Friday open thread

I guess that is my concern. The economy needs some type of stability in issues like health care and taxes. So there is going to be incredible pressure on Congress to do something now rather than later. Especially since the longer things go, the harder it will be to shift the gears and back out of it. I am not sure that the current grassroot movement is going to willing to be accept any kind of temporary solution short of full repeal. I have already heard some really upset that Scott Brown has not been everything they thought they were getting. He has only been in office four months. Patience does not seem to be one of their virtues. So, is the idea of just holding off until 2012 going to be a viable political strategy or is the whole movement going to implode if it does not get what it wants by 2011?

I agree that what you state is a sensible goal. I am just not sure if it is going to be completely viable in this political environment. To quote Varuca Salt from the Willy Wonka movie, "I want it and I want it now!" I am not sure that is not the attitude of the whole movement right now. If they don't get it now, what will they do? I don't think they care about how the political system works.

There's a grumpiness bubble right now. Will we see widespread support for repeal sustain itself among moderates and independents if such a battle takes center stage for a year?

Or will we see a more even split which means that repeal isn't viable? That's my forecast. It will be stalled by a sufficient number of folks who won't want to go back to the drawing board without even trying the contentiously formed reform.

But suppose by some series of all favorable bounces the GOP re-takes the white house and passes repeal. That means we'll be right back where we started in 2008, except that we've had another 4 or 5 years of 7 to 10% annual cost growth. The GOP will have unraveled the democratic reform effort, which improved access but didn't really solve the most pressing cost issues.

At this point, the problem of healthcare access and price will be ALL the GOP's to solve. We'll have a very big and growing group of Americans who will have faced increasing cost and access problems that have been at an unignorable level for over a decade. And conservatives will be trying to tell those folks they're going to fix it with tax breaks and more individual responsibility and economic freedom and so on. You'll be more on your own, but you'll like it because the market will solve cost issues all by itself. All the big healthcare providers won't take advantage of individual's lack of collective purchasing power.

No substantive no or creative ideas. Instead, a re-hash of all the principles that brought the GOP into power beginning in 1994 but inexplicably didn''t come to pass or didn't work, depending on who you ask.

My mathematical sense is this: with cost increases in the 7 to 10% range for another 4 years, most Americans will consider that story to be a fantasy unless their income is at least in the top third.

If the GOP wants to take this issue and carry it forward, they damn well better plan to have a clear but fairly detailed description of this alleged better functioning healthcare system that provides broad access at an affordable cost to most folks. And THAT is what's missing, not some clever short term strategy.

If Obama and the democrats are smart, that's how they should respond to repeal. They should say "We're listening. Describe your detailed plan that results in a much better functioning healthcare system that provides broad access at an affordable cost to most folks. Control costs and preserve access and we're on board."

I can hear Obama now: "We know the Republicans. They want to turn back the clock to 2007. You'll each be on your own against the big insurance companies and healthcare systems. The free market will fix everything once we deregulate and get government out of the way. How'd that work out for you in 2007?" 2007. 2007. 2007. 2007. Did I mention 2007?"