squashed notes “They’re good thoughts” in reference to this article. I’d call them indispensible. Particularly this:
1) The energy by progressive activists on behalf of the public option has done more good than harm, and by a wide margin.
2a) Nevertheless, the public option is/was a relatively minor part of the health care bill, at least once it became clear that it (i) wouldn’t be pegged to Medicare rates, and (ii) would only be available to a small fraction of the population.
2b) To claim that a health care bill without a public option is anything other than a huge achievement for progressives is, frankly, bullshit.
Absolutely right. It hurts to hear it, I know, but this is 100% the case. Sorry.
I think he’s both right and wrong on this, though:
Liberals have tended to underestimate what a significant political achievement it would be for Democrats to pass such a major bill that has become rather unpopular with the public.
Agreed on underestimation. What he leaves aside, though, is that Democrats in Congress don’t seem to appreciate that they are going to own this legislation. They’d better make it to their liking and damned effective too…because they are going to be the only ones defending it on the hustings in 2010 and 2012. That said, improvement over the current mire shouldn’t be too hard to achieve. The problem is, you need a group of policy-minded individuals who are genuinely looking to improve the situation rather than scratch the back of their favorite interest groups. So we’re in trouble.
Lemkin 