That these accomplishments have taken a backseat to the NRA's exemption is a telling illustration of just how upset many progressive and good government groups have been to see lawmakers bending legislation to a special interest.
Republicans use those warnings to cast doubt on the claim by Mr. Obama that the legislation will "bend the cost curve" by slowing the growth of health spending in the long term.
Sen. Kent Conrad asked if the current legislation would "bend the cost curve". The short answer: Not a chance.
a) He's gay, a clergyman, and has cancer b) He's gay, Republican, and an Air Force veteran c) He's a woman, a veteran, and a communist d) He opposes climate change legislation, can bend steel bars with his toes, and is able to control the weather with his mind.
Indeed, it was not poor whites – not even white Republicans – who passed legislation bent on preserving segregation, or who watched the Confederate flag raised outside state capitols for decades to come.
"The current House legislation fails to bend the health cost curve and breaks the promise that those who like their current coverage can keep it," Karen M. Ignagni, the chief executive of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry trade association, said.
A START AT COST CONTROL The legislation won't quickly bend the cost curve for medical care or insurance premiums — no one has yet found a surefire way to do that — but the reform will make an important start.
She intends to bend the President-elect's ear about upcoming legislation that will ban discrimination against gays in the workplace.
But it would be no easy trick accommodating both Mr. McCain and Republicans on the other side of the issue, like Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who are bent on smothering the legislation.
If you're one of those shoppers who loves, loves, loves buying items online without an ounce of sales tax, take heed: Congress is bent on passing bipartisan legislation to end that loophole -- and when was the last time you heard "Congress" and "bipartisan" in the same sentence?
