We are where we are. The bill is worth passing. Barely. On the margins.

With the list of undecideds out there, I don't think this bill passes.

"Forty percent! Can you believe that?"

Um, gee, Mr. Prez., then why are you giving them a corporate bailout with no restrictions on rate increases?

 Now I want to ask a "past performance is a virtual guarantee of future results" type of question:

When it comes to whether the government will enforce these putative and "tough" regulations of the murder by spreadsheet people, will anyone go to jail?  If they get fined for not complying with these tough new regulations, will anyone even notice?  Will any enforcement be done that the insurance companies, using their paid lackeys in Congress, will not stop if it gets in any way onerous?

On the other hand, when people start getting fined for not buying insurance, do you really think the IRS is not going to penalize the average everyday little American who can't afford it?

Now...Employer mandate gone, National Insurance commissioner replaced with more state control, etc.

Question... does the new plan also allow for refusal based on religious grounds?

A Congress not unlike the one faced by Pres Kennedy in 1962 when he presented a good Medicare bill which ended up failing by (essentially) one vote.  

A year ago, we had a Democratic president elected by the largest majority in a generation. No Democratic president had been elected by such a large majority in a couple generations.

Given two situations

A) two candidates, one with 50.1% of the vote and the other with 49.9% of the vote

VS

B) Three candidates, one with 50%, another with 30% of the vote and the last with 20% of the vote

Which one is a more decisive victory?  Turkana's answer is A), I argue B.

96 Clinton spread was 8.5%, electoral college 220.  '08 Obama spread 7.2% electoral college 192.

It's ironic that a provision decried as the greatest legislative restriction since the Hyde Amendment (by FDL) will be killed by the bloc of Dems in favor of restricting abortion.

To which you replied:

And by those on the left who couldn't abide compromise and sausage-making. No judgment.

So you're saying that compromise-challenged leftists helped to kill the bill, and BTD says that's a falsehood.

To hear Dennis tell it, Dennis held a knife to the throat of the Presidency and in the end listened to his better angels. Get it, Obama as Isaac. Talk about delusional.

Obama on behalf of his good friends 'the little people' did do everything possible to twist Kucinich's arm. Dennis found all the attention very exciting. So exciting, he decided he would hold a special press conference in which he would be the star speaker. Neat!

What did concessions did Dennis, the last honest man in Washington actually force from the WH after months of posturing and preening?

SFA. Worse than FA, actually. Because, in caving so massively and winning absolutely nothing in return, Dennis sent a clear and unequivocal message to the WH, to corporate America, to Republicans, and to left-leaning folks around the globe: 'there is no left in the US Congress'. At least, not in the sense of a left that's going to stand up and fight to win concessions from the right or corporate America.

What does the WH get out of the deal? Plenty. Forget hcr. The WH never cared about more than checking off that 'historic' box and helping out the folks who provided early money.

No, the business of the WH is re-electing the occupant. By selling out for nothing, Dennis and the rest of the 'progressives' have guaranteed that the next administration will be even more center-right than the current one. And that's if Dems don't get wiped-out in November.