In 2006, when Winograd first ran against Harman, she garnered nearly 40% of the vote after a short under-funded campaign. This time the momentum is growing for Winograd. The groundswell is palpable. Harman needs to go.

Education takes time and a lot of work. Whatever happens in this Congress, there will be a lot more of that ahead of us because, Obama’s lofty talk about being the last president to have to deal with health care aside, even the best we could get will not be enough.

the cost figures i’ve seen absolutely suck. and i know what that means for the viability of the plan as a whole. this year MA is permitting the insurance companies to add $50,000/yr caps to policies they are making people purchase (these are the young people’s polices) in order to lower premiums. they are also ending the automatic re-enrollment for people who’ve qualafied for the subsidized plan (even though they still qualify) as a costs saving measure. and don’t get me started on how legal immigrants are being treated. in all ways, this is not a way forward, the cost is so great that it requires retrenchment.

on the other hand, may be a totally false report especially considering the source, but i just saw this (listed as reported 20 min ago):

House Democrats acknowledged they don’t yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until Sunday or early next week.

Marketing approval for drugs depends on data from clinical trials. A generic drug manufacturer can use the original manufacturers clinical data to gain FDA approval to market their drug subject to some period of exclusivity of that data (12 years for biological drugs under Eshoo’s plans, 5 years under Waxman/Schumers, 7 years under Obama’s proposed compromise). Small molecule drugs have a 5 year exclusivity window.

Eshoo’s legislation restarts the 12 year exclusivity period for the “reference product” (the original medicine) if the manufacturer makes a “Structural change”, a term that isn’t explicitly defined in the bill.

Patent protection is for 20 years, in practice most of this protection is moot as the drug isn’t approved for marketing by the FDA until many years after the patent.

for many, the electoral success of the Democratic Party is important. This will be adversely affected when the malign effects of the bill become clear, the mandates most obviously, but numerous other devils are in the details, many of which have been assiduously picked out here on FDL, but there are likely plenty still hidden.

also, the whole notion that Government can improve the lot of regular people will take a hit – a miniscule PO that is a bureaucratic nightmare to qualify for, and a proliferation of complexity in terms of what benefits anyone can qualify for, a safety net riddled with deadly holes, the takeaway will one of greater mistrust and scorn for Washington and everyone associated with it. We know who benefits from that, right? Its not hairsplitting Liberal policy-wonks, thats for sure.

the bad actors will be greatly rewarded, in any number of ways. PHARMA will have their deals honored, their monopolies extended and deepened, and will continue to reap obscene profits off of captive markets. As slowereastside has mentioned, their stocks are prospering, and as the old businessweek article mentioned, they are struggling to keep their delight at the outcome of the process concealed.

And lastly I think the credibility and bona fides of ‘Progressives’ will be tarnished, especially if the likes of DailyKos and the veal pen step up and advocate heavily for the passage of an inimical bill. The fallout from that may effect even folks like here at FDL, whose points of view are much more diverse and autonomous, and who are largely not completely under the direction of the Democratic Party.
these are conjectural at this point, but as selise so tactfully notes:

everyone, i think, is trying to figure out if on balance the good outweighs the bad. different people will have different answers, that is all.

the bad is looking pretty heavy, few can deny that.

From the time we laid out the whip count effort I said that this is an enormous game of chicken, and in the end, it’s all about who has the most to lose by not passing something.

And that’s definitely the White House. They will beat the progressives and give everything to the Blue Dogs until they believe there is no chance of getting anything passed by doing that, and they’re not there yet. The other factor is where the progressives will hold that line (if at all). They’re not there yet, either.

Fortunately, in this big game of chicken, the progressives have the least to lose. They’re mostly in very safe seats and aren’t on leadership tracks anyway, and the White House already hates them, so enough of them have more to lose if they DON’T oppose it than if they do.

If I am mischaracterizing your position I apologize, but that was my understanding of what you were saying.

later, i’ve got to run too…..

p.s. if i get the chance, i’ll make a transcript for you of the youtube