I don't understand this post by Jonathan Cohn. It seems to imply that responsibility for a bipartisan legislative process rests with both sides. But at no point does he mention that Republicans have already proven their desire to work with Democrats on health reform. How else do you explain the filibuster? Here we have a minority party that could leave the grind and toil of legislating up to the majority. Democrats, after all, have more than 50 votes in the Senate.They could pass a bill themselves. But Republicans are so insistent on bipartisanship that they have decided to invoke a parliamentary rule that jacks the votes necessary to pass legislation from 50 Senators to 60 Senators. By shoulder the capability to kill health reform, they have made the greatest commitment a minority party can make: They have rendered their involvement indispensable. They ave locked themselves into the endless meetings and the long nights and the hours of hearings and the dull position papers and the constant questions about Medicare Payment Rates. Such a display of good faith should be more than enough to quiet objectors. It is time Democrats met them halfway by renouncing the reconciliation process and agreeing that Republican support for a health reform bill is far more important than actually fixing the health care system.
