As Liberal Dems Retreat, GOP Smells Blood
"You wanna know what I think?" he grimaced. "My philosophy is when they're up, we kick `em - and when they're down, we kick `em even harder."
He didn't know it at the time but that homespun wisdom offers a handy way of interpreting the dilemma the Democrats find themselves in with the Republican opposition to the administration's health care reform proposals seemingly growing stronger with each passing day. Just consider the latest turn in this ongoing novella.
Even as the Democrats hinted at giving way on their previous call for a government insurance option, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, who also is the Senate Republican whip, today said the GOP still isn't likely to back the health care proposal now under committee discussion.
"I think it's safe to say that there are a huge number of big issues that people have," Kyl said on a conference call with reporters. "There is no way that Republicans are going to support a trillion-dollar-plus bill...I have no doubt that they can make it revenue neutral to find enough ways to tax the American people, but that doesn't mean the Republicans will support it."
Kyl was similarly unenthusiastic about replacing the proposed public plan with a nonprofit insurance cooperative championed by Sen. Kent Conrad, among others. (Kyl called it "a step towards government-run health care in this country.") That was not an isolated opinion. The Republican National Committee has issued a release making the case that the public option was just another way of sneaking "government-run health care" in by way of the back door.
At this point, Democrats and their liberal allies within the ranks of the chattering classes have to acknowledge the interim success achieved due to the Republicans' disciplined opposition. Consider this from a post by Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly:
"The death of American political discourse notwithstanding, let's be clear about the larger debate: no matter what Democrats propose, Republicans are going to reject it, even if they've already signaled support for the same idea. Consistency and honesty are irrelevant -- the goal is to defeat health care reform, no matter what's in the bill."
Apropos, the recent statement by Republican negotiator Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa that he would reject any bill which does not receive the support of a majority of his colleagues suggests that the odds of a bi-partisan compromise are increasingly low.
John Cole sums it up nicely:
""At some point, these folks are going to learn that no matter what happens, the Republicans are not going to vote for anything. As soon as they kill off the public option, they will pick off co-ops. Think I'm kidding? They managed to convince people that voluntarily talks with your doctor about a living will was a death panel killing grandma. They are going to do everything they can to kill health care, because they know that if reform succeeds they will be out of office for generations. Figure it out, blue dogs."