Great Article in The New Republic (Jonathan Chait)

[BlueDemKev]

(edited for copyright purposes-proud patriot moderator Democratic Underground)


SEPT. 21, 2009
If health care passes, will it be a grand historical achievement, or a crushing disappointment? The answer, I predict, will be both. The American health care system is an indefensible morass of waste and cruelty. The distance between the status quo and the ideal is therefore so vast that we could—and probably will—end up with a reform that massively improves the system, while coming nowhere close to the ideal.

Which basis of comparison will prevail? In the long run, obviously, the substantive merit of the legislation is what counts. But, over the next few years, President Obama’s political capital will hinge in part on whether Americans see health care reform as genuine progress or a political fig leaf. And his biggest foe in the perception battle seems to be the liberals.

That’s what happened in the aftermath of the economic-stimulus package. Indeed, the contours of that episode strikingly resemble the health care debate. Obama began with hopes of winning broad bipartisan consensus for a sweeping overhaul. But staunch GOP opposition and the fecklessness of moderate Democrats forced him to scale back both his political and policy ambitions. Ultimately, he eked out a partisan bill, which moderates scaled back for no coherent reason other than to burnish their own centrist credentials.

As a matter of policy, the stimulus still represented a major success. The law signed by Obama is massive. Yet a bizarre disconnect has opened up between economists and everybody else. As numerous articles have shown, economists believe almost unanimously that the stimulus has provided a significant boost. Polls, though, show most people think it either has done nothing or has hurt the economy. Republicans have pounced, waving around proposals to cancel the stimulus.

(snip)

[Laelth]

1. Garbage. This author is not listening closely enough. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[BlueDemKev]

2. Why?

Because the author doesn't think we should expect to get everything we want right away?