The foot in the door theory...

[kentuck]

Republicans are not very concerned about single-payer passing the Congress. They are concerned that something may pass that will be "fixed" later. That is why they are running scared.

Once any bill is passed, it can be amended down the road and improved with whatever features might be needed, including single payer. It would be much easier to pass amendments once the main bill is passed. The final product does not have to look like the inital plan. That is what scares the Republicans.

And that is why they are fighting any reform. It doesn't matter if it is blue dog or yellow dog. They understand the consequences of getting a health reform bill passed. They will resort to lies, deception, racism, scare tactics, whatever is needed, to destroy the idea of health care reform.

[xchrom]

1. the reverse of that is also true -- they cam make it worse over time.

republicans and conservative dems have been taking good legislation and making it worse -- i.e. welfare -- and they've gotten pretty good at it.

it's that make it small enough to drown in a bathtub thingy.

[ieoeja]

7. Not just small, but incompetent enough that people want to get rid of it.

The Cons talk about bureaucracy is a very true worry. If we had our way, we'd let doctors make all the decisions. But you know the Cons are going to add "cost cutting" measures every chance they get. They will create the very bureaucracy they fear. Then use the problem they create to make people want to re-privatize the whole thing.

[xchrom]

8. all of that and more --

appeal to the 'greed' of The People while screwing them and you can what reagan started and deregulate and privatize everything.

now the 'greatest' country on earth is reduced to using mercenaries.

[Romulox]

2. The Democrats control both houses. It's not Republicans who are preventing Single Payer

:hi:

[kentuck]

4. It's sixty votes that are preventing Single Payer...

The reality is that they do not have that many votes for it so could not stop a filibuster in the Senate.

[Romulox]

9. 60 votes aren't required to pass legislation in the Senate.

The whole filibuster thing is a bullshit excuse that the Dems are terrified of losing. The entire procedure can be changed on a majority vote.

:hi: :hi:

[kentuck]

12. I agree...

Once it is passed.

[crickets]

5. Ding! -nt

:thumbsup:

[rockymountaindem]

10. No, it's the fact that probably no more than even 20 Dems. think it's a good idea

There is no tactical way to get it to pass. All the spine in the world won't make a difference if such a small minority of Senators even believe it's a good idea on principle.

[eleny]

3. They know how Medicare can be extended to younger and younger people

That's why they keep up their mantra that Medicare is totally broken and that it will go bankrupt sooner than expected. It's important to give Medicare a punch in the eye at every opportunity because it's the real deal.

Medicare age goes down and SCHIP age goes up until they meet in the middle. That's the Republican nightmare #1 regarding health care.

[Cresent City Kid]

6. I think there's two sides to the fear of amendments

One is the things that might realistically be added later like taxing the rich to pay for healthcare reform, just to name one. Then there's the "slippery slope" tactic where they conjure up gloomy scenarios that have no basis in reality, like the "this bill kills the elderly" nonsense they're saying is in the current bill.

[Naturyl]

11. This is true. Social Security started small, too.

It's why I'm willing to settle for a public option. Once we have a foot in the door, it can be expanded over time.