Quote:
Originally Posted by Bucco
This says it better than I, of course that is a small task for anyone...
"In the span of one week, Democrats went from dismissing the possibility that the Supreme Court would strike down the 2010 law mandating individuals to buy health insurance to consoling themselves that any such action would have a silver lining.
James Carville says it would help the Democrats in the election. Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson writes that it would make single payer -- a government health system as in the U.K. and Canada -- “inevitable.” Other liberals, and even the occasional right-of-center analyst, have echoed that point: The conservative legal challenge to President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul could prove self-defeating.
It’s an interesting and counterintuitive analysis, but it’s almost certainly wrong. If the court undoes Obamacare, either in whole or in part, conservatives who would like to reduce the government’s role in health care are likely to get policies much more to their liking.
Let’s say the court strikes down the entire law. The Democratic fantasy goes something like this: The public will still be upset about the number of Americans without insurance, rising premiums and the difficulty people with pre-existing conditions have getting insurance. Republicans will have no plan for achieving universal coverage. Sooner or later, single payer -- which would probably be more popular than a mandate, and thus an easier sell to the public -- will prevail"
AND THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART...
"Reality-check time: When Obamacare became law, Democrats had more power in Washington than at any time since the Carter administration in the 1970s. They had the presidency and lopsided majorities in both houses of Congress. Because conservative Democrats have declined in numbers, it was probably the most liberal Congress since 1965-66. They were still barely able to pass the law. And that was with important medical industries either neutralized or in favor of the legislation, which they would not be in the case of single payer. "
Democrats Resort to Magical Thinking on Obamacare - Bloomberg |
I particularly agree with the second and third paragraphs. I truly believe that the Republican's efforts to overturn the law is a big-time losing political strategy. So much so that it's clearly within the realm of possibility that the Democrats re-take the House, Senate and the White House.
Where I differ with the article is the author's attempt to project that a rejuvenated totally Democratic government would have the same difficulty crafting clearcut, simple legislation as they obviously had in the past.
When the Democrats had the majorities you refer to, they had the same problem that the Republican-controlled House has now--a Senate not controlled by a simple majority, but by the minority who still has cloture powers under Senate rules.
Where I think a difference may lie is the seriousness of the disastrous political strategy currently being undertaken by the GOP. The results of the next couple of elections could easily create Democratic majorities sufficient to overcome even Senate cloture rules. Then the only problem may be how much lobbyists for special interests will influence whatever legislation created by such a politically-lopsided Congress.