Open Left

There's a lot of truth in this.

The way Congress works is not hard to understand. Ever single legislative initiative will become watered down, and spiked with pork. Since this is clear, it'salso clear that you have to meand more than the pure minimu you would be satisfied with. You need some bargain mass, or else the result will be less than you can tolerate. So, in this case, it was a dire failure to put single payer off the table. The discussion should have been about establishing a Canadian kealthcare system, and not about the public option. If it had went that way, the opponents would have been satisfied that they succeeded in getting rid of this, and would have seen the public option as a good compromise. The Dems did themselves a huge disfavor, in preemtively surrendering this argument, and allowing the debate to shift to the right. Sadly, it seems the rethuglicans are much better in that strategy, always starting with ridiculously extreme demands, and achieving compromises that are much closer to their goals.

Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter

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by: Gray @ Mon Jun 29, 2009 at 09:20:39 AM CDT