Daschle, Feinstein, Kennedy -- all in discord. Once again, it looks like Bush is going to slice and dice the congressional democrat caucus. We're witnessing some brilliant -- and brutal -- politics here. How damaging is this? What's the best response?
It's hard to overestimate how significant this legislation is to Bush's policy and political goals. This goes all the way back to how Bush stabbed a dagger into Trent Lott's back and quickly put in Dr. Frist -- even that first week Frist announced that pres. drugs would be his main focus.
Then -- they wangle the AARP endorsement, splitting that organization in two. The backstory on the horse-trading behind that endorsement is still emerging.
Then -- they take the hard-line House Republican position (privatize everything now!) and tweak that in a way that makes the final bill much less politically damaging.
So, for example, nothing takes place until 2006. Shouldn't this get more attention and criticism? The Washington Post has an interesting article today ("Bush Poised to Claim Victory") already alluding to the 2006 midterm elections. And, in 2006 they suggest a "labratory" approach, rather than a dramatic overhaul. In short, the benefits -- eventually you'll get cheaper drugs -- are easy to understand. The downsides -- the complicated payment scheme, the complicated way they are funelling money to private insurance companies -- are really hard to understand and won't directly effect seniors for a good three years.
In the face of this, Bush has once again split the democratic party.
How do we absorb, understand and begin to reverse the political damage?