Democrats Deserve Victory

The Democratic Party deserves a pat on the back after its squeaker win on Saturday night in the U.S. Senate. Passing a large complicated bill is even more difficult these days than when Medicare and Social Security were enacted because our company has become more partisan and splintered into a collection of one-issue interest groups.

The power of these interest groups was clearly illustrated during the House debate when the Stupak amendment was needed to put the Democrats over the top. This amendment mandated more restrictive pro-life language on abortion than is usually the case.

Anyway, it’s somewhat of a miracle that Majority Leader Harry Reid was able to hold the fractious party together, if only for one vote. The Democrats are all, at least, willing to debate the legislation as opposed to the Republicans who will have none of it.

The old saying, “I don’t belong to any organized Party, I’m a Democrat,” still holds true today and augurs potential disaster down the line without continued compromise and horse trading. At the very least, I do not see how Senators Joe Lieberman and Blanche Lincoln will ever vote for any bill containing a public option, though I think the other centrists can be persuaded, specifically Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson.

One possible solution would be to change the public option from an opt-out situation to an opt-in situation. This, perhaps, would satisfy the liberals and moderates alike, though there still may be some grumbling on the more liberal House side.