Speaker Pelosi’s gavel had barely hit the block when the emails started to fly. Democrats talking about the historic moment health care reform was finally passed; Republicans having yet another tantrum because they did not get their way, threatening to repeal the measure and bring a constitutional challenge. The passage of health care reform, to be signed by President Obama on Tuesday, is truly historic; unfortunately, we can’t pop the champagne just yet.
Republicans are now threatening a new round of tantrums as they try to derail passage of the reconciliation bill passed on Sunday night by the House. The reconciliation bill is important because it contains a set of “fixes”, (including the special deals like the Louisiana purchase) made to the senate version of the bill that were critical to winning passage in the House. Both chambers must pass the reconciliation language in its exact form in order to become law or the whole deal starts to unravel. The bad news is that republicans have made it clear that while they cannot filibuster the bill they are prepared to propose an endless stream of amendments designed to create a change in the language which would send it back to the House and in effect start the unraveling.
The good news is that Senator Reid has worked hard to get the 50 votes needed to pass reconciliation and there is a complicated process by which if push comes to shove, Vice President Biden can end the GOP shenanigans and clear the way for reconciliation to pass. What all of that means is that it will again be another “critical” week for health care reform. There are a number of factors that played an important role in getting health care passed that may have significant consequences to where things go from here:
1) The hate speech and vile behavior from tea-partiers over the weekend has created a challenge for the GOP going forward. On the one hand GOP leadership in Washington has relied heavily on the tea-party movement to legitimize their lies about healthcare reform through somewhat organized “grassroots” protests. The media attention these protests have gotten helped to further the GOP cause of killing reform, but over the weekend it went too far. As republicans work overtime to court the support of the tea-partiers they may well continue to lose support among moderates and true conservatives who already have felt that the GOP was becoming too aligned with a radical fringe and more open to supporting Democrats like President Obama.
2) With the passage of health care reform, Democrats can make a strong case to voters that we not only stand up and fight for our values, we keep our promises and can work within a diverse range of opinions and beliefs to accomplish great things for the common good. One of the many significant moments on Sunday was Congressman Stupak’s brave decision to support the bill, and President Obama’s willingness to say to the members of the democratic pro-life caucus, we respect your values and there is a place for you in our party, without compromising our core values. While I have been critical of the Stupak amendment, which is an insult to women, at the end of the day we were able to focus on our shared belief in the importance of health care for every American.
WATCH THIS TODAY SHOW REPORT ON HEALTH REFORM’S NEXT MOVE:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
3) With his speech on Sunday night, Congressman Boehner could not have made the contrast between the message from each party: Where Boehner made it clear Republicans believe, “No we can’t” Democrats know that ” yes we can”. Most Americans see our country as a “can do” nation – while we are undergoing tough times, part of what makes us special is that our nation pulls together and moves ahead in tough times, that is our history. Whereas Obama is calling us to believe in something bigger and to have faith, the republicans cannot seem to get out of their own way with their negativity and political games. As they engage in more foolishness over the next week, it should become increasingly clear to voters who puts America first and who puts politics first.
4) There were any number of mistakes and turning points, but two really made the difference in the end. First, the decision to open President Obama’s appearance at the GOP retreat to the media. That day, in the middle of a lot of anxiety, doubt and criticism, the president reminded us why we elected him – while most get distracted by the shiny objects designed to distract, distort and divide, he stays focused on the business at hand. From that moment to the bi-partisan summit at Blair House, Obama regained his mojo on the issue and republicans seemed increasingly petty. At that meeting they made a key mistake in not coming to the table ready to do business on even a short list of concrete ideas from the existing health care legislation that they could support. Doing so would have put them in the position of being seen as willing to work with Democrats for the good of the country rather than petty children asking for a “do-over” because they hadn’t done their homework.
5) For those who doubted whether or not President Obama is tough enough for the job, he proved he is plenty tough, willing to fight for what he believes in and use his political capital for the good of the country when it really matters. As a team, Democrats delivered on a huge promise and gave themselves a fresh opportunity heading into the 2010 elections to make the case to the American people why they deserve to continue to lead. And hopefully, the punditocracy will finally begin to recognize that the question is not whether or not Washington will change Obama, but whether Obama will change Washington; and that the way to evaluate that question is to recognize that he is a different kind of leader, one for whom the traditional means of measuring success may not apply.
