Does Ted Kennedy’s Death Breathe New Life into the Health Care Debate?

posted at 10:18 am on August 27, 2009 by Howard Portnoy
[ Healthcare ]   

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away*. Ted Kennedy has sloughed off this mortal coil, and now health care — “the passion of his life,” according to Rep. David Obey — has a chance to live and go forth and prosper.

But will it? The answer implicit in an article on the front page of this morning’s New York Times by Carl Hulse and Katharine Q. Seelye seems to be a resounding yes. This reading certainly may be gleaned from the many eulogistic quotes from Democrats in both houses of Congress. Saieth Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “Ted Kennedy’s dream of quality health care for all Americans will be made real this year because of his leadership and his inspiration.” From Dem Chairman Howard Dean: “his [Kennedy's] death absolutely will stiffen the spine of the Democrats to get something this year for this extraordinary giant in Senate history.” Sen. Chris Dodd: “Maybe Teddy’s passing will remind people once again that we are there to get a job done as he would do.”

It’s all very schmaltzy and warm, befitting a fallen hero of the liberal left, but the question remains: Will Kennedy’s passing help pass H.R. 3200 in some form? In search of an answer, let’s go back to the opening paragraph of the article/tribute:

The death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy has quickly become a rallying point for Democratic advocates of a broad health care overhaul, a signature Kennedy issue that became mired in partisanship while he fought his illness away from the Capitol. [Empasis added.]

If the words in bold italics in this quote were true, then so might be the determination informing the quote by Nancy Pelosi. But they are not true. The fight that is raging in Congress is largely a stalemate within the ranks of the Democrat Party. Those on the hard left refuse to pass the bill unless a government option remains in it. Blue dogs refuse to pass the bill unless that language is stripped from it.

I’d say this is all wishful thinking on the part of the Democrats (and presumably the Times writers) and that the health care reform bill remains in the same precarious spot it occupied before Kennedy died.

* For all you bible scholars out there, let me you save you the trouble: This phrase does not appear in the King James Bible.

Cross-posted at Zombie Contentions

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