So, is the President’s healthcare proposal on the ropes? It depends on who you ask. William Kristol seems to think so. Kristol was the chief architect of the demise of the Clinton healthcare proposals back in the early nineties, and he is pleading with his allies to “pull no punches” in trying to knock Obama’s plan out of the sky. Specifically, he is afraid that anti-healthcare advocates may begin laying off their attacks and begin being, you know, responsible. From his article:
With Obamacare on the ropes, there will be a temptation for opponents to let up on their criticism, and to try to appear constructive, or at least responsible. There will be a tendency to want to let the Democrats' plans sink of their own weight, to emphasize that the critics have been pushing sound reform ideas all along and suggest it's not too late for a bipartisan compromise over the next couple of weeks or months.
My advice, for what it's worth: Resist the temptation. This is no time to pull punches. Go for the kill.
How practical. Kristol doesn’t try to hide his contempt for even a constructive or responsible piece of legislation. Well, if Kristol wants to keep the criticism up, he does have some other anti-healthcare allies to help him with it. Bobby Jindal, who introduced himself to the country earlier this year in rocky fashion will try do so again this week, but this time on paper, and not TV (where hopefully he won’t make a mockery out of himself – again). He plans to release a couple of op-eds chiming in on the healthcare debate. Embattled RNC chairman Michael Steele says that if the GOP can defeat Obama on this one issue, then this will be “his Waterloo.”
But there is plenty of evidence to suggest that pro healthcare advocates may be on the cusp of a breakthrough as well. There were whispers last week that a compromise may soon be reached which would deliver a number of Senators who are on the fence. Many of these same Senators were the targets of a campaign style advertisement delivered by Organizing for America:
The ad is being released in markets which would affect Ben Nelson (D-NE), Susan Collins (R-NH), Olympia Snowe (R-NH), Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Kent Conrad (D-ND) as well as retiring Republicans Mel Martinez (R-FL), and George Voinovich (R-OH).
For their part, Nelson, Collins, Snowe, Landrieu, along with Ron Wyden (R-OR), and Joe Lieberman (I-CN), sent a letter to the Party leaders in the Senate urging them to slow down on the healthcare vote, but still emphasizing that a bill needs to be passed this year. From the letter, which was drafted by Nelson:
In the current debate about our health care system, we are firmly committed to enactment of comprehensive reform this year. That reform must reduce premiums and administrative costs, expand choices, and increase coverage for all Americans. We are eager to work constructively with Senate leadership and agree that this is an historic opportunity which makes it imperative to proceed thoughtfully and responsibly. Our efforts will affect virtually every American.
The American people expect us to adopt comprehensive health reform that addresses the priorities we have outlined without detrimentally affecting those who have health insurance or increasing the national debt. This week, Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf testified that the currently introduced health reform bills will not reduce costs. We are faced with the dual challenges of pressing ahead to pass legislation by the end of the year and to produce the reform the American people need.
We appreciate the work that has been done by Senators on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Finance committees, but in view of the Budget Director's statement, there is much heavy lifting ahead. We support the efforts of Finance Committee members to produce a bipartisan bill, despite calls from both sides of the aisle to rush forward or delay indefinitely. While we are committed to providing relief for American families as quickly as possible, we believe taking additional time to achieve a bipartisan result is critical for legislation that affects 17 percent of our economy and every individual in the U.S.
We look forward to working with you to develop legislation that is vital to the well-being of the American people and urge you to resist timelines which prevent us from achieving the best result. This opportunity is rare and the impact will last for generations.
As you can tell from the parts that I have added emphasis to, The group of Senators recognize that this is an important opportunity, that a clear majority of Americans expect healthcare reform, and that they are not promising to block that reform, as has been suggested, but simply want time to analyze its potential impact.
The letter suggests that their votes may come as a bloc. It would be very important to both sides of the debate to win their support seeing as the Democrats cannot possibly win a cloture motion without Democrats like Nelson, Independents like Lieberman, and backup support from Republicans like Collins and Snowe. If these six pledge to vote for the reform package, then it passes.
Another ad is running in another nine states, with an $800,000 ad buy made by Healthcare for America Now:
Ben Smith suggests that the President is now well into his first post-honeymoon engagement of his Presidency. He is right. The President is going to have to push a lot harder this time to get his legislative victory, but it looks like the President is well prepared, and is already fighting hard. I expect to see the healthcare legislation being debated into the fall. I also expect to see it passed by the time the fall is over.
