A Double Trojan Horse

by: Matt Singer

Tue Aug 18, 2009 at 16:03:35 PM MST

That's what Jon Kyl thinks co-ops are, in a Huffington Post story that laid plain, once more, what an indescribably ridiculous political party the GOP has become.

First, the public option was a terrible idea because it is supposedly a Trojan Horse for single-payer. Now private co-ops are a terrible idea because they are a Trojan Horse for a public option. I imagine soon we'll be outlying private insurance because it is just a Trojan Horse for health insurance cooperatives. Or something.

Bottom line, though, if the co-ops are off the plate because Republicans won't back them generally and Grassley won't back anything that a whole bunch of Republicans won't back and, don't forget, a whole lot of Democrats think the cooperative idea is kind of inane anyways since cooperatives are already legal and some currently exist, I think this just reemphasizes my earlier point: we're getting steadily closer to a good bill as we get a little closer to a chance of no bill at all.

Baucus, Obama, and "bipartisanship"

by: Jay Stevens

Wed Aug 05, 2009 at 07:28:45 AM MST

The September 15th deadline for a bipartisan healthcare bill isn't likely to be honored, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) predicted Tuesday.

Kyl attempted to call a bluff by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who said last week that if he hadn't reached a consensus with Republicans by mid-September, he would force a bill through without Republican support.

"He's set several other deadlines too, and he hasn't been able to meet them," Kyl said. "And I worry a little bit that by setting that deadline he could be setting himself up for not the best situation - let's put it that way."

mcjoan:

Of course he's not going to meet his deadline because Chuck Grassley takes his marching orders from Mitch McConnell and his marching orders are to kill reform. So why this bipartisan kabuki has to continue now that everybody knows that it's kabuki is beyond me.

Meanwhile Obama quietly prepares Democrats for abandoning attempts at bipartisanship:

President Obama urged Democratic senators on Tuesday to persevere in trying to get a bipartisan deal on health care, but left open the possibility that they might have to pass a bill with only Democratic votes if Republicans stood in the way.

And there's your political context for Obama's August 14 visit!