Anonymous's Take on What Happens Next With Health Care

"Smart Democrats are thinking we've seen this movie before: Suicide by health care. Last week was the trifecta that may have sealed health care's fate: 1) GOP wins Virginia and New Jersey (!) governor's races. 2) Business comes out swinging. 3) Unemployment over 10.

"To make matters worse, they force Blue Dogs and front-liners to walk the plank on the Pelosi Plan that exceeds the symbolically important $1 trillion mark, includes the public plan and a big tax increase on small business--all of which are dead-on-arrival in the Senate. BTU2. The attack ads make themselves.

"Now Gallup finds a sudden and massive shift among Indies. And let's be honest, it's not that Indies have fallen in love with the GOP agenda, whatever that is. Far from it. They want to put a hard brake on the spending and the borrowing, and they don't want Washington messing with their health care at a time of intense economic anxiety.

"Meanwhile, the abortion sideshow is the last thing that the White House needed. Gets activists on both sides to man the battle stations and makes the vote a no-win proposition for any Dem in Reddish territory. Worst of all, your typical middle-of-the-road swing voter watches politicians in Washington fighting over abortion and says: 'I thought we were having a health care debate. I don't want any part of this. I think I'll change the channel.' Oh, and next up: immigration. Which is sure to be a unifying discussion.

"And, at long last, the debate is now squarely focused on health care costs, the soft underbelly of this whole enterprise, the place they never wanted this to go because it's the issue on which they have no answer. Most voters now believe the bill will raise their personal costs -- not a good thing for a politician to be doing in the midst of a deep recession. And when the establishment (CBO, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Mark Warner, Susan Collins) all agree that the bills don't contain costs, it's hard to dismiss as a baseless attack.

"As previously noted, the politics of this have always been upside down because the bill is basically: 1) cut Medicare and 2) raise taxes to 3) pay for health care for the uninsured. Which people MAY have been willing to tolerate if their personal health care situation was going to get better or at least not get worse. But now: 4) people know that their own health care costs will go up. Good luck with that.

"When this debate spills into January still unresolved, voters are going to say: 'Enough! Where are the jobs. Where is the economic plan?'

"And the irony of having Bill Clinton brief senators on how to pass a health care bill!?! What's next...George W. Bush briefs Republicans on emergency response??"