The seeds of the Great Health Care Panic of 2009 were sown in early July, when GOP strategist Alex Castellanos sent out a memo offering poll-tested language Republicans could use to destroy Obama’s plans for health care. “If we slow this sausage-making process down, we can defeat it,” he reasoned.
Rep. Jim DeMint sounded the war cry on Friday, stating that “If we’re able to stop Obama on this it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” The GOP immediately charged:
- Rep. Michell Bachman (best known for dodging the census) stated that “On the 16th page, it says whatever health care you have now, it’s going to be gone within five years. So your current health care plan, you’re not going to have in five years. What you’re going to have is a government plan and a federal bureau is going to decide what you get or if you get anything at all.” Unfortunately, that claim is flat-out false: page 16 is actually titled “Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage.” As former Campus Progress wonk Ezra Klein notes, “[the private insurer] just has to offer itself through the Exchange and follow the new rules, like not jacking up your prices because you had strep throat last year.” But facts didn’t stop the Wall Street Journal from making the claim in an editorial.
- Sen. Orrin Hatch withdrew from the Senate Finance Committee talks, citing an “unwilling[ness for the Democrats] to roll up their sleeves and agree to protect a bipartisan health care compromise from being gutted on the Senate floor and in a conference with the House.” Remember, the Finance Committee is the one responsible for the do-nothing reforms meant to create a bipartisan agreement.
- The Wall Street Journal published an editorial by Bobby Jindal which echos word-for-word the policy suggestions given in Castellanos’ memo. Unfortunately, these are the same ones proposed by Republican bills on both sides of Congress; every single “reform” proposed by these bills were just taken down by the Wonk Room. A quick sample of the many holes exposed reveals why RNC chairman Michael Steele “doesn’t do policy”:
The [Senate Republican bill] eliminates the exclusion and taxes the full value of an individual’s employer-sponsored coverage. The other [Republican] alternatives don’t specify how they would treat the exclusion. Still, all of these proposals break up the employer-pool by encouraging younger workers to opt out of their current coverage and purchase insurance elsewhere. The departure of healthy workers from employer insurance pools would drive up average health costs, forcing more workers to opt out entirely. This unravels employer health insurance for Americans who prefer it.
The media seemed to buy in. “The conventional wisdom here is that [Obama is] on the ropes here on health care,” NBC’s David Gregory claimed. Yet, several days later, he admitted the media had “created this drama,” and that some kind of reform was bound to pass.
Proof of that can be found in the roundtables being held between President Obama and the moderate-Democrat coalition Blue Dogs, who have postponed markups in the House Energy and Commerce Committee for three days (and counting) in order to discuss their various issues with the bill. Panicked headlines, like “Obama’s Health Care Agenda Stalls in Congress,” immediately went to press. But it appears as if the Blue Dogs are willing to compromise with the administration; the first reform to come out of the meetings is a great one. It appears as if Blue Dogs, realizing just how important this bill is, are working to compromise and construct a better bill as opposed to obstructing it Republican-style. Nancy Pelosi notes that “some of the concerns the Blues have raised are concerns others have raised as well. The public option is going to happen. They recognize that.”
Health Care reform bills that include a public option have passed 3 of the 5 committees holding jurisdiction over the reform on Capitol Hill, something that didn’t occur back in ‘93. The fact that only one has been delayed in markup is rather extraordinary, and since this seems to have served to strengthen the bill and (finally) draw the Democrats together, it can only be a good thing (in moderation).
Speaker Pelosi is still planning to hold the final vote in the House before the August recess. Republicans realize that, contrary to their statements, the passage of real health care reform could be their Waterloo. If there is any a time to call or write your Congressmen about the importance of real reform, it is now. The House vote is expected on July 29; Campus Progress and Health Care for America NOW will have a National Day of Action on July 28th. Get Ready!