Legal Commentary

Political Realities

By Big Tent Democrat

Claiming the mantle of "political realist" has been the mantra of people supporting the Stand Alone Senate bill. In fact, political realists should have seen the fundamental political flaw of the Senate bill. John Judis describes it:

Where Obama invited a voter backlash was by letting the burden of reducing health care costs appear to fall on senior citizens and those middle-class workers who had acquired good health insurance through decades of union battles with management, and not on the insurance and drug companies. Obama ceded too much to the policy wonks who were devising intricate schemes to show they could cut the deficit. He took his eye of off the political imperative of keeping middle America in his corner.

(Emphasis supplied.) The Village Dems spent yesterday screaming "it's simple" - pass the Senate bill. This meltdown was revealing, the Village Dems have no connection to political reality. There simply is no doubt that, speaking politically, there is no worse feature in the health bill than the excise tax. It was an unproven policy that was sure to cause a political debacle. Indeed, it is the principal impediment to the House passing the Senate bill stand alone.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on January 21, 2010 (boomark / email).