The Beginnings of Redemption?

So today started off grim. I woke up thinking that nothing would happen, and was in a foul mood because the Jewish Calendar had the 9th of Av, which commemorates the destruction of the Temple, and of course, there's a long fast (the only other long fast is Yom Kippur). Ruth Marcus's column this morning made me pine for someone reasonable, and it seemed as the news made it seem like the U.S. would exist in a health care galus (exile, pronounced Ashekenazic, because galut just does not sound right).

Then word this afternoon came out that a deal appeared. Apparently, the Blue Dogs and the Chairman Waxman came to a deal with some minor concessions. One was pushing the vote back until after August. Another served to get negotiating power for the public plan from year one. Finally, they also had some cuts in subsidies and other matters. Ezra Klein nicely summarizes it.

Word also came out too in the same Klein posting of Finance getting closer to a deal. Of course, one staffer reported that they are nowhere near a deal yet, however, I also think part of that is managing pressure and expectations. However, the Senate should start to feel the heat of the House sort of moving along. The Senate's touting of the CBO score and whatnot may have actually helped the House negotiators too. Essentially, something broke the loggerjam.

I still do not know if we will truly see a "beginning of redemption" (it is stated in a Midrash that the Messiah will be born in T'sha B'Av/the 9th of Av), but I am hoping that the seeds of redemption (which would not be complete if we passed the House bill, but rather requires a multi-year retooling) could sprout.

Jon Cohn has another analysis.