Last summer the "gang of six" senators - three Democrats and three Republicans - worked on health care reform. In the group was our very own Chuck Grassley. Although Grassley is a Republican conservative he has had made progressive progress on health care issues in the past. (He worked with Hillary on CHIP - health insurance for poor families.) AND Chuck is close personal friends with the lead Democrat Max Baucus. How close? I won't claim they've visited Brokeback Mountain but I'm pretty sure they've downed a few Buds and said, "I love you, man."
In August the Tea Partiers were at the cranky best and scared the bejeebers out of Chuck. When he returned from the August recess he quickly quit the talks. I'm sure he apologized to Max profusely... perhaps over a nice dinner, by candlelight with soft music playing in the background. Max kept pleading, "I can't quit you, Chuck" but he understood that Chuck was facing reelection in 2012 and working on health care would have invited a primary from the Tea Party right.
At that point the only way to win for the Republicans was to block the bill at all costs. "Death Panels" and outrageous claims of pulling the plug on Grandma became common. I wondered all along how the bill might have been different if Chuck and Olympia Snow had remained at the table.
Conservative David Frum makes the same point, without the love story.
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