Dems Think They Can Pass Health Care on Their Own

If they do 2010 will be a bloodbath:

Given hardening Republican opposition to congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance for the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.

Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans' purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month's congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair.

The White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said of Republican lawmakers, "Only a handful seem interested in the type of comprehensive reform that so many people believe is necessary to ensure the principles and the goals that the president has laid out."

The Democratic shift may not make producing a final bill much easier. The party must still reconcile the views of moderate and conservative Democrats worried about the cost and scope of the legislation with those of more progressive lawmakers determined to win a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurers.

On the other hand, such a change could alter the dynamic of talks surrounding health care legislation, and even change the substance of a final bill. With no need to negotiate with Republicans, Democrats might be better able to focus their energy to move more quickly, relying on their large majorities in both houses. Democratic senators might feel more empowered, for example, to define the authority of the nonprofit insurance cooperatives that are emerging as an alternative to a public insurance plan.

Republicans have used the congressional break to dig in hard against the overhaul outline drawn by Democrats. The Senate's No. 2 Republican, Jon Kyl of Arizona, is the latest member of the opposition to weigh in strongly, saying Tuesday that the public response lawmakers were seeing over the summer break should persuade Democrats to scrap their approach and start over.

"I think it is safe to say there are a huge number of big issues that people have," Kyl told reporters in a conference call from Arizona. "There is no way that Republicans are going to support a trillion-dollar-plus bill."

The White House has also interpreted critical comments by Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican negotiator in a crucial Finance Committee effort to reach a bipartisan compromise, as a sign that there is little hope of reaching a deal politically acceptable to both parties.

The White House, carefully following Grassley's activities, presumed he was no longer interested in negotiating with Democrats after he initially made no effort to debunk misinformation that the legislation could lead to "death panels" empowered to judge who would receive care.

Further, Grassley said this week that he would vote against a bill unless it had wide support from Republicans, even if it included all the provisions he wanted. "I am negotiating for Republicans," he told MSNBC.

Part of me would like to see them try this and watch the voter revolt run dozens of Dems out of office. However, the obvious downside is we'll end up with nationalized health care and it will be too late to kill it.

I don't think there's any guarantee the Dems can come up with a bill that will satisfy all of their various factions. Those congressmen coming up for reelection next year (all of the House and 1/3rd of the Senate) will be worried about the fallout. The progressives will demand a strong public option while the Blue Dogs know it will cause their defeat.

This could all still be pretty fun to watch.