The Not So New Left, for example, needs to ask itself whether declaring victory is really more important than actually WINNING something; Obama may be able to say healthcare wasn't his "Waterloo" (it takes two to be bipartisan, y'know... ) but in terms of advancing liberal policy he hasn't done squat. And I can pretty much bet without that sentiment in "taxachusetts" both the healthcare bill and the Dem Senate candidate would be polling much higher than anything the Republicans are suggesting (what exactly ARE they suggesting, other than not doing what any of the Dems want?) This is a Fox story, which is why I saw it there on the way out the door this morning, with the on the scene reporter telling us how ironic it is that the healthcare bill is hurting Dems in MA "which has nearly universal healthcare. " I'm sure Romney appreciates the plug, but last I heard it wasn't working out that way (which is why the US doesn't need Romneycare, not even from Obama. )

But don't kid yourself: The cost of healthcare is a short term, CURRENT, economic problem; it's just dwarfed by the economic CRISIS looming between 2020 and 2030 if we allow healthcare costs to keep doubling every decade. Frankly, I don't get it; Americans pay more money for less care than Europeans but feel sorry for THEM. It takes a special kind of "out of touch" to watch a dozen countries surpass our standard of living then warn the rest of us we don't want to do what they did and suffer the same "disaster. " The number of insured Americans is going down, not up, due to cost, and employers are scaling back coverage as they get priced out of the market. We're rapidly reaching a point where a government printing imaginary money will be the only one who CAN afford insurance. Except all the new Medicare enrollees in 2020 will bankrupt that, too (and apparently some Dems thought the "solution" to that was to enroll them NOW. )

Sometimes when I survey the American political landscape I feel like Diogenes, except I've given up looking for an honest man and now desperately search for a thinking man.