Dems to drop government-run option for healthcare

[aerius]

On the other hand, health care reform is popular enough that openly opposing it is dangerous for a lot of them. I'm sure they're just as happy to be in a situation where they don't have to do anything to annoy their backers to please their constituents. But I think they're probably also just as happy to be in a situation where they don't have to do anything to annoy their constituents to please their backers, because they can shuffle off blame.

After the healthcare industry gives a few million bucks in bribes campaign contributions to each Congress rep, they sure as hell ain't gonna give a shit about what their constituents think. They're now set for life, what the fuck do they care if their constituents hate'em, what are the people going to do, write some angry emails? Yeah, that'll totally ruin their day. Unless those Congress critters know that they're going to get lynched by the people for refusing to properly represent them, they'll take the money from the lobbyists every time and give their constituents the finger.

[LMSx]

Frankly, if I were a House Progressive I'd identify the most favorite legislation of Ben Nelson, Mary Landrieu, Evan Bayh, and Joe Lieberman, then build a block of votes that would flatly vote against whatever they wanted until the Senate repeals the filibuster. Until that happens the House is basically worthless as Obama will spend so much time trying to get 60 votes for the most important legislation that there's no way he's going to let something out of conference report that differs significantly from what already passed the Senate.

That's an appealing constitutional message, too. Repealing the filibuster by itself doesn't have any direct constitutional implications but there will be observers who will bitch and moan about how the Senate is intended to be the slow, stately, gentlemenly douchebag establishment and the filibuster is some element of that. Yet a move from House liberals has the relatively common sense argument that it's important to restore equality between 2 branches of 535 Congresspeople rather than 56 Senators trying to appeal to 4 in the most shameless possible fashion with the vestigal appendix of the peasant House being pressured to rubberstamp whatever compromise emerges.

[Patrick Degan]

For six years they "kept their power dry" when George W Bush was in office, not seriously fighting him on anything.

And as is becoming increasingly obvious, the powder they were keeping dry all those years was just talcum.

[Elfdart]

Cenk Uygur nails it: