Hill Street Blues.

A Moment of Clarity.


America, Healthcare: "Too Big To Fail".

Words.

"If President Obama and his Democratic allies are still hoping to eke out a victory this year in their long struggle for healthcare reform, they're going to have to agree on a strategy. Democrats in Congress -- and on Obama's own staff -- are divided over what the next step should be. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) and other liberals are pressing for enacting the bill the Senate passed last month with adjustments that would need only a simple majority to pass. But moderates and campaign strategists worry that voters would see that as a shady backroom deal.

Last week, Obama characteristically came down in the middle. He said his heart is with the liberals but his head is with the pragmatists who are calling for a pause in the healthcare campaign.

For now, he said, the top priority should be a jobs bill, because unemployment is "the thing that's most urgent right now in the minds of Americans."

After that, he said, he'll call on Republicans to join in a new national debate on healthcare. But he didn't sound like a man in a hurry. "We should be very deliberate, take our time," Obama said, and he acknowledged that Congress might not pass a bill at all this year.

It was an underwhelming call to arms from the man whose job is to lead the charge...

...If Obama, Reid and Pelosi want to pass a bill this year, they can start by agreeing on a list of changes to reassure worried voters that their voices have been heard. Reid and Pelosi will have to persuade their fractious Democratic caucuses to walk in step, which is no small task. They'll need more help from Obama to do that.

And Obama will need to appeal directly to the public to rebuild support for reform. He did that once before -- in September, after conservatives touched off public alarm about the bill in congressional "town meetings" -- and met with some success. But last week, the White House wasn't yet ready to say how much of a campaign Obama was willing to wage.

Unless Democrats agree on a strategy soon, the more likely scenario is a months-long deadlock between the Senate and House that will end by giving Democrats in the House a choice they will find unpalatable: Either pass the Senate bill many of them dislike, or allow healthcare reform to die.

There are only a few narrow pathways to passing a bill, and a dozen different ways to fail."

LOS ANGELES TIMES: Healthcare reform -- a plan in search of a strategy