A weekend devoted to all things healthcare. It’s what this weekend is shaping up to be. Last night in a secret closed door session on Capitol Hill, senate proponents of the public option and more moderate Democrats met to discuss, as legend will have it, their differences on the language in the healthcare bill. Of course, the talks are top secret, but the group — which included Sens. Harkin, Schumer, Rockefeller, and Feingold — apparently met today, right before today’s debate. Then, tomorrow afternoon, the president will address a meeting of the Democratic Senate caucus. He plans to rally for his commitment to his #1 domestic policy issue — healthcare reform with a sound public option.

The Democrats’ closed door meetings suggest that, as a party, they have to reach consensus on internal differences^[1] before debate creates rifts from which nothing substantial will be ultimately passed. Republicans’ goals for today’s debate include undermining Democratic divisions by trying to move quickly on eliminating the sources of all potential cuts to Medicare as funding engines for reform. McCain’s (R-AZ) recent amendment failed; today, Sen. Mike Johanns’ (R-NE) function is to pass an an amendment that would eliminate $42 billion in cuts in Medicare payments to home health agencies over the next decade.

High drama on the Hill today makes excellent fodder for politicos and wonks everywhere, but the overall effect in all of this partisan bickering is not in keeping with the spirit of bipartisanship Obama has always sought in achieving reform. As this debate rages on in the Senate, Americans need to be reassured that it remains civil and not subversive — because any effort at reform sullied by silly, contentious amendments and weird backdoor meetings will rise to the same level of competence that gets the bill to the president’s desk next year.

1. Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) has to secure agreement among his own Democrats on the issues of abortion and a government insurance plan to compete against the private market — a tough sell with conservative Dems. [↩]

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