of the House.
These folks were elected to legislate. It’s time to make them do it. Having this debate in the House will shape and change the debate in the country and in the Senate.
There’s been way too much posturing and performing in the streets and on TV. Move the House bill. Force the action.
on the money
right on the money. it’s not enough that bushco robbed the treasury and gave their pals a series of tax cuts, now they want to force an unconstitutional tax on the lower 50%?
Frank is bought and paid for. This is all a shell game for these people.
I hope you know you are taking on the drug war.
You have been fighting the legal side of it, there is a whole big illegal side that goes with it too. Be careful. They kill people. I find keeping threats out in the open is the best way to deal with them. Good luck.
Welcome to the Lake, dayala. Don’t be a stranger.
If we projected that out to the total population of roughly $308 Billion and incorporated them all into Tricare, it would cost $1.4 Trillion. National Expenditures on health care now are $2.6 Trillion. So extending Tricare to everyone would save 1.2 Trillion per year or $12 Trillion in a decade.
Maintaining deniability and ducking follow up questions.
Barney Frank (D – Wall Street Universe)
FYI
Tricare website describes the military as
“Our nation’s workplace of choice”
i wonder if that’s cause the health benefits are so great? the weekly bill at Tricare? $800 Mil
I thought it was good for everyone to learn more about each other.
i love it when you talk numbers….
Not stupid, in line with everything he does. Expecting him to be different is stupid.
Postponing any action until next year will make for a very merry xmas for countless DC lobbyists.
Back when I was in the Navy (61-75) dependents were treated at the same facilities service personnel were. Tricare was developed to provide a separate system for dependents to be treated by the private sector. Small military facilities that couldn’t carry the load was a factor.
Then, Obama could appoint RGJoe Ambassador to Israel, and Ned could appoint Joe’s Senate successor! Win-win-win.
i still like the notion of a party switching threat movement, all on the same day, to IND.
Getting out of Afghanistan and presto: Free Healthcare.
He doesn’t read, period. That way nothing bad can happen. Sounds like a strong defense in court.
Who is looking to be the next senator from Nevada Jane? Let’s see what we can do to help. They need two, and probably by the time the election rolls around, the other one will be in prison. So we may get two.
Not that it matters, as the senator in the godfather is every senator from Nevada in history of gambling.
I agree with you.
Are you nuts?
I don’t understand Janes point of DINO chicken with Rahm Obama. Seems to me, the WH preference is more in line with DINO’s than progressives and wants to whip progressives to their line. And how many progressives vs DINOs has the WH had to high tea? Big imbalance unless I’m mightily mistaken.
DLC by any other name.
I guess Al Gore doesn’t know about Short-Ride Joe, huh?
great idea. I think you should write Lamont this minute !
Palestine would serve more justice.
“No Health Care Bill Til Next Year? Fine By Me” – Sure, why not? For that matter, with only 47,000 Americans dying each year from lack of insurance, we can afford to wait until 2012. Yup.
why is RGJoe Ambassador to Israel a great idea? What about the Palestinians?
I think it was the premise on the bank bailouts.
I believe the bank crash was manufactured as a 9/11 type event to spook us into signing onto the Biggest Bad Loan ever. We are dealing with loan sharks and they are now running our country’s finances into the ground. Got any suggestions?
I think a criminal investigation is the way to go. RICO them, it is organized crime.
This is not how modern legislating works.
The House bill will likely be brought to the floor with a “no-amendments” rule, which means that we must apply all the pressure, over an extended period of time, that we can NOW in order to shape the bill brought to the floor. The old days of legislating on the floor of the House (or Senate) are gone. Hoping they return will not bring them back.
Have you tried to figure out what they are covering up?
who is the them in “RICO them”? House of representatives?
No, are you?
Sweet!
Jane is on the right pathway here.
