Sorry, but Brad is precisely wrong on this. There were Congressmen in 1994 who came together to try and fashion a compromise after the Clinton health care bill seemed a clear failure. But Jim Cooper was not among their number. Rather, he was a uniquely pernicious actor who worked to undermine the plan both before, and directly after, its introduction. As we learn from this terrific timeline of the battle, in June of 1993, about three months before the Clinton plan came out, Cooper met with Clinton to "explore their differences over health care." Those differences were "universal coverage." the "employer mandate," and Cooper's fear that "the administration was being pushed to the left by liberals in the House." So let's be clear on where Cooper starts: He was against universal coverage. He was a conservative Democrat who wanted a minimalist, incremental approach to health care that wouldn't offend his corporate constituencies. He thought the Clinton plan was too liberal, even as it began as a compromise between liberal visions of single payer and conservative dreams of market competition. Then, on October 6, 1993, two weeks after the Clinton bill is released, Cooper reintroduces his own plan, creating, from the outset, a weak, moderate "alternative" for business, centrists, and other opponents of reform to rally around. "Privately," we learn, "Cooper is convinced the White House will have to bend and accept his position."
