SNEEZE NOW, YOU MAY NOT BE ALLOWED TO TOMORROW - AT 9:25 A.M. ET:   You'd think Americans would be more interested.  The Democratic-controlled Congress wants to rewrite medical care in the United States, putting the federal government front and center.  Your health-care decisions could wind up being made by someone in Washington whose knowledge was gained in a high-school first-aid course. 

But now some of the high-flying proposals are running into serious headwinds, in part because of the resistance of moderate Democrats. We've noted here before that a coalition of Republicans and moderate Dems is emerging in Congress, and could frustrate the dreams of the far left.  The Politico reports:

President Obama's campaign for health care reform by this fall, once considered highly likely to succeed, suddenly appears in real jeopardy.

Top White House advisers, especially Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, are still privately predicting massive changes to the health care system in 2009. But for the first time, Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the administration are expressing frank worries about stronger-than-expected opposition from moderate Democrats and worse-than-expected estimates for how much the plan could cost.

Further...

And top Democratic officials tell POLITICO they are increasingly pessimistic about getting any more Republican votes than they did on the stimulus package, with some aides referring to the idea of a bipartisan bill as "fools' gold" — an unattainable waste of time.

COMMENT:  The sad part is that health plans will be debated in Congress during the summer, when Americans are easily distracted.  The subject is complex, involving science, money, insurance, power, and very high emotions.  The mainstream media shows little enthusiasm for real digging or detailed reporting. 

Oh, by the way, the main health bill being proposed exempts members of Congress, who will keep their world-class insurance perks.  It's the rest of us who'll be affected.  What's wrong with that picture?

June 19, 2009