Code crackers
From the Chicago Tribune:
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Last Wednesday was supposed to be Sen. Max Baucus’ “Da Vinci Code” moment. It would be the day that the Montana Democrat and his moderate Republican colleagues would announce that they’d cracked the code, crafted a health-care reform bill that could attract both Democratic and Republican votes.
It didn’t work out that way. . . . Most encouraging: Unlike the Democratic House bill, the $856 billion Baucus plan wouldn’t add to the federal deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office. It reduces the deficit by $49 billion over 10 years. . . . The Baucus bill could be a key moment in the health-care debate, if Democrats recognized it as a significant step toward compromise on a bill some Republicans could support. Instead, many Democrats see Baucus as a traitor to their cause. . . . They should pick up on the Baucus plan and filter in some Republicans’ ideas for cost containment and competition. For their part, Republicans ought to start selling their ideas. Right now they sound like the party of ‘no.’ . . . [AO: Let’s summarize:
(1) Last Wednesday, Sen. Baucus delivered the bill he and his moderate Republican colleagues drafted. No republican would support the bill. Not even the Republican senators who helped
(2) The bill actually reduces cost by $49 billion dollars over 10 years. Pause.
(3) Democrats should see this as a step toward a bill Republicans can support (read: a step toward a Republican Bill, not a bipartisan bill).
(4) What the plan needs is to fix the cost problem before Republicans can support it.
But wait, I thought under #2, there was no cost problem? Am I missing something? *confused look* ] |
Read the full opinion HERE.
