GWB speechwriter Frum describes huge mistake Republicans made on healthcare reform.

Great video. Made a lot of good points and added a bit of perspective. This is the type of stuff that belongs on the front page.

It is true that this is a conservative piece of legislation. It maintains the private insurance system while giving them a mandate for care something A.H.I.P. has been lobbying for now in at least the past two decades. This bill bares more in common with Mit Romney's plan in Massachusetts, Lincoln Chaffee's counterproposal's to Hillarycare, and the counterproposal this year drafted by Paul Begalla, Bob Dole, and Tom Daschle. Today the sky didn't cave in. Fire and brimstone didn't rain down and now Democrats can run on actually achieving the most difficult plank of the party platform.

All republicans now have to run on in the midterm is a teabagging movement that spat on representatives John Lewis a civil rights pioneer who marched arm and arm with Martin Luther King Jr. and Andre Carson who has faced more discrimination in the last decade as a muslim that they would spit on them and chant nigger in 2010 not 1960 is beyond belief. Mike Pence is from Indiana, the same as Representative Carson. Pence spoke out with the teabag protesters only hours before they were spitting, cursing, and chanting Nigger at his fellow congressman from Indiana and he thinks he can distance himself from those comments while he wraps himself in a teabag!!!! No he can not. He needs to be maid to pay! He will pay, he must pay. There is a fury building that he has decided to foment and he will pay! H will inherit the fury of wind and it will be soon. We will see how history treats a legacy of hate versus a legacy of inclusion and accomplishment.

saw this live on msnbc yesterday and I was shocked to hear it. I think this is a case of a republican taking a step back and realizing that republicans are going to be down in history on the wrong side of history. Just like civil rights, social security, and many other progressive movements have judged them on the wrong side of history. The record will show that republicans offered no ideas or concepts what so ever. They brought nothing to the table and should absolutely be ashamed of themselves.

Politicians are sent to Washington to get things done. The republican party has set getting re-elected and getting back in power as their main objective.

The insurance carriers by virtue of their outlandish premium increases are sealing their own fate. A public option will emerge. Even lawmakers in Washington D.C. cannot condone these increases. These increases are bringing state budgets to their knees with huge state deficits emerging. Single payer would be best, health care insurance should not try to carry the same profit lines as life, disability, homeowners or car insurance. Had the insurance companies been not quite as greedy they would have never faced this day. Public option first with single payer eventually. Its just a matter of time.

I have no problem throwing my money into the pot for the good of the commons. I have a very big problem, however, being forced to throw my money into the profit pot of the insurance industry. Let's not muddy the waters here, corporatecrats. This bill hands it all away to the insurance industry. As I read in an inciteful comment at another site: the two main thrusts of the bill are the public mandate and no denial for pre-existing conditions. So let's see, it boils down to 1)We are being forced to become customers of a for profit industry and 2)they must allow us to patronize them.

By the way, according to the bill, an insurance company can STILL DENY someone for a pre-existing condition, but they must pay a fine if they do. Hmmm, let's see, I think I'd trade paying a few small fines in exchange for 30,000,000 new customers.

Failing to compromise!!!!!! If anyone is failing to compromise, it's the Democrats and Obama. No wonder Republicans stood against this healthcare bill, it is a huge spending bill along with no written agreements on abortion.

Very true observations (from GWB's speechwriter? lol). Though I have no interest in the Republican fallout after legislation passes (demote all the crazies), intelligent checks and balances from Republicans would have benefited healthcare reform, but instead they demonized the President and the bill and shook their fists like the grumpy old men they are. I don't know that they'll regret it though. They can continue to spout anger and hate until they get reelected and beat out some Dems in the next election. They'll then take credit for the positive after effects of reform.

Cynical left or cynical right, we know, we know, it's not perfect. It's not legislation that by far, is going to please everyone. But it is a God Damn start, and it's taken decades to get here, so deal with it.

This post points out the major problem everybody outside the Beltway has with this legislation that is supposedly health care reform.

The Republicans started out with good intentions--they just overplayed their hand and now the Democrats feel like they have to mount a giant push back and pass this really crappy bill so they can prove they have the majority and can pass other bills if necessary.

The whole thing is just a bunch of crap now because NOBODY from EITHER party really cares about reforming health care -- instead they are worried about padding their re-election campaigns and writing the attack ads they will use against their opponents.

Excellent post!

It has been my belief this choice the Republicans have made to stand in the way of reform will end up costing them votes for years to come.