"...first landmark piece of reform that passed over the unanimous opposition of one major party..."

[Clio the Leo]

Now The Argument Really Begins

* A quick afterthought: Last night’s big health reform victory made history in many ways, but in hard political terms perhaps the key one is this: This is the first landmark piece of reform that passed over the unanimous opposition of one major party.

Both Social Security and Medicare had bipartisan support. While they were both the achievements of Democratic presidents, there isn’t a clear sense in the public mind that it was entirely the work of one party over the implacable opposition of the other one.

Now an achievement of equal magnitude — health care reform, which will dramatically reshape a vital aspect of American life — is about to pass into law as the work of one party and one party alone. The other party emerges from this battle defined entirely by its unanimous opposition to it.

This could have more dramatic repercussions than any of us know right now, perhaps helping define the differences between the two parties for years, in a way that no other major political battle has.

Republicans say — publicly — that this will play in their favor, and claim the public will reward them for showing the fortitude to stand firm against a far-reaching expansion of government into a deeply personal aspect of our lives. Democrats counter that Americans will realize that the dreaded government takeover warned against by reform foes is a caricature — and that once they do, it will reinvigorate the pact between government and the American people.

All this is to say that the real argument underlying this fight — the larger ideological showdown over the proper role of government in our lives, an argument that has taken mutiple forms throughout history — is only beginning. There will now be an actual law that frames and defines this debate. And the fact that each party placed all its chips on competing visions dramatically ups the stakes, with untold consequences to come — not just for the parties, but for the prospect of future efforts at ambitious, far-reaching legislative initiatives.

As Obama has repeatedly said, this is what elections are for.

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/senate-republicans/now-the-argument-really-begins/

[Jennicut]

1. Once people realize that no death panels are ready to kill them, I think the Rethugs will have lost

the argument. Seriously, I truly believe that Rethugs are on the wrong side of history here. They miscalculated.

[Bitwit1234]

2. They are trying their best to still sink this bill

because it was not (((bi-partisan))) so how come it wasn't? The republicans have tried from the beginning to shut this down, because they did not want the president to succeed. That is the one and only reason. And the American people who really matter, not the tea bags and the fanatically dancing up and down republicans know that.

[old mark]

3. As the early good points of this bill start to have effect, people will become

aware of which party has their interest at heart. The GOP really believed their own bullshit, and bet everything on one play and they just lost it all.

I wonder how much money, how many political favors and effort they have flushed down the drain on this issue, and evidently they are not yet finished trying to oppose this bill and indeed oppose everything the Democrats and Obama support. We will have big fights coming on immigration reform, and I hope on repealing some of the "Patriot Act" excesses. I think we may have an early pull out from Afghanistan coming soon, too, but that's just speculation on my part.

I think the Democrats in congress got a taste of blood Sunday.....I think they found they liked it a lot.

GOP, you fucked yourselves and you are not finished yet. And we are not finished with you yet, either.


mark

[NJmaverick]

4. K & R