First, Quick Thoughts on Last Nights Legislation Passage

The health insurance reform (which should be distinguished from the health care reform that we have yet to see) that passed last night leaves me in an uncomfortable place. On the one hand, I want to share in the hope/change rhetoric that argues that the passage of this bill is a stepping stone towards more meaningful reform. There are few, either on the right or the left that will honestly claim that there aren’t some very good things about this bill, things that will make many people’s lives easier. It’s still hard for me not to ask at what ultimate cost the handful of good things come. There are a lot of good points being made right now about how this legislation could potentially backfire on the very people that it is supposedly designed to help. There are just as many good points being made right now about how this legislation will ultimately benefit us all and make the country a better place to live in. I think a lot of this is still up in the air.

But something huge did happen yesterday, and it goes beyond, or shall I say greatly reinforces, the historic nature of this piece of legislation.

The passage of this bill ultimately focused on abortion, with Bart Stupak & Co. holding President Obama and the Democrats hostage. The Executive Order, which cleared the passage of the bill by Democrats, has been the starting point of both conservative opposition and liberal praising of this bill. The conservative argument against the bill being that the Executive Order is meaningless and so leaves the cost of abortion services ultimately funded by taxpayer dollars, etc. and the liberal argument for the bill being that the Executive Order is meaningless and so leaves The Hyde Amendment open to repeal, allows Stupak to save face, etc. Both sides are correct, I suspect, of the legal meaningless-ness of the executive order. My concern, however, is with the left, and I suspect the left is failing to acknowledge with their argument that there is more to politics than hardcore, strict legality. While from a strict legal standpoint this executive order may be meaningless, politics, especially the politics of justice, doesn’t work itself out in purely strict, legal terms. There is also symbolism and ideology at play and neither should be underestimated. This executive order, while perhaps being legally meaningless, does still serve a purpose. This is a symbol of acceptance. There’s no reason to reaffirm a law unless you are also willing to ultimately accept it and endorse it. Coming from the leader of the Democratic Party, this is also a symbol of a rather large shift in official Democratic ideology with regards the pro-choice position. Regardless of the technicalities of the order, I’m not sure how you can’t see this as anything but an official shifting towards the right regarding pro-choice ideology on behalf of the Democratic Party.

I suspect that Stupak didn’t save face. Instead, he pulled off a major Democratic Party coup that will have the effect of shifting Democratic legislation further to the right.

I’m uneasy about how easy it was for him to do so.