I have a theory: If the health-care monstrosity passes, it will be because Senate Democrats are more concerned with the good will of their leadership than the folks back home. They want plum assignments; they want what only their leaders can confer. Good heavens, they probably don’t want to be shunned by their fellows in the corridors of power. So, even in the face of public angst and fantasy-world spending, they may opt to vote on a bill they must suspect is a disaster. On the other hand, maybe they won’t go for it. An item on The Corner suggests that some of the happy talk from Reid is “disinformation.”
Quoting an unnamed Senate aide, Robert Costa reports:
“Reid is leading a psych-ops campaign out his leadership office to make people believe there is a deal. Here’s the real story: When Reid came out of conference, only two options emerged, not a consensus. Instead of acknowledging this, he’s trying to create a sense of inevitability.”
“There are still two major hurdles for Reid,” says the aide. “One is the potential trigger in the Office of Personnel Management expansion. That would be a non-starter with at least one member. Two, Reid has problems with his Medicare buy-in idea, since it has not been fully defined to all members. We don’t know whether it will be a temporary program or a permanent Medicare buy-in program. And if premiums can’t sustain the program, will taxpayers be liable? No one knows. It’s being described as something that would be walled-off from Medicare, but there are many lingering liability questions that have yet to be answered.”