The United States of America The Casualties of Health Care
Last week, the Democrats in the United States Senate scraped together enough support to begin formal debate of the health care bill. Passing by a barely filibuster-proof majority, the vote is just one marginal victory in a process that has drained the strength of the Obama administration over the past six months. The debate over health care reform has carved the chasm which now polarizes the American public even deeper. Following Obama’s introduction of the debate early in the summer, it did not take long for whispers of dissent from the Right to turn into bellows of “death panels”. Those on the Left criticize the bill for being too weak. As the health care bill limps its way towards the finish line, it appears the biggest casualty of the process is bipartisanship. The battle over Obama’s health care reform plan has raged for half a year now. The putrid stench of the health care reform process has wafted into the other parts of the president’s agenda.
Obama’s initiative to make headway on climate change has been undermined by months of partisan battling over health care. The House passed a climate change bill in June committing to cut emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 per cent by 2050. In order to make headway on the health care bill, the Senate delayed action on climate change legislation until the spring. Already, the US is facing international criticism about Obama’s reluctance to commit to even attending the Copenhagen Summit. Without support from Congress, the president is unable to make any significant commitment to reduce carbon emissions in Copenhagen. “We would have obviously preferred that healthcare would've been finished a long time ago, and we would be in an energy debate, but that didn't happen,” a senior official in the administration told The Hill in November. As the debate will now take place during a mid-term election year, it will be more difficult for to gather the votes necessary to pass the controversial climate change bill.
The healthcare debate in the Senate is also likely to take a physical toll on the US presence in Copenhagen. Several senators were expected to attend the global climate change summit, but Democrats will be needed in Washington in full force throughout the month. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry and Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Senator Barbara Boxer are among several leading Democrats whose committees deal with issues relevant to climate change. Kerry is still hoping to travel to Copenhagen. “This could be one hell of a global game-changer with big reverberations here at home,” he said last month. Boxer is ready to give up her trip in order to support the health care bill. “I’m not going to miss any important votes on healthcare.” She is a co-sponsor of the only climate change bill to make it out of Senate committee this year.
Republican senators are not under the same pressure to stay in Washington for the duration of the debate. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, one of the most outspoken skeptics of the manmade climate change theory, is planning to go to Copenhagen. “I’m going to go to Copenhagen. I think somebody has to be there – a one-man truth squad – so let’s see what happens there,” he said.
US lawmakers would be of particularly value at Copenhagen given that the Senate has failed to pass a commitment to carbon emission reductions. Joe Mendelson, director of global warming policy at the National Wildlife Foundation, told The Hill, “It would be ideal if some senators are there to explain that the U.S. Senate is moving forward on legislation that will be critical for countries who want to know if the U.S. can deliver on what’s promised.” US Senators would be in a position to explain to the international community that the lack of a climate change commitment is due to the healthcare debate, rather than to lack of political will.
Last week, the Democrats in the United States Senate scraped together enough support to begin formal debate of the health care bill. Passing by a barely filibuster-proof majority, the vote is just one marginal victory in a process that has drained the strength of the Obama administration over the past six months. The debate over health care reform has carved the chasm which now polarizes the American public even deeper. Following Obama’s introduction of the debate early in the summer, it did not take long for whispers of dissent from the Right to turn into bellows of “death panels”. Those on the Left criticize the bill for being too weak. As the health care bill limps its way towards the finish line, it appears the biggest casualty of the process is bipartisanship. The battle over Obama’s health care reform plan has raged for half a year now. The putrid stench of the health care reform process has wafted into the other parts of the president’s agenda.
Obama’s initiative to make headway on climate change has been undermined by months of partisan battling over health care. The House passed a climate change bill in June committing to cut emissions by 17 per cent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 per cent by 2050. In order to make headway on the health care bill, the Senate delayed action on climate change legislation until the spring. Already, the US is facing international criticism about Obama’s reluctance to commit to even attending the Copenhagen Summit. Without support from Congress, the president is unable to make any significant commitment to reduce carbon emissions in Copenhagen. “We would have obviously preferred that healthcare would've been finished a long time ago, and we would be in an energy debate, but that didn't happen,” a senior official in the administration told The Hill in November. As the debate will now take place during a mid-term election year, it will be more difficult for to gather the votes necessary to pass the controversial climate change bill.
The healthcare debate in the Senate is also likely to take a physical toll on the US presence in Copenhagen. Several senators were expected to attend the global climate change summit, but Democrats will be needed in Washington in full force throughout the month. Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Senator John Kerry and Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Senator Barbara Boxer are among several leading Democrats whose committees deal with issues relevant to climate change. Kerry is still hoping to travel to Copenhagen. “This could be one hell of a global game-changer with big reverberations here at home,” he said last month. Boxer is ready to give up her trip in order to support the health care bill. “I’m not going to miss any important votes on healthcare.” She is a co-sponsor of the only climate change bill to make it out of Senate committee this year.
Republican senators are not under the same pressure to stay in Washington for the duration of the debate. Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, one of the most outspoken skeptics of the manmade climate change theory, is planning to go to Copenhagen. “I’m going to go to Copenhagen. I think somebody has to be there – a one-man truth squad – so let’s see what happens there,” he said.
US lawmakers would be of particularly value at Copenhagen given that the Senate has failed to pass a commitment to carbon emission reductions. Joe Mendelson, director of global warming policy at the National Wildlife Foundation, told The Hill, “It would be ideal if some senators are there to explain that the U.S. Senate is moving forward on legislation that will be critical for countries who want to know if the U.S. can deliver on what’s promised.” US Senators would be in a position to explain to the international community that the lack of a climate change commitment is due to the healthcare debate, rather than to lack of political will.