Health care reform reached a significant milestone today when the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passed a bill that includes a universal mandate for everyone to be insured, a strong public plan, and government subsidies to assist families with modest incomes to purchase coverage. While this is an important step, I fear that the Senate is currently Public Enemy #1 when it comes to meaningful health care reform. Ryan Powers writes a forceful post illustrating the Senate’s long history of obstructing progressive legislation. The Senate operates in a weird parallel universe where majority rule isn’t good enough. Instead, a super-duper majority of 60 senators is needed to pass most major legislation. Why? Because tradition demands it. Even though the Constitution says nothing about super-duper majorities, the Senate prefers to observe decorum rather than actually, you know, pass legislation.
For health care reform to attract 60 votes, it will have to be watered down to appease so-called moderates who can’t quite bring themselves to confront the true extent of our existing system’s fucked-upness. I’m starting to think that real reform can only be accomplished through the reconciliation process, which only requires a simple majority. And the Obama administration seems to be similarly inclined.