You know the old saying, “The softer the product, the stronger the sell.” The product is faulty. No salesman on earth can overcome that. We’ve all had too much of “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
The renewed calls for patience and bipartisan talks have saved, at least temporarily, the healthcare debate from devolving into full-blown partisan chaos.
Tensions have grown over the August recess as angry conservative protesters have disrupted town hall meetings on healthcare reform, accusing Democratic lawmakers of peddling “socialized” medicine and a “Nazi policy.” And liberals have grown increasingly impatient over the lack of support from Republicans and reports that the White House might abandon a government-run health insurance program to woo the GOP.
But Senate Democrats and Republicans at the center of the debate have said a deal can be salvaged.
A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Wednesday that Democratic leaders would prefer to advance a bipartisan bill through the Senate, instead of forcing it through using special budgetary rules.
“The White House and the Senate Democratic leadership still prefer a bipartisan bill, and neither the White House nor the leadership have made a decision to pursue reconciliation,” said Reid spokesman Jim Manley, in reference to the procedure whereby Democratic leaders could pass the healthcare bill with a simple majority.
Also on Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called on colleagues not to give up on the negotiations in pursuit of a deal. The two lawmakers have talked for weeks and colleagues and activists are growing impatient.
In an effort to demonstrate progress, members of the Gang of Six, a group of three Democrats and three Republicans on the Senate Finance panel, including Baucus and Grassley, announced they would hold a teleconference meeting at 9 pm Thursday. ....