| Why did it take so long for congressional Dems to figure out that negotiating with folks who were going to never vote for the bill anyway was probably not a great idea? Regardless, it seems they are finally starting to wise up to the fact that they were conceding more and more to a party that was always acting in bad faith. Hot off the presses from the New York Times:
Democrats Seem Set to Go Alone on a Health Bill
Given hardening Republican opposition to Congressional health care proposals, Democrats now say they see little chance of the minority's cooperation in approving any overhaul, and are increasingly focused on drawing support for a final plan from within their own ranks.
Top Democrats said Tuesday that their go-it-alone view was being shaped by what they saw as Republicans' purposely strident tone against health care legislation during this month's Congressional recess, as well as remarks by leading Republicans that current proposals were flawed beyond repair.
...
Administration officials, who maintain that Republicans are badly mischaracterizing the legislation that has emerged from three House committees and the Senate health committee, said they had hoped to achieve some level of bipartisan support. But they are becoming increasingly convinced that they will instead have to navigate the complicated politics among varying Democratic factions.
The officials said the White House hoped to make the case to the American people that it was Republicans who had abandoned the effort at bipartisanship. Republicans countered by saying that they simply opposed the legislation and that the public outcry had validated their view and solidified their opposition.
One senior administration official said the sense within the White House was that Republicans, in an effort to undermine President Obama and Congressional Democrats, had made a political calculation to oppose any health care legislation.
The Congressional GOP made their stance on pretty much the entire Obama administration and all his policy priorities back in the spring. Basically, their plan on just about everything is to water everything they possibly can down (with the help of various and sundry Lieberdems) and then, once they've gotten pretty much everything they've wanted, to vote against any final plan en masse. Then they bet on and essentially root for that policy to fail.
It's long past time that the President and the majority of Dems recognize that fact. |
