The Daily Background

With Joe Lieberman seemingly hijacking the Senate health care bill and refusing that even the Medicare expansion be removed (despite having advocated the same thing in the past), the water has muddied considerably.

Up until now, I’ve been steadfast in saying that anything under consideration (strong public option, weak public option, Medicare buy-in, etc) is better than what we have now and would be a step forward. Now however, I find myself siding with (for once) Jonathan Singer of MyDD, who admits he isn’t quite sure what to think.

Howard Dean is saying the Dems should abandon the current omnibus bill and try to pass separate pieces using the parliamentary maneuver known as reconciliation. There are also serious questions about the possibility of mandates in the bill that might force low income families to pay insurance companies for coverage they can’t afford. The President meanwhile is saying that as the Senate moves forward, we’re “on the precipice” of passing signifigant health care reform.

It seems like each time I think that the Democrats can’t get any more fractured, they manage to once again splinter into a million smaller factions. Even my two (usually progressive) Illinois Senators are split on the issue: Durbin says the latest compromise will still enact meaningful reforms and insure 31 million Americans, and Burris is signaling that he may refuse to vote for a bill without at least the Medicare buy-in option.

With so little known about the current state of things (and with things changing every day), I think it’s currently impossible for me or anyone else to have an informed opinion. Things are so fluid right now, any pronunciation of how great or awful the current bill is is futile, because it’ll be null five minutes later: the dust needs to settle and Reid needs to come up with an adjusted proposal on paper.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog