|  Nancy Pelosi had hoped to bring the legislation to the floor today, but that's not going to happen. It appears the caucus is down about 10 votes, which is about 5% and way to high. As we mentioned yesterday, there will be no 676 vote. In addition, Anthony Weiner has dropped his insistence on a vote for any single payer system.
Pair this with the fact that Harry Reid won't even look at a floor vote until after the New Year. Does this mean that reform is dead? Depends on how you define "reform". The Single Payer activists will say that nothing but Single Payer is actual reform. The robust Public Option folks are waiting to see whether the final deal is robust, opt-out, opt-in or trigger. Back in February, I saw universal, single payer as dead. In August, I believed that there was still a chance for some meaningful reform, and laid out the steps necessary to get it done. Specifically: The problem then, as now, related to crafting message, and being able to get Democrats to align. We have no point person, we have no message master, we have very few people willing to put skin in the game. We ALMOST had a shot at someone who could work with Congress, craft a policy, sell it, and carry the force of the White House. But no. Barring that, we needed the White House and the Congress to do things that were unpleasant for them. To take firm stands and risk alienating some morons citizens. We needed our president -- the one who wanted ONE America instead of red America and blue America. The smart, nuanced guy with a commitment to legitimate basic change. The one who can speak so passionately. That guy. We needed him to stand up months ago and say things like: - I will not sign a piece of legislation that does not include a robust public option.
- It is a moral imperative that health care be reformed in a meaningful way.
- The crack-pot wing-nuts are lying to you. Are you really so stupid to believe the government would kill people? (OK, he'd need a better-crafted message for that last line.)
You get the idea. We needed our Senate leadership to allow the HELP bill to override the Finance bill. We needed the leadership to accept the fact that we would never get a single Republican vote and for once, act monolithic. We needed the House leadership to do better whip counts, and to tell the blue dogs that our tent, on the issue of health care, is just plain not that big.
But we didn't. We still lack a point person, a consistent message, and spine. There are, however, two things we can do. The first is to learn the lesson of this debacle, and the second is to apply that knowledge. Don't discount the "lesson" thing: one of the things Democrats have done, consistently, is to wallow in self-pity in defeat. Then we try the same things again and are surprised when we get the same results. The primary lesson here is that there IS a Democratic base, and it is strong. The error was this inane commitment to moderation and bipartisanship in a polarized world that has nothing but contempt for the middle. Some people will yell and say I'm wrong: that the problem was overreaching. But they're the ones who are wrong. If you want to take immediate action, McJoan at Kos has a list of who to call to get the Pelosi bill passed on the floor. Tell these folks that moderation, or the Democratic form of the new verb "scozzafavaed", is NOT an option. Getting the Democratic Party to be the party it says it is in the platform is what this is ALL ABOUT. Pages 9 - 10: If one thing came through in the platform hearings, it was that Democrats are united around a commitment that every American man, woman, and child be guaranteed affordable, comprehensive healthcare. In meeting after meeting, people expressed moral outrage with a health care crisis that leaves millions of Americans–including nine million children–without health insurance and millions more struggling to pay rising costs for poor quality care. [...] The American people understand that good health is the foundation of individual achievement and economic prosperity. Ensuring quality, affordable health care for every single American is essential to children’s education, workers’ productivity and businesses’ competitiveness. We believe that covering all is not just a moral imperative, but is necessary to making our health system workable and affordable. [...] Families and individuals should have the option of keeping the coverage they have or choosing from a wide array of health insurance plans, including many private health insurance options and a public plan. Coverage should be made affordable for all Americans with subsidies provided through tax credits and other means.
Imagine if we'd stuck with that, unwavering, from the start. It wouldn't have bought us the Single Payer the true progressives want, but it would have been an interim solution that would have saved lives and avoided suffering. The only way to get there now is say that NOT agreeing is a deal breaker for whether or not someone can run for office as a Democrat. They can still call themselves a members of the party, but if they want financial support, or votes, they are going to have to BE Democrats. If that approach is implemented, the Pelosi bill comes to the floor and passes. If so, it puts Harry Reid and the Senate blue dogs on notice, IN AN ELECTION YEAR, that being a Democrat. An ACTUAL Democrat is the path to reelection. It will lead to a stronger party, and better government. If we stand as a party, on our platform, we win this battle and emerge stronger, having learned the lesson of unity and walking the talk. If not... |
