Well, review the House Democratic reaction, it appears that the one way likely to pass anything comprehensive, just passing the Senate Bill in the House, isn't happening (see precedent for the pass the bill/ping pong strategy). It bloody well should, John Cohn explains why, but should and will are different things.
There are worthwhile things that could be done by reconciliation. Here's Ezra Klein:
Democrats could scrap the legislation and start over in the reconciliation process. But not to re-create the whole bill. If you go that route, you admit the whole thing seemed too opaque and complex and compromised. You also admit the limitations of the reconciliation process. So you make it real simple: Medicare buy-in between 50 and 65. Medicaid expands up to 200 percent of poverty with the federal government funding the whole of the expansion. Revenue comes from a surtax on the wealthy.
And that's it. No cost controls. No delivery-system reforms. Nothing that makes the bill long or complex or unfamiliar. Medicare buy-in had more than 51 votes as recently as a month ago. The Medicaid change is simply a larger version of what's already passed both chambers. This bill would be shorter than a Danielle Steel novel. It could take effect before the 2012 election.
If they can pull that off, I'll take it. There's also the option to cut a deal with Republicans by toning things down. That said, a more productive use of our time would be to clap hard and say we do believe in fairies and pull off a resurrection. As for me, I believe in incentives, I'm not sure how the Republicans have managed to achieve absolute loyalty, but I do know that the case for it is now even stronger than it was before. Obstruction is easy, stops governing agenda, and isn't punished by voters. They're going to keep pulling that move until we learn to play hardball, and if Rep. Barney Frank is rolling over, we haven't yet learned to play hardball.
In any event, I think I've just got to accept that the best we're going to get is reconciliation and even our House leadership is unwilling or unable to whip members into shape. Bleak unmitigated despair seems to be the appropriate response for now. Then we toughen up, drop our expectations, revise our strategies, and figure out what to go for next. My personal thought is that defeating the filibuster probably needs to take its place at the top of liberal's long-term agendas. We can't just wait for the stars to align and national crises to occur. But for now, I need a break. And a drink.
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