Megan McArdle makes a really good point, here:
Obamacare did very little to accomodate [multi-employer union healthcare] plans. Perhaps that was due to be hashed out in the final bill, but of course, we didn’t get a final bill, because the election of Scott Brown threw everything into chaos. Instead they hastily passed what was basically a draft bill, which had done virtually nothing about the MEPs. The unions supported it anyway, undoubtedly because they were assured by the Obama administration that the problems would be fixed later. From what I understand, they still haven’t been.
Bolding mine, because it shows the event that triggered every disastrous thing that happened to Democrats with regard to Obama. In 2009 Scott Brown was elected in Massachusetts, explicitly on the promise of being the forty-first vote against Obamacare (which would have stopped any future cloture votes cold). This was the point where the Democrats should have shown moral courage and withdrawn the bill. Yes, they would have left a lot of political capital on the table. Yes, their base would have been infuriated at the ‘betrayal.’ Yes, I personally would have had a field day with that. But the Democrats might have kept the House. Compare the legislation of the 109th Congress to that of the 110th and 111th; there is a stark difference in not only what passes, but what even gets considered. Because elections matter.
And so does doing the legislation right the first time. Never pass a bad law simply because you don’t think that you can pass a good law in the time frame provided. Respect your oath as a legislator.
Via Instapundit.
Moe Lane
Oh, if only there had been someone, nay anyone, noting these issues before the bill passed! You know, aside from icky conservatives.
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Alternatively, I’m glad we stuck with the Pelosi form of legislating and passed the bill so we could finally find out how terrible it is.
I quibble. The author says that it started with Miracle Brown, in part to focus attention on the GOP push-back.
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The reality is, it started with Teddy “Chappaquiddick” Kennedy and one too many martinis…
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The Dems did themselves in on this, first by continuing to elect a pickled has-been instead of nominating Coakley or Fauxcohauntis while Teddy was still alive to endorse .. and then running an utterly inept candidate and campaign against pudding boy.
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I prefer to assign blame where it’s due, and .. the Dems built this one all by themselves.
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Mew
The Coakley campaign was cartoonishy inept. Its the kind of thing that makes me think that even I could be a senator. Can you find a campaign with a Kickstarter?
Jeffstag – I wouldn’t think you could fund the whole campaign that way, but ..
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http://alexandraeidenberg.com/
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Alexandra is running her campaign on a shoestring.
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Mew
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Look, she’s a Dem, but she’s running in IL-04, which is about the most Dem district in the country – NY and Hollyweird included – and she could knock off Rep. and Dem machine poster boy “Viequas” Gutierrez…
Isn’t O-care doing exactly what it was designed to do? Destroy private insurance, I mean.
Seen any of the major health carriers declare bankruptcy yet?
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Mew
Not yet.
I’m .. somewhat aware .. of the salaries managers in certain health carriers are pulling down. Not C-level, just .. managers.
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There’s quite a lot of fat before they hit muscle… doubt they’ll start collapsing until after 2014.
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Mew
also it’s not like they are going to sit idly by & watch Obamacare eat up their profits. Nope, they’ll pass along the expense to their customers, now required by US law to purchase their product. In effect, a federally mandated regressive tax that hits the lower income working stiff the hardest. Americans the hardest. Yep, that is the Democrats for you, take all the poor’s hard earned cash and saying they love poor people.
I’d also point out as a matter of competence, perhaps Nancy Pelosi’s political director should have pointed out that the most liberal, blue state in the nation that has universal health care just elected a Republican Senator for the express purpose of killing this bill. In the interest of all those bright, brand new Democrats elected in the last two cycles keeping their jobs, we ought to imitate Slick Willie Clinton & punt health care the heck out of the Beltway.
This was the point where the Democrats should have shown moral courage and withdrawn the bill.
Or they could have shown even more moral courage and used the normal legislative process in an effort to pass the bill — you know, with debates, and amendments, and actually reading the damned thing, and possibly even legitimately originating the bill in the House? Sure, they almost certainly would have lost, but that’s because this obscene, bloated sarlacc of a bill deserved to lose. And maybe the Democrats would have learned something about what their constituents want and need, and they definitely wouldn’t have revealed as much of their arrogance and raw lust for power.