WORN DOWN

Oh dear! I'm having an unproductive blogging day. I've started a couple of posts and not finished them. Whether I'll ever finish them is questionable. Through a link from Americablog, I came upon the following news from ABC:

White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will say that if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial reconciliation rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the "fix" to the Senate bill.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been awaiting the president’s remarks direction on how health care reform will proceed.

Can we truly believe that some form of decent health care reform will be passed by both the House and the Senate and signed by the president? For a year now, the path of my emotions, paralleling the course of health care reform, have been a roller-coaster ride, hopes up, hopes dashed, hopes up, hopes dashed, and no bill signed into law yet. Can our Democratic legislators in the Congress come together and produce a bill, and pass the bill through both houses, and get the bill on the president's desk for him to sign? Why not six, eight months ago? Or if substantive legislation is really about to be passed, should I not even ask the question?

I confess that when I hear the words, "Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans", I begin to hyperventilate from anxiety. Mr President, please!

The president will outline the plan to pass the bill, including having the House of Representatives pass the Democratic Senate health care reform legislation as well as a second bill containing various “fixes.”

He will say that if Republicans refuse to allow and up or down vote in the Senate on the fixes to the bill, Democrats will use the reconciliation rules.

"[I]f the Republicans refuse to allow an up or down vote"? Mr President! You simply cannot be credulous enough to believe that there is any chance whatsoever that the Republicans will allow an up or down vote.

I confess that I'm worn down. I'll believe in a health care reform bill when I see President Obama signing the bill on the TV. And then, I'll start praying that the bill is, at least in some ways, better than what we have now.

Note: John Aravosis thinks the news is great. I'd love to be as hopeful as John.