This reform does not need to be wrapped up here in late 2009 being the so called starting gate for it has been placed somewhere past the 2012 elections in year 2013 which is a moving target if ever there was one.
It would be useful to hinge 2010 elections around healthcare reform pros and cons and inject some real democracy into the conversation. To better determine what needs to be put in place. Better define why any weak or diluted to point of uselessness reform is becomes worse than doing nothing.
The longer AHIP has to keep spending $$ millions to try and box up true reforms and the reset of American healthcare regimes the better.
The Obama WH played to the AHIP hacks in taking Single Payer off the table to begin with. Ultimately that is where American healthcare must go to find salvation of real cost control,reduced overhead,reduced confusion. Single Payer Health Security offers clear path to universal access across all fifty states independent of employment,marital status,economic status or social status corrals or imposed gatekeeping.
Americans have been waiting sixty years for Single Payer Health Security which is the twin of American Social Security.
Waiting another year or even two still does not matter being this current hoax of reform which appears now headed towards being killed by opt out/ opt in statehouse politics by this chickenshit Democratic run Congress and WH is being parked somewhere in 2013.
Let this reform be filtered through 2010 elections. Process of being forged and hardened more is not going to hurt it.
Certainly could help weed out more of the skunks and frauds who are gumming healthcare reform up here in late 2009.
Obama WH motives for trying to rush this so called healthcare reform which Obama WH seems more inclined to sabotage than make stronger are suspect as is.
My point being that Ambassador, in that part of the world, is a strictly honorary title. All the negotiating is done at much higher levels within the state department. Our ambassador is a figurehead.
that was curt of me – sorry. Question remains – what about the Palestinians?
The Israelis are doing everything they can to rid themselves of the Palestinians at a terrible cost. Joe being over there won’t make any difference since his heart is there anyway.
You do know that the bill’s provisions go into effect in 2013, right?
Does America have an Ambassador to the Palestinians? I’m asking here, I really don’t know.
Sending joe as ambassador would send a terrible message to Israel’s neighbors. I know this was tongue in cheek, still.
It might be best if Joe was named as ambassador to Iran.
I read it was 2019, or is that the senate vers?
howdy mui1! long time. good to “see” you!
i’ll second that one!
How can we know who to RICO when we don’t yet know who is actually criminally involved? Investigate first, accuse individuals afterwards.
Or is that insider crowd still operating under the delusion that our laws don’t apply to them. No member of Congress or owner of the press should be above the law.
I guess more specifically I was thinking the Wall Street crowd, their friends in insurance and banking, money laundering the drug war through Congress, big media, etc.
It is a nest of snakes and it is really hard sometimes to tell who was fooled or just going along with the mainstream and who is actually a criminal player. The crime I was referring to was the trillions in bank bailouts. As a business deal, it stinks. Everyone involved should be criminally suspect.
Time’s On Our Side.
What better than to make this a primary issue Blue Dogs have to defend when up for reelection.
Maybe if we started calling blogs “lobbyists”, Reid would listen to them.
I thought 2018/2019 was the date that Medicare was scheduled to go belly up unless it gets fixed.
eye-rack!
EPU on Rahm: Since Rahm’s brother wrote a book advocating a Value Added Tax, that is probably on the agenda for sometime in the next 6 months. Orszag was on Charlie Rose last time talking about the need for revenue to cut projected budget deficits – did not commit to or seem interest in VAT; but Orszag did hire Rahm’s brother.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/26/AR2009052602909.html
My concern about Harry Reid not knowing about the blogs is due to the impact of the blogs. It’s the old “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does the tree make a sound?” If a blog creates a fire storm about an issue and no congress person hears about it, then is there a real fire storm. We need to speak in a language that congress understands. One trick would be to generate a flyer that says that free swine flu care is available at a congress person’s office. Take the flyer to the congres person’s office and ask if it is true. At the very least, it will scare the pants off of any staff workers that finds a sick person in their office. Also, you can always blame the other party for creating and distributing the flyer.
