Regardless of whom the Blue Dogs are beholden to (or any politician not falling neatly into that category, for that matter), Congress is lurching forward with the preliminary legislation for health care reform. It’s going to be a long, tough slog, and if it fails to enact change as happened in the Clinton years, president Obama will have failed to deliver on another campaign promise, kinda-sorta-but-not-really universal health care. If he and Congressional Democrats deliver where others have failed, however, political capital may not only be maintained, but increased, and most pitchforks will stay in sheds where they belong during off-hours – contingent on the devil hiding in the final details.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday signaled new openness to the idea of the government requiring most Americans get medical insurance — a position likely to increase momentum behind the drive to create a new coverage mandate.At the same time, the president, who rejected such a mandate during the 2008 campaign, reaffirmed in strong terms his determination to offer a new government-run health-care plan as an alternative to private insurance.
“I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans,” Obama said in a two-page letter to Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who are leading efforts to develop health-care legislation. “This will give them a better range of choices, make the health-care market more competitive and keep insurance companies honest.”
