Word: reformer
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...before the historic health care reform vote, Barack Obama made his final argument in favor of the bill to the Democratic members of Congress. "I am not bound to win," he began, quoting Abraham Lincoln, "but I am bound to be true." The next 45 minutes provided a rare, true, almost private glimpse of American politics. Some said they had never seen the President so passionate - although Obama's version of passion is much calmer than most. He did many of the things expected in a pep talk. He made the substantive case for the bill. He jabbed the hyperbolic...
...have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes you had about yourself ... And this is one of those moments. This is one of those times where you can honestly say to yourself, Doggone it, this is exactly why I came here." (See the top 10 health care reform...
...President who didn't back down, who could herd cats, who was not merely intellectual and idealistic but tough enough to force his way. This is bound to change the landscape of American politics. It makes significant progress on other issues - financial reform, immigration, perhaps even the reduced use of carbon fuels - more plausible. It may give Obama new stature overseas, in a world that was beginning to wonder about his ability to use power. Of course, if he doesn't carefully read the lessons of this excruciating passage, it could lead to hubris and overreach. The President's weaknesses...
...unholy mess, inefficient and costly - especially the segments run by the government, Medicare and Medicaid. It placed an unfair burden on employers, who were assumed to be health-insurance providers of the first resort, and an unfair legal burden on doctors. Substantial numbers of Republicans had always favored reform, even archconservatives: 20 years ago, the Heritage Foundation's Stuart Butler came up with a plan to provide universal coverage, paying for it by replacing the tax-exempt status of employer-provided health benefits with a system of progressive tax credits. In 1993 the Republicans, led by Senators John Chafee...
...plan represented "a serious political threat to the Republican Party." In other words, it would make Clinton and the Democrats more popular. Kristol's strategy succeeded in 1994, when Republicans won control of the House and Senate - but it failed in 2010, although Republicans, misled by momentary anti-reform polls that mostly reflect public confusion, seem intent on pushing "repeal." It remains likely that Democrats will lose seats this year, but those losses may not be as extensive now. A good measuring stick would be the 26 House seats lost in 1982, when Ronald Reagan faced a 10.8% unemployment rate...