Some people (my better side says that people is a good term) say that we should kill the bill and start over. This is honestly moronically stupid.
- We have 60 votes. We will probably never see a stronger Senate than this. yes, Nelson, Lincoln, Lieberman, Bayh, and so forth are disgusting. WE WILL PROBABLY NEVER HAVE 60 AGAIN. Possibly we will have 61 in 2010, possibly, BUT WHO CAN SAY FOR SURE?
- If this bill goes down, Obama is really badly wounded. We have financial reform to do, the Afghan war, immigration (the Gutierrez bill is dead on arrival), and many other priorities.
- In politics, winning is the deal. Success leads to success. Political capital is WINNING AT THE MOMENT. If you fail, more failures will come, because failure is ipso facto demonstration that your capital is absent. No one gives a SHIT if the bill loses for a good reason. A loss is a huge problem. Obama then is a one-termer.
- The bill is not great. I am holding my nose. It does many good things, owever, and we can incrementally fix it. Medicare was a much poorer program 45 years ago. It has been improved year by year.
The BILL MUST PASS. The rest of Obama Term 1 depends on this bill passing.