Kill the good and hope for perfect in another 20 years

As snow is falling across Washington the left of my party has gone into a frenzy in opposing healthcare reform. It's 99% the same bill that they had a month ago and it was good then but now it's bad.

Why? Joe Lieberman pissed them off. A couple of weeks ago a sweetener was added that would allow 55-64 year olds to buy into Medicare. It's a great idea that Joe supported even in September of this year. When Joe saw how excited that made the liberals who shunned him in reelection in 2006 he said he would filibuster unless it was taken out.

Again, the Senate bill is virtually the same as it was a month ago. The only difference now is that Lieberman (and to a lesser extent Ben Nelson of Nebraska) has made liberal groups mad.

The result? They've lost their minds. Killing reform now means it is dead. Not just a little dead, but completely dead. No pulse. No reform for decades, dead. If we couldn't make it work with 60 senators there's no way we're ever going to make this work because Republicans will never be willing to negotiate in good faith. (Our very own Chuck Grassley who once championed CHIP - which is government run healthcare for poor families - has now done a 180 and opposes government subsidies for private insurance.)

The good liberals in the senate know it is now or never and they are ignoring nutwings on their left. I hope they keep their resolve. This bill is far from perfect but it is worth passing.