After all the president's obeisances to right-wing Dems, they could undo his administration -- and the big D congressional majorities

"Tanking health care may not be good for the party or for the country, but [the "centrist" Dems] may very well believe it will be good for them individually."

-- Digby [see below]

by Ken

With regard to the above head, press "I" for "irony."

Backing up a bit, Howie has been keeping watch on the Blue Dogs as they set the stage for a massive betrayal of the president's -- and the American people's -- call for meaningful health care reform in the House.

And you probably heard yesterday that a "bipartisan" coalition of self-professed "moderates" in the Senate is trying to delay health care legislation. The six, for reference, are:

Susan Collins (R-ME)
Mary Landrieu ("D"-LA)
Ben Nelson ("D"-NB)
Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)
and (who else?) --
His Holiness Joe "He's With Us on Everything But the War" Lieberman (CFL-CT)

Financial ties to the insurance industry seem to be the explanation for what Ron Wyden (from whom one normally expects better) is doing in this company. As Paul Blumenthal notes in the HuffPost account linked above:

Each of these senators has raised at least $1 million from the health and insurance sectors combined over the course of their respective careers. What could seventy days do for their campaign coffers?

Now you might wonder, in both cases, how the nominal Democrats involved could be playing such a dangerous game in the face of what seem clear indications of support for health care reform by both the president and the American people. To take it further, given the growing sentiment echoing and ricocheting all around the interior of the Beltway that failure to produce on health care could cripple the Obama administration, what could the right-wing Dems be thinking of? Don't they see where this could lead?

MAYBE THEY DO SEE, AND THAT'S THE POINT

I am now proposing as a formal rule: When you want an explanation to make sense of weasellike but really business-as-usual behavior by clumps of American pols, go directly to Digby.

You may recall that awhile back she graciously allowed us to share her definitive explanation of what Republicans understand by "bipartisanship." (Just to jog your memory: "date rape" is how she described it.) Yesterday, when it was pointed out that we could be looking at a replay of 1993, when the failure of the Clinton health plan not only crippled the new president's administration but is generally thought to have played a major role in the 1994 electoral disaster that turned both houses of Congress from Democratic to Republican control, Digby offered this elegant explanation, which again she has been kind enough to allow us to share with you:

I'm wondering why anyone wouldn't assume that's exactly what the "centrist" Dems hope will happen again. Doesn't it stand to reason they would like to see the majority whittled down, if not lost all together, particularly if they can portray it as being at the hands of fiscally irresponsible tax 'n spend liberals who reached too high? Again?

I see no reason to think they don't know exactly what they are doing. Tanking health care may not be good for the party or for the country, but they may very well believe it will be good for them individually.

Obama will be gone in seven years (or earlier). They are forever.

SPEAKING OF DIGBY AND HEALTH CARE REFORM

You may recall that Digby wrote the three TV spots that the Blue America coalition has produced to run on Arkansas stations to clue Arkansasans in about the lack of commitment to health care reform on the part of their junior senator, Blanche Lincoln, in anticipation of her reelection battle in 2010.

If you haven't seen the spots yet, or if you have and just want to watch them again, they're all posted on our ActBlue page. You'll find more information about the project there, and oh yes, if you're so inclined (and we hope you are), you can chip in whatever you can afford to help cover the costs of making and running the spots.

The closer we get to the possibility of actual health care reform legislation, the nastier the fight is going to get, as the insurance industry throws more and more of its financial might against it. There are a lot of people fighting the good fight, and all need all the help they (we) can get.

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