Should-Read: David Anderson: Revisiting Cassidy-Collins

Should-Read: David Anderson: Revisiting Cassidy-Collins: “Engagement either leads to burning Senate time if there is no productive grounds for a deal… https://www.balloon-juice.com/2017/05/16/revisiting-cassidy-collins/

…which is a good in and of itself in a normal legislative environment and extremely valuable in today’s climate, or a deal that cements the federal role in healthcare where the argument is over which dial to turn and how far to turn it. That returns healthcare to normal politics and cements a massive ideological victory for liberalism bought at the cost of a tactical policy retreat and giving up the ability for Democrats to use healthcare as a board with a nail on it to beat up on Republicans in the 2018 midterms.

Cassidy-Collins is fundamentally a healthcare bill. I am still scratching my head at how to make auto-enrollment work with deductibles for a single individual under $10,000 but it is a healthcare bill. The AHCA is a tax cut bill with massive Medicaid cuts attached to it. A few cups of coffee to see if there is a plausible agreement zone by both conservative Democrats in vulnerable seats and Senators who liberals can trust as policy validators are worth drinking…