The moderate Republican blogger in Minneapolis, Minn. opines: "It’s a worthwhile reminder to the GOP that even though this particular health care reform deal might be dead, that doesn’t mean that health care reform should not take place. Like M. Scott, I fear that Brown’s victory might be misinterp[r]eted as a way to just support the status quo. That said, I’ve also been wondering if there is a reason that Republicans have not always been so passionate on health care reform as Democrats. I have a theory that one of the reasons Republicans have been active in trying to defeat health care is not simply because they are mean-spirited people as some on the left might think, but because they know there is nothing in it for them - no incentive to work for change."
More: "It’s not that it’s the issue for Dems, but that the general public has tended to view health care as a Democratic issue. Republicans have put forth proposals and while I think they were weak tea, they were positions and yet they got very little press. Even the truly bipartisan Wyden-Bennett bill gave more focus to the Democrat Wyden over the Republican Bennett. Contra Jamelle, I do think there are a good number of Republicans that do care about health care reform, but at this point, there is no incentive for them to put forth meaningful proposals. Democrats will shoot them down, the base will accuse them of being 'Democrat-lite' and the press will ignore them. I think what has to change is to give the GOP an incentive/threat. There has to be something in it for the GOP to want to support health care. Reihan Salam has an idea that just might do that: focus on Republican leaning voters instead of Republican politicians..."
Booker Rising response: Opposing a government takeover of health care (which Mr. Sanders believes is the only type of health care reform) - 1/6 of the U.S. economy - is quite different than opposing health care reform in general. Almost all libertarian, conservative, moderate-conservative and/or Republican critics of the current bill want reform, but one that honors individual choice, liberty, and America's cultural tradition of free markets and not European nanny-statism. If I wanted to be European, I'd move to Europe.
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DENNIS SANDERS OP-ED: Health Care Reform Still Matters
