Obamacare Could Fail Because His Own Party Doesn't Trust Him

Jim Geraghty has some thoughts on the state of play in the House as they consider passing a bill they don't like because Obama and the Senate is promising to fix it:

I do think that House Democrats would be foolish to pass the Senate bill on a promise that the Senate will fix things. I picture a courier leaving the House the moment the majority vote is cast, and instead of going to the other side of Capitol Hill to the Senate, breaking away to a waiting motorcade that speeds down Pennsylvania Avenue with several dozen horrified, betrayed House Democrats chasing after it on foot, mortified that they've just been tricked into signing the Louisiana Purchase and Cornhusker Kickback into law in exchange for a pile of magic beans. If fear of this scenario is what drives a sufficient number of House Democrats to say, "I can't take that gamble," then, in a perfect irony of politics, what ultimately kills Obamacare will be the inevitable, inescapable, indisputable, and ubiquitous expiration dates of the president's statements and promises. In the end, perhaps his agenda will implode because not enough members of his own party trust him.

Geraghty coined the term "all of Obama's promises come with expiration dates" and that will certainly be true with his promise to "fix" the bill to House standards. There's really no reason for the Senate, which likes the bill as is, to go along with this once the bill is passed by the House and signed by the president. My guess is once Obamacare becomes law all efforts to fix it will die and we'll be stuck with the very bad Senate bill.

If Democrats want to return to their jobs next year, they have the chance right now to be a hero in their districts by standing up to the pressure from Obama and Pelosi and just say no. I'm thinking that a lot of Democrats are looking for whatever excuse they can find to vote against this thing.