Devon Biere’s Blog

Well, Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus has finally vomited forth his crapulescent, steaming pile of a health care plan, and… wow.  It is something to behold.  After months of pointless delay and fruitless concessions to Republicans who have no intention of supporting meaningful health care reform and in fact aren’t supporting even this watered-down gift to the insurance and pharma industries, Sen. Baucus has delivered a craven, pathetic proposal that is almost universally reviled by both the right and the left.  Individual mandates with no government plan option, inadequate subsidies, utter failure to meaningfully address affordability and skyrocketing costs… I could go on but others have already said it better.

Watching the Democrats fumble this debate (catastrophically?) and hearing the Republicans whine disingenuously about bipartisanship and artificial deadlines, I’ve been struck by the following thought:

What would happen if Republicans were the ones advocating true health care reform?  Consider a Bizarro World in which traditional Republican tactics were applied to Democratic goals. In this alternate universe, here’s what we would see:

• The plan would be called “PatriotCare” or “FreedomCare”
• The Bizarro World Republicans would frame health care reform as a national security issue
• Their initial position would be a single-payer, Medicare-for-all type of approach, with a fallback position of no less than a robust, government-run health insurance option
• They would ridicule co-ops and triggers as worthless
• They would say that bipartisanship was a fool’s errand, given the importance of the mission and an unreasonable, corrupt opposition
• They would not let the opposition play them for morons with months of stalling and faux debates
• They would call Joe Wilson a traitor, demand his resignation, and settle for no less than a full-throated censure
• They would point out the righteousness of their cause and the merits of their plan, then publicly dare the opposition to come up with something better or explain their foot-dragging to the American people
• They would relentlessly call out obstructionists, conflicts of interest, and town hall crazies (with and without firearms)
• They would be quoting, or at least alluding to, scripture to support reform (“I was sick, and you cared for me…”)
• They would not use anemic phrases like “silly season” to describe the jackassery of their opponents
• They would mock the utter hypocrisy of “fiscal conservatives” suddenly finding their principles after voting for massive tax cuts for the rich
• They would, if necessary, use reconciliation successfully and without hesitation
• They would dominate the debate and the message
• They would concede virtually nothing

I should point out that I am not advocating these methods, although some would be worthwhile and many would be effective.  I do, however, think the Democrats could learn something from the focus and drive the Republicans have shown in past legislative battles.  So, I guess I’m kidding on the square, as Sen. Al Franken would say.

Enough is enough.  Get this thing out of Baucus’ feeble hands and get it done.  I hope it’s not too late.