Maybe the Republicans are right....

[verges]

Perhaps it would be best to restart the Health care debate. Only this time, WE ACTUALLY GO FOR SINGLE PAYER!!!!

[Clio the Leo]

1. The last correct thing they did was run the dude with the stove pipe hat for President.

It's been down hill since then.

[verges]

2. TR was good.

The National Parks System. Granted, he was a Bullmoose when he proposed National Health Care. But he was a Repub!

[Clio the Leo]

4. Invented teddy bears .... yeah, I'll give you that one. NT

[verges]

6. Didn't actually invent them.

They were just named for him.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. I disagree. If the Dems fail this time, it's going to be much more difficult to get something done

in an election year.

Second, it's not going to make the Repukes nor the Blue Dogs any more susceptible to reform.

So there is some credibility to the argument that we need to get something done, even if it's not exactly what we want NOW!!

[MrModerate]

5. But today media reality seems to trump real reality and the media would see such an outcome . . .

As a huuuuuge defeat for Obama. They'd effectively write off his presidency and it would be insanely hard to restart it.

The model I draw hope from is Social Security. It started out massively flawed, with big holes and gross unfairnesses, but over the years it was refined into a solid (although still imperfect) social support mechanism that serves the majority of its beneficiaries quite well.

This is the time (IMO) to get the ball rolling in the right direction (or closer to right) on health care reform -- as opposed to heading off the cliff -- and continue improvements over time.

Single payer, although logical, was determined by Dem leaders to be Too Hard. Were they right? Maybe not, but we are where we are, and I'd prefer to not wreck Obama's presidency over this issue, because there's too much else to do.

That having been said, if all we get out of this is another 40 million guaranteed customers for the insurance companies without other substantial reforms (recission, exclusion), then it *will* be a failure and Obama's presidency will crater because the center and the left will desert him.

[TheKentuckian]

7. Nope, they are wrong as always.

Unless you can show me anything approaching 50 votes in the Senate. If the needle has moved any in that direction then its not much. Maybe up to double digits.