A Dragon in Sheep’s Clothing

From AP via Yahoo News:

[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and others contend that because Massachusetts already has near-universal health coverage under a state law, the upset victory by GOP state Sen. Scott Brown to take Edward M. Kennedy’s old seat could not be seen as a referendum on the issue.

“Massachusetts has health care. … The rest of the country would like to have that too,” Pelosi, D-Calif., said. “So we don’t say a state that already has health care should determine whether the rest of the country should.”

Hmm… I think Pelosi has completely misread the situation. A state that already has health care would have some valuable input on whether their model should be taken nationwide.

It would be nice if this election prompted the media to investigate the Massachussetts system more closely and see how happy they are with it.

I’m also curious whether Pelosi honestly believes her statement, or if she hopes that by saying it, it will be true.  Does she really think Massachussetts shouldn’t make a statement about nationwide health care, or is she downplaying their relevance because she thinks it woud be negative and hurt the legislation in progress?

I found the attitude of Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., very interesting as well:

“We shouldn’t show the arrogance of not getting the message here,” said liberal Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., contending independents had turned against the bill and the Democratic base had lost its enthusiasm. “I don’t think it would be the worst thing to take a step back” and turn the focus to jobs, in conjunction with scaled-back health care goals.

Contrasting that with Pelosi’s comments, it sounds like there may be some splintering among Democrats.

Update: Scott Brown is holding a press confernce right now. A reporter asked what he would tell Majority Leader Harry Reid about what to do next wih the health care bill. Brown responded that Reid has his own way of doing things and that he wouldn’t tell Reid what to do. However, Brown added that Massachussetts has experience in this area, and he would be able to advise Reid on how to “do it better.”