5 Thoughts On the Baucus Bill

The Senate Finance Committee is poised to vote today on Chairman Max Baucus' health care plan.

If one had to bet, one would bet that the Democrats are likely, in the end, to "get something." Public option? Probably not. Universal coverage? Definitely not. "Bending the curve" on costs? Definitely not. But that's OK, because "muddling through" is always a good option in a democratic society. The joke floating around Washington is that if a piece of paper bearing only the words, "Health Care Reform Act of 2009" floated onto Barack Obama's desk, he would happily sign it and take credit for it: mission accomplished.

But the question is, why has it been so hard for the Democrats? After all, there's a Democratic president who campaigned on health care reform and who won in the biggest landslide for a Democrat in more than four decades. And, not only that, the Democrats have huge majorities in both houses of Congress.

So why the difficulty? I can think of five reasons, which are full of implications for this bill as it struggles to come to life in the years ahead.

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SOURCE: Fox News