Legal Commentary

What Do Progressives Believe About Health Care Reform?

By Big Tent Democrat

More good stuff from Ezra Klein:

This bill is Clintonian: It achieves liberal ends through market means, and since conservatives frequently claim they are also in favor of access to medical care, it's not even clear that near-universal coverage can properly be called a liberal end. Not to mention that it's more conservative than the Great Triangulator himself was: It doesn't resemble his reforms so much as the Republican alternative to his reforms. But Democrats haven't gotten credit for that, in part because the opposition of Republicans meant they had to keep their liberals onboard, and that cut against trumpeting the conservative structure of the legislation.

But if President Mitt Romney had proposed this bill, a substantial number among his party would have stood with him on it, and no one would have trouble identifying what was conservative within it. And, to be fair, many Democrats would have fought the legislation every step of the way.

(Emphasis supplied.) Ezra has been great since the bill passed. The unanswered question though is the one I pose in my title.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 26, 2010 (boomark / email).