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Democrats are going to try and go it alone on Obama's health care bill
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All the pieces are now in place for an attempted ram through of a massive health care bill — replete with a public option — that most Americans still oppose. The stage was set on Sunday by David Axelrod during an appearance on CBS News "Face the Nation."
"He continues to believe it's a good idea," Axelrod told CBS News Chief Washington correspondent and "Face the Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer about a government-funded alternative to private health insurance. "He continues to advocate it, and I'm not willing to accept that it's not going to be in the final package."
Although he appeared to straddle the public option issue during his address to a joint session of Congress last week, Axelrod's statement yesterday seems to indicate that the Democrats are prepared to go it alone. The big question is whether they can secure 50 votes in the Senate.
The pathetic and illusory fig leaf thrown to Republicans on medical malpractice reform was nothing more than a ruse to pave the way for the health care bill to be passed through the budget Reconciliation process by way of a simple majority of votes in the Senate.
As was his modus operandi all along, Obama can appear to be the sweet voice of reasonableness in the eyes of independent voters. He can argue that he offered to include in his plan a key Republican issue, and when it is rejected (for the sham that it is), he can say that the Republicans are the party of No and are just obstructionists.
This is a mighty risky strategy though. It is still not clear whether the Democrats can garner the required 50 votes in the Senate. Obama received a modest bounce in the polls after his health care speech last Wednesday, but opposition to his health care plan, particularly the public option, has not attenuated.
Even if Democrats are successful in passing the health care legislation, there is a significant risk that they will pay a heavy price during the mid-term elections in 2010, as most voters would view any such action as a massive and unforgivable betrayal.
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