Comments on: Democrat Defeatism

By: Thomas Joseph

Thomas Joseph — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:40:13 +0000

Philip, I imagine you are right. It’s certainly going to be an opportunity lost. One can only hope that, if this fails (like it did in Clinton’s time) that we can see a shift in the Obama administrations policies (like we did with Clinton) that will see us get a balanced budget and tackle other pressing concerns. An effort to revitalize the economy, and tackle environmental issues for example.

I think Health Care is an important objective, and needs to be met sooner rather than later. The problem, as I see it, is that EVERYONE in DC is beholden to special interest groups, be they unions, the insurance companies, big business, various lobbies, which means this thing will be a mess until they decide to just get together, shut the doors to all outsiders and give us a bill that freakin works.

By: Philip H

Philip H — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:03:53 +0000

Thomas, Friend, the short answer is No. Republicans see absolutely no need to play here, much less compromise, and Democrats are so afraid of leading they will continue to dither until it dies. Even at 60 votes (which I question given the Blue Dog phenominon) Democrats were never willing to lead and suffer the consequences.

By: Thomas Joseph

Thomas Joseph — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:52:13 +0000

My question is … will this send both parties to the table to draw up a workable, economically feasible medical coverage plan which will maximize coverage and keep costs (and taxes) reasonable?

One can only hope so, but with the current warm bodies (and they’re really nothing else) sitting in DC I will not hold out much hope of that happening.

By: Philip H

Philip H — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:28:16 +0000

I have to agree with Ezra’s assessment – Nationally, Democrats aren’t showing a lot of leadership, and they are too often and too quickly trading away key planks o ftheir electoral victory in the name of false and unsuccessful bipartisanship.

That and there was a nose-in-the-air assumption that no Republican could win Kennedy’s seat. That campaign manager needs a long sabatical in the wilderness to think that one over.