the rix mix

Rep. Eric Cantor went to the Healthcare Summit today with the 2,400 page Democratic reform legislation. Republicans want to start from scratch.

Why didn't they arrive at the Summit with their own proposed legislation? They've had a year to write it. Heck, they've had since Clinton's first term to invent something. (House Repugs do have a "reform " bill, but it's so bad they dared not bring it.)

The majority of Americans agree on three things:

• Every citizen ought to have affordable health insurance.
• Costs must be controlled.
• No reduction in benefits people currently have.

Why don't the Republicans have a plan? They have models. One is called Medicare. The other is The Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. The two have different approaches, different beneficiaries. But the Republicans can't even get widespread support in their own party for the Wyden-Bennett Act, a Senate bi-partisan plan modeled on the FEHBP.

What happened today is why so many progressives who weren't satisfied with the Democratic senate bill wanted it passed anyway. Only the feds have the power to mandate health care for all citizens, & only the feds have the bargaining power - should we ever choose to use it - to force real competition into the health care market.

So what did we learn from the summit? What I took away was the arrogance that the success of things like the death-panel smear has obviously engendered in Republican politicians. At this point they obviously believe that they can blandly make utterly misleading assertions, saying things that can be easily refuted, and pay no price. And they may well be right.

But Democrats can have the last laugh. All they have to do — and they have the power to do it — is finish the job, and enact health reform.

Paul Krugman

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