The NYT went through an article going through the motions onto how we got where we are today. The process was pushed primarily by two people. President Obama and Speaker Pelosi.
Pelosi and Obama revived the Health Bill
Rahm Emanuel, the Chief of Staff wanted to move onto other items. A reasonable request in light of the victory of Scott Brown. No one would blame President Obama or Speaker Pelosi for going for small ball after that.
Scott Brown, the upstart Republican, had just won his Senate race in Massachusetts, a victory that seemed to doom Mr. Obama’s dream of overhauling the nation’s health care system. The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, once Ms. Pelosi’s right hand man on Capitol Hill, was pushing Mr. Obama to scale back his ambitions and pursue a pared-down bill.
But they didn't go that route. They couldn't. They both shared a moral imperative that they had to pass the bill. They had to find a way to do this.
Now, in what could become a legislative Lazarus tale — or at least the most riveting cliffhanger of the Obama presidency so far— the House is set to take up the health bill for what Democrats hope will be the last time.
For Mr. Obama, who vowed earlier this month to do “everything in my power” to see the bill to fruition, the measure’s passage would be an extraordinary triumph. Its defeat could weaken him for the rest of his days in office.
That Mr. Obama has come this far — within a whisper of passing historic social legislation — is remarkable in itself. But the story of how he did it is not his alone. It is the story of how a struggling president partnered with a pair of experienced legislators — Ms. Pelosi and, to a lesser extent, Mr. Reid — to reach for a goal that Mr. Obama has often said had eluded his predecessors going back to Theodore Roosevelt.
The New York Times calls it a "legislative Lazarus tale". I call it dogmatic persistence. They both knew that this was the opportunity of a lifetime. Rahm, I'm sorry to say, didn't see it that way. But it really doesn't matter what Rahm thought about the matter. Rahm has done an excellent job in implementing the President's plan once that decision had been made.
Now, it's true, this legislation is not anywhere as good as it could be. It doesn't have a medicare public option. It doesn't have drug reimportation attached. It's compromised to hell, but that doesn't matter. We can and must build on this.
To those who are suggesting we could go better with small ball items like a simple medicare buy in for those 55 and older which they say would be good on its own, face the facts that it would be BETTER if it were part of this bill. Those advocating for such piecemeal moves are no better than Rahm Emanuel.
Should this pass, no one can ever state that this President or This Speaker are weak. No one. I'm sorry, getting a bill that was essentially dead and getting to the cusp of passage and beyond deserves to be recognized with Kudos, not with demerits.