Ezra has a good catch with this fundraising letter [PDF] sent out by Senator Chuck Grassley, ostensibly the chief Republican negotiator on health care reform:I had to rush you this Air-Gram today to set the record straight on my firm and unwavering opposition to government-run health care.... And ask your immediate support in helping me defeat "Obama-care."I'm sure you've been following this issue closely. If the legislation sponsored by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the House of Representatives and Chairman Ted Kennedy in the Senate is passed it would be a pathway to a government takeover of the health care svstem. lt would turn over control of your health care decisions to a federal bureaucrat ... and take it away from you and your personal physician.... the simple truth is that I am and always have been opposed to the Obama administration's plan to nationalize health care. Period.It it wasn't already, it should be clear at this point that Grassley isn't negotiating in good faith and is actually spreading bad information about the bill. The letter was apparently delivered on August 10, so the fundraising off of Ted Kennedy's name isn't entirely boorish, although it was certainly known that the senator was fading fast when the letter was sent. Politesse aside, plenty of people have talked about the possibility of a health care reform deal with the Republicans, or finding a concession that would bring a few Republican votes to a health care bill; today, former Senator Bill Bradley suggests exchanging malpractice tort reform for health care reform. But Republicans aren't interested in a deal, they're interested in stopping health care reform.Which is why I think it might be wise to listen to another Republican, this one former Senator Bob Dole, who thinks that Obama should introduce his own bill. While not everything in his op-ed is smart or even accurate, Dole's suggestion would put Obama back in charge instead of squabbling congressional leaders, and more important, it would give health care reform supporters something to fight for, rather than a menu of options and committees that prevents any kind of affirmative action but provides openings for all kinds of negative disinformation. Everyone interested in health care reform has been hoping that a confluence of events -- the end of the president's vacation, Congress returning to session, the decreasing impact of the various anti-health care reform activists, and now, the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy -- would provide an opportunity to reset the conversation around reform. There will be an opportunity for leadership from the White House to have a tangible effect, and it would be a shame to miss it.
-- Tim Fernholz
