The President’s health care proposal doesn’t contain any big surprises, which in itself isn’t a big surprise. It splits the difference between the House and the Senate bills on the issue of premium credits for purchasing insurance and it provides more Medicaid funding to states while eliminating the special deals cut with certain states, but it otherwise mirrors the Senate bill in most respects. But the proposal does signal something important; the President has no intention of heeding Republican demands to scrap the past year’s work and start over (or, in practical terms, not pass anything). Of course, Republicans will spend the next few days working themselves into a lather as they scream that Obama is trying to “ram” a bill through Congress. The media will eat it up, but the story really worth watching in the coming weeks is whether Congressional Democratic leaders can herd up enough votes to put a comprehensive bill across the finish line.
