This may be unpopular but we have to get a public option into the mix. Most everyone here agrees with that. Some want it as single payer, some want opt out. There is a possibility of opt in even.
But only a trigger will pass. It is the only way to get 60 votes. It shouldn't be that way but, well, it is fact. We can say all day long that a trigger shouldn't be required. I think it is so sad that it is required.
That doesn't change the math. The key is to build a trigger that will get used rather than ignored. Does anyone expect health care costs to go down? Will they go down even with a public option before 2012? So install a trigger that will automatically get pulled.
I am really a single payer system guy. The country will eventually get there but we have to be real. The fear level is too high at this point given the economy to get a single payer done. It is too high to get an opt-out system done.
The Right will begin screaming about jobs soon and actually, they have a point. It is a weak point but plays to the intense fear that exists for anyone unemployed. So what are our choices?
Opt-out just won't fly. No amount of "It's good for the country" speeches get this passed. That tactic, well used by Schumer, Reid and others got us this far. Thank you for that. I think some "art of war" is in order.
Think trigger in three years that starts one year after that. It leaves us close if not exactly where we are now. Heck, I'd even have the trigger be pulled after the 2012 elections. I really don't expect anyone to beat Obama. Who that might be is another post but we will win in 2012. The Republicans will be eating their young in 2010 and even more so in 2012.
A trigger that really says if in 3 years Health Care costs go up by more than 20%, the public option can be installed. I'm sure there would be a few other provisions. They can be wired also.
Build the thing so it will automatically get used. The greed in Health Care is SO STRONG, more so than in Banking, that they just won't be able to contain themselves.
It isn't popular but getting a public option is the real point. Years from now, how we did it won't matter. That we did it will. If we don't, then we get to where we are on immigration reform, which is nowhere with no momentum to get it done.
Oh, and ignore the House. They'll do what the Senate will do. They will hate it, they will fuss, they will affirm it.
Pray this gets done before Christmas as well or we are into the 2010 cycle. It is time to be practical, not idealistic, just get the ball rolling with a trigger and years from now, we will be better off than with no bill, which is where we are headed now.