ObamaCare: Christmas or bust

This is the paradox of the moment: President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan and his subsequent jobs summit underscored why it’s essential to get a health-care bill done quickly. The calendar of politics has an urgency that the dilatory pace of the U.S. Senate doesn’t match.

Here’s the deal. If Obama gets to sign a health-care bill before he gives his State of the Union address, he starts 2010 with a historic victory to proclaim before the country and then can pivot quickly to the issue likely to dominate the midterm elections: jobs and how to create them…

Getting a health-care bill is important on its own, but it’s central to establishing Obama’s credentials as a domestic reformer and to proving that Democrats are capable of governing. This is why the president made an unusual visit to Capitol Hill on Sunday to push fractious negotiations forward. Senators need to get their health-care bill done before the end of this year so the House and Senate can come to a speedy agreement on a final bill in January.