I think yesterday’s election helped the chance that Obamacare would pass in the House, but that, along with the general conservative success throughout the country, distinctly hurts its chances in the Senate. Majority Leader Harry Reid seems to think so too, as top Democrats predict the deed will not be done this year. From the story:
Senior Congressional Democrats told ABC News today it is highly unlikely that a health care reform bill will be completed this year, just a week after President Barack Obama declared he was “absolutely confident” he’ll be able to sign one by then. “Getting this done by the by the end of the year is a no-go,” a senior Democratic leadership aide told ABC News. Two other key Congressional Democrats also told ABC News the same thing...
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi may still be confident — and her spokesman Brendan Daly said today, “We are going to get our part done” — but the reason for the delay can be found in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has yet to release the bill he eventually plans to bring to the Senate floor. Reid is still waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to come up with an estimated cost of several possible variations of his bill before deciding which one to introduce in the Senate. That cost estimate, Democrats tell ABC News, is not expected until next week.
Asked directly by ABC News, “Will you pass health care reform this year?” Reid pointedly did not answer “yes.” Instead, he replied, “We are not going to be bound by any timetables,” adding, “We are going to do this as quickly as we can.” The delay is causing some frustration among Reid’s fellow Democrats, but Reid said of his colleagues, “They want us to do this the right way, not the fast way.”
It is worth noting that Reid is the same guy who tried to stuff this down our collective throats by the summer recess—which apparently means he hasn’t cared about getting it “right” before. That point aside, if Obamacare is in trouble—which it is, but that doesn’t mean it won’t pass—it is because it is an unaffordable, rationing imposing, bureaucracy imposing, Byzantine behemoth—a raw power grab that will destroy what is good about our health care system without truly fixing what is bad.
Reform is needed, no question. But if we want to do it “the right way,” it is time to put this monstrosity out of our misery and start again with reform that kills fewer trees.
