For the love of God, Harry Reid and Barack Obama please take the "ball" away from Max Baucus and Kent Conrad and give it to Jay Rockefeller and John Kerry. It is of the utmost importance that we get this bill right, and that the small state Senators are promoting increasing the federal governments share of the price tag to get the gears of progress moving in the right direction and also complaining that the expense of the bill because their state's balanced budget amendments and lack of politcal courage to raise revenues makes increases in the medicare rolls seem to be unfunded mandates. Well, they're unfunded because we lack the courage to raise taxes 5% on the wealthiest 5% at every level. It also brings me to speculate that they aren't negotiating in good faith as Enzi and Grassley keep filibustering and asking for more time, and Baucus knows we are going the reconciliation route, and still produces legislation that looks like it was written by George Bush 41. Did the GOP win the election and someone not tell me? Enough with six Small state members of the Senate Finance Committee deciding for the robust Democratic majority what they will be voting on. It's suicidal. Grassley, Hatch and Enzi must be having a laugh. I'm not.

Because of the demands of raising campaign dollars to retain power, all good deeds are tangled by the competition between the interests of the people and the interests of the their elected officials to compete in a never ending fiscal arms race. Like the Cold War, the GOP might capitulate on serious campaign fiance reform within the next twenty years in order to save themselves, but as for the current status quo, let not Democrats forget that they were the one's who philosophically believe in removing the adverse effect of money on the interests of the people, and they were the one's who were dwarfed by the fundraising exploits of Arbusto, inc. not long ago. Current Democrats are happy in power with demographics on their side, but shouldn't feel overly content because their legislative accomplishments are being hampered by the role of money in Small State politics, and at the end of the day, if you don't deliver for the people, fundraising savvy can't help you.

Alas, the current GOP leadership is fighting the last decades war, and they don't have any superior conduits then the Democrats have in Obama.