I've never written a diary on this site before, just read the front page and recommended diaries, so I feel like this is kind of pointless, but after 59 minutes and 43 seconds of conversation with my best friend about what the fuck is wrong, I felt like posting it (his phone died, otherwise we would have gone on longer).
We lost healthcare. Both electorally and on substance. The bill we're debating pushing through the house will not help in November, not, in my opinion, will help long term. The Senate bill will not affect the cost curve.
So assuming that the senate bill is not going to help the real issue (which is the USA spending more per capita on healthcare but receiving lesser results), I posit the following:
One side or the other (assuming there are only two honest players in the healthcare debate, i.e. congressional leadership and the White house, and I have my doubts about both) needs to be honest and admit the fight is lost. The best that can be hoped for is Dean's 55+ medicare. Why not send the President out to announce that elections matter? That the democrats, despite feeling that it's a mistake, are dropping HCR, because the people of one of the most liberal states have spoken, and seem to have spoken against HCR (*1).
So we're dropping HCR, and wish the working class well while their HCI raises faster than their wages. But we are unwilling to leave the most at risk in jeopardy, so we are introducing a bill to open up Medicare to buy-ins from those citizens 55+. At cost. Abortion is no issue (age). Citizenship should be no political issue (The right views immigrants as young mexicans). And the 55-62 group will electorally outweigh any negatives among the 62+ group.
No other reform. No mandate. No options, public or otherwise. Sorry everyone else. We'll see you in ten years.
Then move on to jobs. We have a very small window. The best designed jobs bill will take 6 months minimum to turn things around. A well designed but not optimal jobs bills will be longer. Best case scenario the jobs bill is perfect and we have unemployment drop before the election. Second best-case scenario is that unemployment drops in 2011 after we lose the house and senate, and then either a:) Clinton b:) Gore or c:) a Western Governor wins nomination and the White House.
Either way, if Obama doesn't pass a perfect jobs bill by March, what is the path to his reelection?
(*1) Coakley ran a bad campaign, and the WH and DNC didn't pay attention early enough. But let's get real and look at what happened while her numbers dropped. We lost HCR reform. I'm 27 and this battle was for me. But we lost. Our message was weak, our zone defense was off, we fucked up and owe every democrat who attempted it before us an apology.