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If there is one thing the healthcare summit proved, its that despite President Obama's attempts at trying to suggest that Democrats and Republicans aren't that far apart, it is clear that there is a chasm between the two parties that will never be traversed. And this chasm, resulting in the two parties separation and going their own ways, will ironically,and eventually pave the way for using the process of reconciliation to pass a public option.
The summit showed that the differences between the two parties could not be more stark and the differences are basic and philosophical. The Democrats believe healthcare is a right not a privilege and Republicans believe healthcare is not a right and should be based on and made available according to market forces.
For Republicans there is no difference between being able to afford chemotherapy or a Cadillac. If you can afford it you get it and if you cant you dont. Republicans believe in the free market system for healthcare letting the same market forces apply to a doctor of orthopedic surgery as they do to Dr. Pepper.
And that, despite Obama's attempts at trying to paper over the irreconcilable differences, is a fundamental difference in how one looks at life and, like a married couple who realize they can no longer live together because they see life differently and want different things, Democrats are now prepared to be going it alone in passing healthcare reform ironically using reconciliation. Because its the only way to do it.
And they will do it despite the cold feet of some shaky Democratic congressman and Senators who are afraid that using reconciliation will seem "too partisan" as if that's some kind of a problem or something the American people care about. This small group of Democratic Chicken Littles will be largely ignored as using reconciliation to pass a public option has picked up steam in the senate in recent weeks and if nothing else, the healthcare summit has proved its that or nothing.
And using reconciliation to pass the public option will not only save healthcare reform, it will probably save the Democrats from significant defeats in the fall and ironically be the Republicans Waterloo.
The public option is favored by 61% of independents and over 90 % of Democrats and that one component accomplishes what 6 or 7 different fixes would be needed to fix a variety of problems. And unlike any other plan, the public option reduces the deficit by $168 billion over ten years.
Bipartisanship is never a goal worth achieving except in matters of war. It never relates to whether a bill is a good one or bad, whether it will succeed or fail. It was a foolish goal that Obama set from the start and all it did was waste a year and caused both Obama himself and the Democrats nothing but political grief.
Now it seems that reconciliation is the way to solve irreconcilable differences on healthcare between Democrats and Republicans. And if the public reacts as favorably as the polls say they will, it will put the Republicans in the position of either going along with future Democratic initiatives or face more break ups within their own party.
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