Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada (you know, the guy who looks like he’s always just a few seconds from saying, “Hey, you kids get off my lawn”) spoke about healthcare reform today.
So, the public option is in. Good.
It’s in with an opt-out provision. That’s not so good.
Well, actually it wouldn’t be good except it’s all a ruse.
We have come to the ‘shit or get off the pot moment’ and… holy crap, starting with Lamar Alexander they’re getting off the pot!
All this grousing… all these tea parties… all the tumult to slow things down–Alexander is really saying no one has the courage of their convictions, or maybe they just have no convictions. No one will opt-out because opting-in is so much of a better deal.
The screaming wasn’t because the Democrats proposals were bad after all. The grief was solely because the proposal was from the Democrats and if it benefits the Democrats it hurts the Republicans. Pols see this all as a zero sum game.
Maybe I was just naive growing up because I seem to remember a time when we were more interested in bettering our nation and less concerned about blocking our opponents.