Oh, wait a minute. That didn't happen....

[kpete]

My favorite moment in Barack Obama's recent health care summit came when Senate majority leader Harry Reid surgically exposed the emptiness of a key Republican debating point, using the classic political tactic of jujitsu: he allowed the force of the opposition's argument to carry it into the abyss. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, an obstetrician, had delivered a passionate — and seemingly well-informed — statement about the need for medical-malpractice reform. "O.K., Senator, you win," Reid responded. "Look, we Democrats don't see malpractice the same way you do. Our traditional supporters among the trial lawyers hate it, of course. And the Congressional Budget Office says it would save only about $5 billion per year. That's peanuts when you're talking about a $2 trillion health care system. But providing health security to all Americans — making sure they have coverage, making sure the insurance companies can't take it away — is just too important. So we'll include your malpractice provision in our bill. Can I assume you'll now vote for it?"

Oh, wait a minute. That didn't happen.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1969528,00.html#ixzz0hF3eW3cL

[frazzled]

1. Well, it didn't happen because ...

the Senate is not supposed to be teenage-girl "snap" session (you go, girlfriend). But frankly, that scenario did play out in the subtext of some of Obama's comments that day, and in his speech yesterday. So I'm satisfied. Pulling "oopsies" on Tom Coburn is not going to make comity in the senate any better, and it won't get him to vote for the bill, and it won't change the fact that the Democrats are going to put this through reconciliation all by themselves.