Useless

There's what appears to be a very good overview of positives/negatives in the Senate healthcare reform bill here, well worth reading, but what strikes me most today is the utter uselessness of The Party of No:

A day after Senate Democrats said that they had clinched an agreement on a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system, Republicans vowed on Sunday to continue their fight while acknowledging that their chances of stopping Senate passage had faded.

Asked whether he and his fellow Republicans could yet block the bill, John McCain of Arizona seemed resigned to its passage.

“Probably not,” he replied on “Fox News Sunday.” “We’ll fight the good fight, we‘ll fight until the last vote.”

This is actually the perfect cause for Sen. McCain to lead, as he has always had a predilection for lost causes, which fits into his internal system of "honor," i.e. Vietnam. It's also interesting that the Times article doesn't cite another Republican, as I'm sure whoever else might represent that party here is happy to have John be the face of their loss -- as he was last November.

It's just the state of things that The Party of No has nothing to be in favor of, their previous causes drained like pustules by eight years of Cheney/Bush and their twelve year dominance of the House of Representatives, four of the Senate. They are literally running on empty -- no one left to believe their self-proclamation as "the party of ideas." They have offered nothing but half-hearted or weirdly exacerbating ideas on healthcare, not firmly acknowledging a need for reform (but how could they if constantly crying that the U.S. somehow has the best health system in the world?), pingponging back-and-forth on Medicare depending on the needs of the news cycle, falling back on cries of "socialism" (and the final bill appears not even close), generally bringing nothing as a party or as individual legislators to the historic moment other than their blind opposition, which in turn has only allowed conservaDems and egomaniacs like Ben Nelson and Joe Lieberman to further nerf the legislation.

There was, of course, one individual Republican who appeared reaching for the old Howard Baker mantle of true moderation and bipartisanship, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe. But her statement today confirms her as just as useless as the rest of her party, if not (after having voted the Senate bill out of committee with great drama) even more of a wanker:

Having been fully immersed in this issue for this entire year and as the only Republican to vote for health reform in the Finance Committee, I deeply regret that I cannot support the pending Senate legislation as it currently stands, given my continued concerns with the measure and an artificial and arbitrary deadline of completing the bill before Christmas that is shortchanging the process on this monumental and trans-generational effort.

Only three weeks ago the Senate received a more than 2,000 page bill on one of the most complex issues in our history, and we have since considered fewer than two dozen amendments out of more than 450 filed.

Two notes: the more than 450 amendments filed include all the slow-down amendments called for by the GOP in their leaked strategy guide to defeating the bill. As for the Xmas deadline, this reform has been brewing for decades and this round originally had an August deadline. The GOP would like nothing more than to delay a vote past Xmas in order to kill an momentum. It is disingenuous for Sen. Snowe not to acknowledge that.

Well, to her credit she may have found a way to vote against a bill that will still pass, thus helping fend off a teabagger attack come next primary season.

It's tough being one of two national-level Republicans remaining in elective office in New England.

Out of Committee

So the "Baucus bill," no matter how heinous, has moved out of the Senate Finance Committee, passed 14-9 almost entirely along party lines, save for Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Sen. Snowe made it clear that she may not vote for the final bill that comes out of reconciliation between the Senate and the House of Representatives (where the Public Option, favored by 2/3 of Americans, still exists in their bill), and significant hurdles remain.

But Senator Snowe did mention history in her statement, and I can foresee a moment coming where Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats have to make a decision whether they want to be part of a historic development or...well, if they vote against a bill that still passes, they've sort of covered their butts. That "no" vote may be forgotten in light of success.

However, if it is Democrats like Kent Conrad, or quasi-Dem Joe Lieberman, or even enough Republicans to block consideration or passage and throw their own victory party, I predict that individuals will start going down in history as villains.

American not only wants health insurance reform, they are desperate for it. Get ready for that work plan so dear to you to require more funding from you, the worker, as the employers of America cut back their contributions -- per Rupert Murdoch's own Wall Street Journal:

As companies begin unveiling their workplace benefits for next year, many employees are learning they will have to dig even deeper into their pockets for health coverage.

Such price increases have become a fact of life during open-enrollment season, when workers sign up for their health plans. But the jump is expected to be steeper in 2010 than this year, as employers struggle with the impact of the recession and continually rising insurance costs. Employees will pay $4,023 on average in premiums and out-of-pocket charges next year, up 10% from 2009, according to a projection from Hewitt Associates, a benefits-consulting firm. In dollar terms, it's the biggest boost since the firm started keeping track of the data a decade ago.

For workers, that will mean larger payroll deductions, as well as spending more on co-payments and other fees tied to care. Companies also are expected to prod more employees into cheaper coverage by getting them to sign up for high-deductible health plans. And many employers are trying to rein in the expense of covering workers' families, sometimes by making insurance for kids and spouses pricier.

Me, I favor Single Payer, and that's the only way we'll ever have 100% coverage in this country. But clearly now we see, without a Public Option, there's no backstop, and the President's prediction of costs spiraling out of control will come agonizingly true.