http://www.politico.com/arena/archive/open-mike-august-21-22.html.
Support the New Health Care Reform Law
August 22, 2010
Stephen M. Davidson
We are told that supporters are having a hard time persuading the public that the Affordable Care Act enacted this spring, is a good thing. Some progressives are withholding support because they wanted the law to go further. But whether Democrats or independents, they should have no doubts. The law deserves their support.
Here are two reasons. One is that the law will do a lot of good for individuals and the health care system. Others have enumerated those benefits (see healthcareforamericanow.org or www.americanprogress.org), so I won’t take space to do that here. Here is the second reason:
This is only the second time in our history that Congress even voted on a comprehensive reform bill. (The first was 1965 when Lyndon Johnson persuaded Congress to pass Medicare and Medicaid.) The probability of being able to pass anything that is much better is slim – especially now that so much energy has been expended to enact this new law. So, for the foreseeable future, it’s this law or no law.
Why is that the case? First, of course, passing any law is hard because it requires a majority of votes in the House and 60% in the Senate. Even within a single party, members have different views of the proper role of government; and their constituents, too, have diverse interests and beliefs. So, it is hard to persuade a majority to coalesce around any substantial reform. This tendency is reinforced by the fact that, for most members, their over-riding goal is to be re-elected, and they rely on money from special interests to help them.
In addition, the forces against change have compelling reasons to oppose it. They expect to make less money and/or to be forced to operate under new, less favorable rules. Stopping the legislation is their main goal, and they are willing to spend lots of money to keep a bill from passing. Before this spring, health care interests lost only once before.
On the other hand, supporters are a more diverse group, and health care reform is not their primary concern. In addition, they tend to have less money to spend than reform opponents.
So, the combination of these factors makes it very difficult to pass any law, much less one that accomplishes all the goals. In fact, passing this law was a monumental political achievement. The choice is this one or none. Progressives need to educate themselves about the law’s benefits and defend it with enthusiasm.
