Consensus-building is not for the weak-willed. The “formless” strategy of 11-dimensional chess came back this weekend; once again, the blogosphere has gone nuts while another round of do-something emails has filled my inbox. It’s the old, familiar pattern once more:WASHINGTON — The White House will not commit to health care legislation that would cap insurance premiums or tax benefits, taking a wait-and-see approach as congressional negotiators seek a deal, advisers said Sunday.President Barack Obama will not demand that a final bill include a government-run plan as a way of driving down costs through competition, though that’s his preference, they said.
Oh noes! He’s giving away the store! This didn’t help, either:
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) sits at the head of a wooden table at his office as he and Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) work to merge two competing versions of health-care legislation into one bill. The three men will be joined by top aides as well as by members of President Obama’s health-care team, led by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. The sessions started on Wednesday and could be completed this week.The group will make such key decisions as whether to include a government-run insurance plan designed to compete with private insurance companies. The bill passed in July by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Dodd led while Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) was ailing, included such a provision, but the legislation passed last week by Baucus’s Finance Committee did not.
When George Stephanopoulis asked David Axelrod yesterday whether Obama would end the antitrust exemption for insurers, he refused to say. All of which caused Johnathan Cole to observe:
I feel like I have been down this road before. The only thing missing is an anonymous quote from John Harwood. So let’s see how this plays out. By the end of the day, everyone throw eggs at the Administration, and particularly blame it on Rahm (he is evil, dontcha know!). Maybe we can join with the Republicans and chant “just words” and write long posts claiming Obama is selling us out. Then, tomorrow, when the administration says that they still strongly support a public option, we can all pat ourselves on the back and say “See, they listened! Keep the pressure up, guys!”
