Begalia: "Bet on health care reform passing"

Clio the Leo

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Mon Sep-28-09 08:22 AM
Original message

Begalia: "Bet on health care reform passing"

Edited on Mon Sep-28-09 08:29 AM by Clio the Leo

Hey, fellow progressives, I have a secret for you: We’re winning on health care.

As a battle-scarred veteran of President Bill Clinton’s health care fight, I know there are many dangers, toils and snares ahead. But I am optimistic that President Barack Obama will be able to sign into law a bill any fair-minded observer would call far-reaching, progressive health reform. Here’s why.

The right-wing shouting didn’t work
The conservative strategy of blowing up town hall meetings was must-see TV — as when conservatives shouted down a woman in a wheelchair. But the histrionics didn’t change any minds (Gallup shows support essentially unchanged before and after the August recess), and they didn’t change any votes. I

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The train keeps a-rollin’
All five committees involved have, for the first time in history, reported out bills to fundamentally reform our health care system. Previous House committee chairpersons in prior Congresses wouldn’t speak to one another, much less collaborate on three very similar bills, as the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees have. Very impressive and very encouraging.

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Democrats can go it alone
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How can I be optimistic that Democrats alone can reform health care? Because these aren’t your parents’ Democrats. The single biggest reason, I believe, that the Democrats lost in a landslide in 1994 was because they failed on health care. More important, congressional Democrats believe it. They know it is their rear ends on the line in 2010, not Obama’s.
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Still, even with the proverbial gun at their heads, Senate Democrats may find it nearly impossible to herd 60 cats — especially when one of them is Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the longtime opponent of progressive health care reform. But they have a Plan B: passing health care with 50 votes through reconciliation. Sure it’s a crapshoot. Sure it will annoy the GOP. But what are they going to do: Vote against it? The truth is, reconciliation is an unusual vehicle but not unprecedented. The GOP used it to pass welfare reform and the Bush tax cuts. It was used to pass other health care bills, namely, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). And if faced with the choice between reconciliation or failure, it’s an easy call.

President Obama says we’re 80 percent of the way there. I know this: When my beloved Texas Longhorns have the ball on the opposing team’s 20-yard line, don’t bet against them. And don’t bet against the Democrats passing major health care reform legislation this year.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27632.html#ixzz0SPIG3PUx

The WH announcement that he'll be joining Michelle in Copenhagen this week says a lot. Unlike a week ago, he knows he's freer to leave home without having to be there to babysit the Dems a couple of weeks before the reconciliation deadline.