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How Democrats Pulled Health Care from the
Brink<http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/03/04/how_democrats_pulled_health_care_from_the_brink.html><http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/perfect-storm-nearly-killed-health-reform-another-storm-may-save-it/37009>"It
was a perfect storm that nearly killed health care reform in Congress last
year -- an elongated process, weak leadership from the White House, strong
Republican opposition and the election of Scott Brown. But now," Marc
Ambinder<http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/03/perfect-storm-nearly-killed-health-reform-another-storm-may-save-it/37009>
notes,
"with no perceptible change to the political landscape, the chances of major
legislation passing are greater today than they've been in two months."

How? The key events in chronological order:

Some health insurers recently chose to" significantly raise their premiums
on people with coverage -- that is -- on people who in theory are happy with
the system and don't have any stake in reform."

The White House decided "to unleash the President's brain" at the Republican
House retreat.

Republicans voted against the debt commission "which many GOPers had
supported when it was a Republican idea...and suddenly opposed when it was a
Democratic idea."

Sen. Jim Bunning's (R-KY) one-man filibuster "put a face on Republican
obstructionism in the Senate."

President Obama yesterday finally gave Democrats "a plan of action and an
endorsement of the often-used but suddenly controversial reconciliation
procedure to pass the Senate's bill with a majority vote."
--
Eric D. Schwerin
Rosemont Seneca Partners
(202) 333-1880
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.co