2.  How Should Progressives Feel About the Senate Health Care Bill?

"The ritual is becoming familiar," writes the New Republic's Jonathan Cohn. There's seemingly a victory for health care reformm, "[a]nd progressives don't know whether to laugh or cry." First it was the House of Representatives that passed a bill that included restrictions on abortion rights. Now, the Senate voted to begin debate by a razor-thin margin. And conservative Democrats—plus everyone's favorite independent from Connecticut—wasted no time in making it clear they'd have no qualms about voting against the measure if it included a government-run insurance option. This up and down is going to be a constant feature of the debate, and progressives are going to have to measure their victories more "in the form of ground not conceded than ground gained," writes Cohn. There's still time for the legislation to fail, but it's important to remember that even if the process seems incredibly frustrating, "it's hard—really hard—to hold sixty votes in line," writes Cohn. "When it happens, like it did this weekend, that's usually a reason to feel good."   

Read original story in The New Republic | Monday, Nov. 23, 2009