Politicians are among the most despised people in America, right behind Wall Street bankers and lawyers. While many live unscrupulous lives and/or abuse their political power, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on, and honor, the efforts of those who fight for the public interest. It is an opportune moment to do so: after months of wrangling, the Democrats have apparently arrived at a healthcare compromise that has the necessary 60 votes in the Senate and a good chance of winning final approval.
Senators like Chuck Schumer, Sherrod Brown and Ron Wyden, and Representatives like Nancy Pelosi and Anthony Weiner, have worked tirelessly to fashion a piece of legislation that has eluded previous Congresses and presidents for decades, including the last Democratic president. They battled powerful interest groups with hundreds of billions on the line. They weren’t able to win some big battles, and they produced a far from perfect bill; but with no room for error, they got the job done against an obstructionist Republican Party, fake populist outages, and religious zealots (to mention just some of the obstacles).
The bottom line is that these legislators (and dozens more unnamed) have overcome tough odds and deserve our respect. I am confident they will work hard to improve the bill once it finally passes, so that its final form more closely approaches the ideals the progressives have long championed.
I am sure that these Senators and Representatives enjoy their work, and they’re compensated fairly (the average salary is approximately $175,000 with great benefits), so they hardly need any praise from us. Nevertheless, it takes only a moment to recognize how extremely difficult politics is: while it’s unlikely that anybody in Congress understands everything that’s in the 1,300-page healthcare bill, it’s surprising how sophisticated and detailed their knowledge actually is. Some have been working on the issues for decades, have spent thousands of hours studying them, and really know what they’re talking about.
Which brings us to the GOP.
When it comes to healthcare, the Republicans morphed from the party of “no” to the party of know-nothing. From “death panels” to “forced abortion” to charges of socialism, the GOP did little more than lie and deceive throughout the healthcare debate. (Take a moment to watch this video of last week’s “prayer meeting,” in which top GOP politicians joined a right-wing group in asking god’s help to derail healthcare legislation; compare this, if you will, to the relentlessly serious efforts of the Democratic caucus.)
While a few Republican senators made reasonable suggestions to improve the bill, the GOP strategy by and large was a despicable display of politics at its most cynical. The GOP voted unanimously against the stimulus package, last week voted unanimously against a new jobs bill and financial regulatory reform (more on this next week), and now stands ready to vote unanimously against healthcare reform.
So while the healthcare bill gives progressives plenty of reasons to be disappointed and frustrated, they should take a moment to respect all that’s been achieved so far.
And everyone, regardless of political persuasion, should recognize that only one political party in America right now is actively addressing the real problems that America faces—the Democrats.
P.S. I was obviously wrong about the opt-out public option making it into the final healthcare bill. I underestimated how truly small a man Joe Lieberman is, and underestimated the intransigence of Ben Nelson. The opt-out was (and still is) brilliant politics and I thought it would be hard to argue against it since states were not compelled to participate. Again, I was wrong. But don’t be surprised in the coming months and years to see some form of public option re-emerge through the reconciliation process, and if so it will likely be stronger than the version once contained in the Senate bill.
Jason Scorse