A lot of people who championed the excise tax are very upset that the House Dems will not pass the Senate health bill stand alone. I've spent most of the past few days arguing that without a fix of the excise tax (via a companion reconciliation bill), House Dems will never pass the Senate bill because the unions, one of the most important constituencies in the Dem coalition, especially when it comes to electoral activities, will vehemently oppose passage. Of course, it is not clear that even with the excise tax fix, passage would occur. But without the fix, it definitely will not be passed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi simply can not even approach the 218 vote number without an excise tax fix.

Which raises the question - was the excise tax worth it? If the health bill dies now, the main reasons for its death will be the decision to let Max Baucus hijack the process last summer and then allowing Baucus to insert the excise tax financing mechanism instead of using the House mechanism of a tax on the wealthy (those earning over $500,000 a year.) If the health bill fails, the overreach of Baucus, endorsed by most Village Dems, will be the main culprit. Was it worth it? I assume there may be some regrets on that score now.

Speaking for me only