| I posted yesterday that we were continuing to see some good news on health care reform coming out of Washington with the Senate's embrace of the reconciliation process as a backstop if Republicans tried to just obstruct the process.
The comments were predictable. Mark T decried Max Baucus's goal of getting significantly more than 60 votes. Big Sage said with Sen. Baucus in charge that we'll get a bad bill before decrying the current system.
This is actually one of the reasons I'd watch the entire Ezra Klein interview. One of the things that Ezra points out is that this current project is very much a partnership with Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Baucus. For good reason, these two men can be considered two of the best negotiators in Congress. As Ezra points out, what Max brings to his position is an ability to get difficult Democratic votes -- Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, etc.
So far, I've watched this process pretty closely. I heard a ton of skepticism about Max Baucus's role prior to the release of Max's white paper. The white paper came out and it was better than virtually any progressive expected. The next big crunch moment came when Tom Daschle got sidelined and Ted Kennedy got sick and Washington wondered if reform would get sidelined with them. Max Baucus stood tall and said that he would not let that happen. The next crucial test was the budget and whether we'd support a budget with enough money in it to get this process going. Max Baucus never wavered, and reportedly helped keep things moving in general in the caucus. Next came the question of whether the reconciliation process would be kept on the table and it has been.
2009 and 1993 are not that different. Democrats have the White House and meaningful majorities. The public is clamoring for healthcare reform. Powerful interests stand ready to pull the plug if they can.
What has happened differently this year has happened because of the actions, largely, of two offices: the White House and Senator Baucus.
The other night I was asked what I thought would happen during this healthcare fight. Lately, I've come to think that punditry is a perverse opiate, that by predicting the future we imply that destiny has more power than we do. So I refused to answer.
I still feel that, both when I hear people say that the battle is over and we have emerged victoriously (don't count these chickens yet) or when I hear that the breakdown of the process or the emergence of crap legislation is what is going to happen.
Changing national politics is hard. It should be. |
