Ryan Grim describes the prospect of a public option via reconciliation as a “last stand.” I resubmit that this was always inevitable; that its introduction to the Senate Bill process by Harry Reid was an indication that it could pass via reconciliation.
The 60th vote for a public option was never, ever there. That is also an indisputable fact. Nothing less than blackmail video of Joe Lieberman eating a baby was ever going to convince him to vote for it in the Senate bill.
It is true that Harry Reid might have started a whip count immediately, but why advertise your intentions? It is true that someone might have attempted to twist Joe’s arm, but to what end? Do not forget that this is only the first of three big reform projects in Obama’s first term. To that end, showing a willingness and ability to patiently persist and win is crucial to breaking the Party of No.
Pelosi will now pass the Senate Bill. The Senate has more than fifty votes for fixes and potentially more than fifty votes for a public option via reconciliation rules. This is a situation created by the minority and the “moderates” of the Senate — not Harry Reid, Rahm Emanuel, or Barack Obama. It’s simple arithmetic.
The president’s job now is to whip up popularity for the bill. The project of reforming health coverage will be as strong as we make it; he’s constitutionally incapable of directing this. But if he winds up with a total reform package that looks almost exactly like the one he proposed at the beginning of all this, then don’t tell me it’s an accident or that this White House doesn’t understand how to play chess.
Boy, today has brought me lots of redemption. Bring it, firebaggers! Tell me how this is the selling-out of reform.
