President Obama’s speech last night was hailed as a game changer. It was eloquent oratory, to be sure, and aimed squarely at independents and centrists. But it was probably too little too late. With Republicans having been shut out of the negotiation of the Democrats’ several bills for several months, tossing in a few tort-reform demonstration projects at the eleventh hour is insufficient to win GOP support. Liberal Democrats will likely balk at the watered-down version of the public option he offered them. The costs of the bill — a trillion dollars, give or take — outweigh the prospects of bending the curve, maybe, a decade down the line.
The president has said that he’s open to good ideas, and that “if you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open.” Here’s a good idea and a serious proposal: Scrap the bad bills you have and start over with moderates and conservatives at the table.
That would be a game changer.