Then, in July, the White House faced a key decision. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, probably the most important of the five committees considering health care, had spent months negotiating with his Republican counterpart, Chuck Grassley, with little to show for it. Emanuel was getting antsy. He gathered his top aides and pressed for a way to hurry the process along. The Senate labor committee had produced its own health care bill. Perhaps, Emanuel wondered, Majority Leader Harry Reid could bypass Baucus and bring it to the floor. Or maybe Baucus could just stop bargaining with Grassley and let Reid move a more partisan version of his bill.As Drum observes, we wonder sometimes whether Obama believes the "bipartisan" thing, and it appears the answer is "yes."
But, in the end, Obama himself favored letting Baucus negotiate until September....In fairness, even internal skeptics believed a bipartisan package might be attainable. The problem was that, overlaid on a strategy based on speed and momentum, the extra two months exacted a major cost.
Which means, Obama is a moron. And so are the "internal skeptics." The Republicans Do. Not. Care. About. America. They care about destroying Obama and regaining control of the government (in that order). This has been evident since the Clinton administration, and having a black guy in the White House has not exactly worked to reverse the trend. Obama's "healthcare reform" could've been limited to setting a $50 cap on med-mal awards, and the GOP still would've opposed it. (See another Drum catch: small GOP donors are motivated by fear, reactionary views, and loathing for Obama ... says the GOP!)
The House passed healthcare. The Senate passed a largely compatible version. It should've been signed in January. But no. Because liberals are morons. It beats being redneck totalitarians, but really, that's rather faint praise.
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