I’ve never, ever said that having a “bad bill this year” had any merits, unless you can provide a link I’ve blanked on. I supported moving it out of the House so that House Dems wouldn’t succumb to pressure to vote for something worse after being ransacked:
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/07/23/chellie-pingree-lobbyists-will-spread-fear-and-confusion-during-august-break/
Chelle Pingree:
Since the bill hasn’t gotten any better since then, and in fact got worse, I still agree with that.
THANK YOU, JANE!
I’ve been saying for quite a few weeks that the current pile o’ stinking crap being peddled as health care “reform” needs to be deep-sixed so they can start over. There’s so much awful stuff in there that most people don’t know about, like baked-in premium increases for private insurance and how toothless the contemplated public option is. The whole thing is a giveaway to Big Pharma and the medical-industrial complex.
We want REAL health care. Geez, if any of these redneck idiots had the real deal, they’d stop ranting about “socialism” and change their middle names to Hussein. The Democrats need to realize this and stop being GOP Lite.
Obama wnts to pass a bill just to say he got a bill passed he cld give a rats ss if it actually helps someone. I dont think the bill in the house is good enough for us to support and if he misses his deadline oh well to bad for him. We progressives need to make it clear to Obama and the dems that anything less than a bill that has a robust public option that we all have access to is unacceptable. If we cant get that then we will just stay home on election nite.
Dems have yelled about healthcare reform for decades. Well, now it’s here and what do they do? Delay, stall, hesitate, call it what you will. It doesn’t appeal to me. What I like to see is that when someone has campaigned for a policy for decades that when they’re given the chance they implement the policy and go on.
If the party was just pulling our leg all this time then maybe these politicians aren’t the guys I want to support.
Pass the Dem agenda or look for other supporters, er suckers.
Joe would be great for the Palestinians. Look at how he’s “representing” Connecticut. His being on Israel’s team could work out to be the best thing that ever happened to the Palestinians. Get the Saudis to pay him as much as Aetna has and the Middle East is a whole new ballgame for good ole Joe.
The good thing about a VAT is that it acts like a tariff – all those products made in China by American companies would finally be taxed! The bad thing is that our politicos would not lower existing taxes by the amount of new VAT taxes. They’d probably find a new war to spend it on.
What the record clearly shows is that these bills will not get better with the passage of time.
Leaving this to fester behind closed doors — beyond the view of the public and the netroots/grassroots — does not serve the interests of anyone interested in reform.
Bring this to a vote. Force the issue.
Thanks, Jane. Point taken. You never said it was better to pass a bad bill than no bill at all.
Again, what do you think the messaging should look like from this point on?
Honestly, I am angry and getting angrier by the minute on this batch of Democratic officials and the current Republican President. Grow a pair. Develop your character. Lead. This body politic is demonstrating the same incompetence and corruption the Republicans deliver. Since a vote for a third party candidate is relatively meaningless, I am begining to feel electing a Republican is better than electing another Democrat who act like a Republican. At least with a Republican in office it is easier to fight like heck to kick ‘em out of office. This Democratic majority is worthless if they act like Republicans. Just like Obama.
I think that faced with an uphill fight with so many hurdles to overcome like most of the the Media, Obama, the paid off congress and the health industry not tomention an easily swayed public, it is not at all a sure bet that waiting for a better outcome is wise.
Although the pressure from the left to include the PO has borne fruit, that option has also been watered down by the forces working against it. It is hard to argue against the fact that over time the outlines for HCR has not gotten any better.
The only thing that would tip the balance at this point is if the threat of being unseated seems credible. If a move to unseat Reid is to be undertaken it shoulld begin in earnest now, so too for Nelson, Lincoln and Landrieu.
Agree that delay almost certainly favors not only a public option, but a public option that covers a huge portion of the US public.
I’ve seen a huge shift in attitudes among people that I know just since late August.