I Was Told There Would Be No Math
Disarray — the Republicans perfected it, but the Democrats seem determined to catch up. Read:
House healthcare negotiations dissolved in acrimony on Friday, with Blue Dog Democrats saying they were “lied” to by their Democratic leaders.
The seven Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stormed out of a Friday meeting with their committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saying Waxman had been negotiating in bad faith over a number of provisions Blue Dogs demanded be changed in the stalled healthcare bill.
“I’ve been lied to,” Blue Dog Coalition co-chairman Charlie Melancon (D-La.) said on Friday. “We have not had legitimate negotiations.”
The takeaway line comes a little later in the story: “We are trying to save this bill and trying to save this party,” said Arkansas Democrat Mike Ross.
Some might say this is the moment for a third party to arise. But to have a real third party, don’t we need two real ones already?
They have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, a 70 seat lead in the House, and their man in the oval office, and they still can’t get it done. Fortunately. Yet somehow, I’m sure they will figure out how to blame Bush and the Repubs. If they weren’t so lame they would be dangerous.
Henry Waxman? Negotiate in bad faith? No! How can it be?
I’m reminded of a scene in the movie “A Bridge Too Far”. The movie is about the Market/Garden battle in the Netherlands in 1944. In this scene at the beginning of the battle a line of British tanks is moving down a road when they are attacked by the defending Germans who have a clear view of the British Tanks on the narrow road.
The Germans lose the skirmish, but the battle is costly and nasty to the British. At this point in the scene, Michael Caine rides up to one of the surviving British Tank Commanders, talks to him and says “What truly worries me now is that this part of the road were on now? well this is the wide part”.
This is the Presidents first summer in office and we have three more years of fun an frivolity to go. This, as they said in the movie, is “the wide part” from here, it gets harder and nastier.
No matter what side of the political argument you are on, its gonna be a long 4 years and this part now? Well, this is “the wide part”.
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch of statists.
Ummm, yeah. Look, I know all about momentum, but They’re going to ram this through somehow, in some form.
The Democrats aren’t stupid–they know that full control of two branches of the government is not a permanent condition. For many of them, this is going to be their last hurrah in elected government. Since the whole Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac thing fell apart, and the academe isn’t looking so healthy, they need a new hideout for out-of-office Democrats to go get rich.
They’ve got another year before the congressional elections get serious, and nationalized health care is just loaded with too many juicy opportunities for wannabe rent-seekers. They’ll pass something, no matter what.
And in 2011, there’s going to be a lot of Democrats hanging out their shingles as health-care “fixers”, or whatever they decide to call it.
Something will pass. It’s just a matter of political cover for the Congressmen in the close districts. Remember the stimulus bill? The one that barely had enough to pass? Do you really think there wasn’t more Democratic support for it or that there wasn’t the willingness to put everyone supporter’s name on it? I’m guessing the second option is more likely. Those are the same deals being made right now, not whether it will pass but who gets the privilige of a concerned and principled vote against. And those Senators and Congressmen in purpler districts wanted some time to make future deals with their vote.
It’s not if, but when.