It has become fashionable of late to accuse the Democrats of backsliding on their ‘commitment’ to health care reform. Pundits have been opining that there isn’t the political will, there isn’t enough cash, the Dems can’t get their act together, it’s too much work, and other variations of “it’s just soooooo hard”.
I don’t buy it.
I’ve been forecasting major reform for over a year, and nothing in the recent past makes me change that prediction. In fact, my take is recent developments make it more likely that we’ll see major reform in the next Congress.
The Columbia Journalism Review disagrees, (I had problems w their site, apologies if the link doesn’t work) quoting a few Democratic legislators’ comments that appear to bode ill for reform. Their premise, that the Dems will have to push it, is obvious. The doubt is appropriate, but the careful selection of quotes appears designed more to support their thesis than to present an objective view. Here are a couple of those ‘other’ quotes’.
One of the pols the CJR took to task for wimpy words was Max Baucus (if you’re going to pick a dissembler in Congress, there are a lot better targets than the Montana Senator). The Senator has said a lot about health care; has Baucus said “if reform isn’t passed I’ll move to Canada”? Of course not – but he did say “The moral and economic case for reform has never been stronger.” Along with Baucus, Nebraska’s Chuck Grassley is co-hosting a confab (of the major public variety); commenting on the meeting, Baucus stated “Our broken health care system is endangering families and sapping this country’s ability to compete economically, and Americans want something done about it. But comprehensive health reform won’t drop out of the clear blue sky – we have to do some legwork first…”
Baucus et al’s opinions are supported by other eminent lawmakers such as Durenberger of Minnesota and Corker of Tennessee.
CJR followed up the original piece with a bit of clarification, concluding with the observation that principles (as stated by a few elected officials as the basis for developing legislation) did not mean anything will happen. Not exactly burying the lead, and not terribly informed or informative either.
It may well take 60 Senators to pass reform. Even if the Dems win big in November, they will still be well short of that magic number and need help from their colleagues across the aisle. A few Republicans will have to support any reform initiative, but that isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem.
For example, Utah’s Bob Bennett (R) is a co-sponsor of Ron Wyden (D OR) Healthy Americans Act – along with six other GOP Senators and an independent (Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Bob Corker (R-TN), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), and Mike Crapo (R-ID). (btw, Corker is a relatively recent addition, which would logically indicate growing support)
The math works. Using current projections of electoral changes gives us between 54 – 57 Dems, and a handful of Republicans joining in puts the measure (which measure exactly is another question) over the top.
Sure, it is going to be hard, and tough, and there will be back- and side-steps amid the forward progress. But the odds remain in favor of health reform – and may actually be improving.
In the meantime, look for the reality behind the quotes. And nothing says reality more than a Senator’s name on a big health reform bill.
Jun
9
