Ruth Marcus on Health Care Reform
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“There are any number of good reasons for House Democrats to vote against health-care reform. Abortion isn't one of them. At least, it shouldn't be. There is scant difference between the House bill that antiabortion advocates deem acceptable and the Senate version they claim would allow federal funds to underwrite abortions.”
“The real target of presidential bidding is his own party -- specifically House Democrats. The White House hopes that Blair House will be the new Baltimore, a venue, like Obama's meeting with the Republican caucus, where a nimble president outdebates the opposition, thus stiffening Democratic spines for the difficult legislative road ahead.”
“I've been trying, because I'd truly like to see health reform pass, to find something nice to say about President Obama's plans for a summit. Another summit, that is, nearly a year after the first one. Here's the best I could come up with: It can't hurt. Consider it Chicken Soup for the Legislative Soul.”
“Help wanted: Brave senator or senators willing to champion amendment creating fail-safe mechanism to control health-care spending.”
“Is Congress going through the ordeal of trying to enact health-care reform only to have one of the main pillars -- requiring individuals to obtain insurance -- declared unconstitutional? An interesting debate for a constitutional law seminar. In the real world, not a big worry.”
“Let's dispense with three fallacies swirling about the question of abortion coverage in health-care reform.”
“I'm not a huge fan of the House measure, but I was glad to see it straggle across the finish line, if only to keep the process going.”
“When Ron Wyden talks about health-care reform, people should listen. When Ron Wyden balks at a Democratic health-care reform proposal, people should definitely listen.”
“[Recent] inflammatory statements do a disservice to a complex issue of public policy: how, in the context of health reform, to balance the deeply felt views of both sides in the abortion debate.”
“If health reform passes, [Grassley] will be remembered more for his role in making that happen than whether he was elected to a sixth term or what committee he served on as ranking member.”
“In the longer term, Democrats-only health reform is a perilous enterprise; the risk of being blamed exceeds the chances for political reward.”
“The politics of health-care make the F-22 fight look simple. It won't be easy to expand coverage in a way that controls costs.”
“The health-care debate is focused these days way too much on the tail and not nearly enough on the rest of the dog.”
“Is this health-care deja vu all over again, the Clinton disaster of 1993-94 revisited?”
