Tim, I think You give the republicans too much credit. They are not that smart. As I have said They had all the cards and They violated every one of their core principles. They lost all credibility with the people Who elected them hoping They would get government off Our backs. They were worse managing finances than the very liberal president Who preceded Them. For the first time since Carter I am considering voting either democrat or libertarian. I am still for small government, but starting to think I'm alone in this. 

Thanks John! I needed that!

The painful question here, it seems to me, is "will this tactic work?" And I think sadly, it could, in the worst of all ways - that is, Republicans will raise negative perceptions just enough to put everyone on the defensive... but not enough to stop the bill. That may seem like failure... but for Republicans it's almost win-win: you get some mild improvements in coverage for people who may like it but be leery of more government involvement, and you get a general negative perception of the Dems heading towards more intensive campaigning in 2010. At a time when Republicans have little else to offer, that's making hay out of almost nothing at all.

Second, the reason it may work is something neither the Democraic establishment nor the progressive blogosphere has faced: because so many people know so little about their healthcare, charges like "government-run" and "beaurocrat making your medical decisions" resonate when they're easily disprovable (or at least, easily applied to how things work now). This is why the secretive, private nature of the work on the health insurance  bill is so problematic: this is the moment when public hearings and press conferences would go a long way to bringing average people up to speed. And we're not doing it. Still.

Finally, I'd also point out there's an even bigger point here - the reforms we really need, the ones that involves improved access, better cost controls, and improved use of "best practices" that standardize more basic care... these things are completely left aside. We're all put in the position of accepting that this insurance reform - which is a minor piece of a much bigger puzzle - is the best, first place to begin. It might not be; which is another, less obvious reason why the Republican right might have a point.

Thank you for this posting. Even though the majority of Americans see through the lies and hysteria of the opposition, we need to be watchful of the words and craziness of the Republicans. Their teabagger parties and mouthpieces and Fox (the new Pravda) and elsewhere have shown that people can be duped into opposing every measure to undo the damage (from the Reagan era through W. Bush's regime). Health Care is a major target and they are going to fight as if they'll never need it. 'Libertarian' parties and the Ron Paul scene are more advocates of the 'free market' ideas that got us in such deep economic decline. We need to be vigilant and every outspoken. There is now too much at stake. Rev. Bookburn - Radio Volta

The Republicans raise legitimate concerns.  One should not dissmiss them.  One should address them.

I am all for any one of government run, administered, or funded universal health insurance programs.

But the first thing I learned at Harvard is that one has to not only do the right thing but one has to do it well.

Government can be heavy handed, etc.

So let us get it right.

Bohdan A. Oryshkevich, MD, MPH

Health care reform is like a bicycle. First you define reform, make the decision, what form will reform take. What is the intention behind the reform that will determine what the bicycle will look like? I would say that profit making has destroyed our health care system. Excess profit making from nothing more than insurance middlemen has virtually destroyed the system. For those of us who believe that health care is a right, this shapes our idea of what reform should look like...a public, not for profit system of health care ADMINISTRATION.
So you've got the bike frame. Now you need wheels. The wheels for this non-profit public health reform bicycle are equal access and sustainability. The first wheel is easy, you have pretty much set it with your decision about the overall bike frame. The second wheel, the sustainability wheel is crucial. I hope those of you who are thinking government administered health care is about anyone with any illness with any amount of money getting free health care is what it is all about. The sustainability portion is a key factor. But we will never decide what that will look like until we decide on the overall nature of reform. I am all for personal rights and responsibilities. I have been poor and uninsured. I have experienced first hand the unexpected and endured it's consequences. I know how hard it is to pick ones' self off. But I have been lucky in that I have always been able bodied and able to work. I have never asked my government for anything until it came time to apply for student loans for my kids to go to college. I work hard and pay taxes. I am not expecting a free ride and neither are the majority of people who are working towards reform. I think the profit making of the health insurance industry is one of the most violent and immoral things going on in our society today. I don't think people should have to apply to a private gatekeeper to access healthcare. I think insurance should help people get access at an affordable rate, not prevent people from getting insurance by ever increasing rates. I think the sick need insurance the most and they should not have to pay the most to get it. I think the point is for everyone to participate in order to ease the financial burdens for those that need it. Who knows, you may be the next person to get a cancer diagnosis or find out your child has some illness that is going to cost you every cent you will ever earn just to keep him in medicine. Sustainability needs to be protected from the people in the health care professions who think the public insurance system is their personal gravy train. Yeah, I know how things work now with Medicare and how it is being taken advantage of. I know how some doctors and pharmacists and other providers "bill" the government. I call that stealing and it needs to be stopped and prevented. Insurance, the point of it is to help each other out so that when someone gets sick, they don't go bankrupt or get sicker worrying about sending their kids to school or feeding them or keeping a roof over their heads. Those who don't need to pay a zero co-pay should pay a little more to keep the system sustainable. Depending on your financial needs and the nature of your illness, maybe your yearly deductible should be higher or lower. Remember, the idea here is sustainable and that means not taking what you don't really need now because you may need it in the future. This also provides us a society a means to help each other out. I think this is why people live together in societies in the first place. There comes a time when philosophical and political ideologies need to be set aside and make a  committment to something because it is the right thing to do for your fellow man. iIthink part of the problem with some of the folks who are discussing reform is that they may be too far removed from a medical crisis in their lives. There IS an urgency to get this done and get it done right. There are voices I don't hear with all the discussions going on in Washington. That is the voices of the chronically or critically ill and uninsured or underinsured, the medically bankrupt. 

What good are the "best" hospitals in the world if the people can't have access to care at those institutions? Who says insurance reform will risk the performance at those hospitals, heck, it could even make them better.
Let's not risk creating a public system of health care because we doubt our capacity to make it sustainable. This issue of sustainability won't be solved right away. The answers will unfold as time goes on. It will be made more and more sustainable if we remember that it IS the vital wheel on our health care reform bicycle. Keeping profit making in the system creates incentives to flatten that wheel. No one has the right to risk the health protection of any of us. We can create a system that will be fair. This doesn't have to be so hard.

While the other sides tactics are important to understand, it is more important to to come up with with aggressive actions of our own.. 

I had expected our President to have sat down in front of the country, on a Sunday night, and read aloud the names of all members of Congress that are slowing, or trying to water down this legislation, with a list of financial ties to the insurance companies..

I am still waiting, and i hope I don't need to wait much longer.. He has the suport of his constituancy, and it's time he uses it..

I think he is listening to the wrong people.. Those people are afraid of a real fight for this legislation who's time is long overdue.. He acts like he has no faith in us, after we put him in office, in what may have been the most historical election since FDR, or maybe even Honest Abe himself..

I just saw Republican Rep Paul Roskam successfully dodge the question "Would you give up your government, taxpayer paid health insurance?"
  Let's ask this question and demand that all Republicans and so called blue dog Democrats (spit) who vote against single payer drop their government, taxpayer paid health insurance and go on a public plan that they pay out of their own pocket.