Originally Posted by kane

Here is how I see it playing out.

The Republicans win back the house but not the senate. O'Donnell's win in Deleware pretty much sealed the deal that they can't win the senate back unless she pulls off a miracle. But lets say she does just that and they do take them both back. They vote to repeal. The dems block with filibuster and it is over because the republicans won't have enough of a majority to break the filibuster.

So maybe they pull of some kind of political tactic and get the bill passed regardless. There is no way Obama will sign it. The dems have worked for 30+ years to get this, they won't give it up without a major fight.

The best chance the republicans have of repealing is if they can get larger majorities in the house and senate in 2012 and win the white house. If they do manage that and then repeal it I think there is only a very tiny chance that they would put forth any kind of actual healthcare bill that is worth a damn. They have no interest in healthcare reform unless it is forced upon them like it was 2 years ago. Maybe that they repealed an existing bill would force them to put together their own package, but then they will have to deal with the tea party people and chances are they will vote no on anything that increases the deficit.

The best hope we have, IMO, is that as the healthcare bill unfolds we have the wisdom to see what is wrong with it and fix the problems as we go along.

But I don't hold out much hope for that either. Maybe I'm a pessimist, but I think we are pretty much fucked no matter who is in charge.