Compromise in the House (Dems)

The liberal Dems in the House seem to be ready to move forward with a new compromise, despite earlier insistance that they would oppose anything short of a Medicare-tied P.O.:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi will unveil a bill Thursday that falls short of the liberal vision of a public option -- and the liberals, so far and somewhat surprisingly, are going along with that.

After months of public hand-wringing and strident proclamations in support of the strongest possible government-run health coverage, liberal Democrats are bowing to the reality that party leaders don't have the votes.

So Pelosi will unveil a bill that creates a public option but one that would allow doctors and hospitals to negotiate rates with the government. Liberals wanted a bill tethered to Medicare rates.

I like this. Fight for what you want, stand together, rally the troops, but face the political reality when it rolls around. I promise, I'm not just supporting this because of partisan loyalties; this combination of conviction and pragmatism is admirable and how negotiations SHOULD be carried out.

If the GOP caucuses approached the debate this way, the opt-out compromise should seriously be enough to garner their support. The public-option itself is a compromise from single-payer systems. Now, to let states ultimately decide should most accurately manifest the opinion of constituents. That's what they want, right? It feels more and more like the right isn't even reading these suggestions anymore. They've figured out the "fighting" bit, but forgot about the second half of negotiating: reaching an agreement.