Looks like we will have reconciliation, which I have long thought was the only way to pass a bill. [Clarification: I have thought that since the Massachusetts election: sidecar recon]
The sidecar fixes and passing the senate bill. I think the two houses will work out the order in which they are passed and I trust Speaker Pelosi's ability to get a deal that can be enforced with the Senate. Not legally enforced, but enforced nonetheless. A deal in which any senator who reneged would be committing political suicide.
Anyway, I have some excerpts of the text of Obama's remarks for this afternoon.
This is key to me:
"At stake right now is not just our ability to solve this problem, but our ability to solve any problem. The American people want to know if it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act. They are waiting for us to lead. And as long as I hold this office, I intend to provide that leadership. I don't know how this plays politically, but I know it's right. And so I ask Congress to finish its work, and I look forward to signing this reform into law."
I like this. Turning the "bureaucrats" argument back on the Republicans:
"I don't believe we should give government bureaucrats or insurance company bureaucrats more control over health care in America. I believe it's time to give the American people more control over their own health insurance. I don't believe we can afford to leave life-and-death decisions about health care to the discretion of insurance company executives alone. I believe that doctors and nurses like the ones in this room should be free to decide what's best for their patients.
Time: Excerpts: Obama on Path Ahead for Health Reform March 3, 2010
He appears to be hitting good themes and addressing Republican smears on the bills:
The proposal I've put forward gives Americans more control over their health care by holding insurance companies more accountable. It builds on the current system where most Americans get their health insurance from their employer. If you like your plan, you can keep your plan. If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. Because I can tell you that as the father of two young girls, I wouldn't want any plan that interferes with the relationship between a family and their doctor."
Time: Excerpts: Obama on Path Ahead for Health Reform March 3, 2010
This is where we ended up after over a year. And he says the bill itself is bipartisan, even if no Rs vote for it, because it contains Republican ideas:
"So this is our proposal. This is where we've ended up. It's an approach that has been debated and changed and I believe improved over the last year. It incorporates the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans – including some of the ideas that Republicans offered during the health care summit, like funding state grants on medical malpractice reform and curbing waste, fraud, and abuse in the health care system. My proposal also gets rid of many of the provisions that had no place in health care reform – provisions that were more about winning individual votes in Congress than improving health care for all Americans."
Time: Excerpts: Obama on Path Ahead for Health Reform March 3, 2010
I suppose he must, but I hate rewarding Republicans by weakening the plan (no PO) in exchange for no votes. Nonetheless, here we are and we need to pass what we can.
It's time to come together. I'm sure the actual speech will have much more, but these excerpts seem fine with me.
Fired Up!
Ready to Go!
Let's pass a bill that helps people and then start the next day after it's signed to fix it. In the long run, I think single payer is the only way, and progressives are not giving up on that fight. We start the day after this bill is signed. (Clarification in case this is ambiguous: I mean after the senate bill and recon bill are signed. When I say bill, I mean both of them. Even with the recon bill, there will be much left to fix in the future. So I expect the recon fix to be signed within a week of the senate bill and then we start working again.)
Am I a sellout? I don't think so. I think the bill will help people, and, therefore, it's worth it. So make the fixes we can, get committments of the recon sidecar, and work together to pass the bill and fixes. That's my view.
Update I: More from McJoan's post on the front page. I like how President Obama frames reconciliation:
So, no matter which approach you favor, I believe the United States Congress owes the American people a final vote on health care reform. We have debated this issue thoroughly, not just for a year, but for decades. Reform has already passed the House with a majority. It has already passed the Senate with a supermajority of sixty votes. And now it deserves the same kind of up-or-down vote that was cast on welfare reform, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, COBRA health coverage for the unemployed, and both Bush tax cuts – all of which had to pass Congress with nothing more than a simple majority.
I have therefore asked leaders in both of Houses of Congress to finish their work and schedule a vote in the next few weeks. From now until then, I will do everything in my power to make the case for reform. And I urge every American who wants this reform to make their voice heard as well – every family, every business owner, every patient, every doctor, every nurse.