"Whatever Happens Tonight, Dems Should Pass And Run On Health Reform."

[jefferson_dem]

"Whatever Happens Tonight, Dems Should Pass And Run On Health Reform."

Do you agree or disagree with the statement above?

EDIT: By "health reform", I mean the type and degree of reform currently being considered in the Congress.

[Better Believe It]

1. If Democrats run on the Senate bill as written the Republicans will win back control of Congress

How will passing the Health Insurance Industry and Big Pharma Protection Act help Democrats this fall?

[jefferson_dem]

2. So I guess you are a "no".

The merits of the bill have been debated at nauseum in this and thousands of other places.

If you're looking for a "pro" argument, you will find one at the link below, which served as the impetus for my poll.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/whatever-happens-dems-should-pass-and-run-on-health-reform/

[Better Believe It]

5. Running on this bill will be the kiss of death for Democrats, especially liberals

[TheKentuckian]

3. There is no way to sell this mess without pretty much lying

and getting caught in the act.

They have to pitch regulation and there is none to speak of, no oversight, no real penalties for abuses, no path for grievances so folks will have to fight big insurance.

Then the deal will have every appearance of a "Big Government takeover" with the "wellness" visits that provide an excuse to jack up rates, tax on benefits, mandates, and the IRS breathing down our necks to make sure big insurance gets their money.

This turkey will do longterm damage to the party because we will make every Reich Wing bullshit fantasy come true but with almost none of the cost controls or benefits.

Its hard to imagine we could come up with something less popular or effective to resolving the core issues with health care. We'd have better luck selling a NHS.

[JVS]

4. How can you run on a bill that is scheduled to yield results after the 2012 election?

This bill is a millstone around the party's neck, there is no way to package it into a simple narrative that voters will respond positively to, and it would be wise to kill the bill now and take our lumps on losing the battle for HCR than become infamous for creating this monster later. Democrats shouldn't run on this bill, they should run from it.

[branders seine]

6. not in its current form.

if they really wanted to reform health care, yes, but not this health insurance mess of a bill.

[RememberWellstone]

7. Not sure thats a good idea

Seriously.