Quién mejor para explicar lo sucedido ayer en la Cámara de Representantes que Ezra Klein, el experto en el sistema de salud del Washington Post. Obama está a punto de conseguirlo. Pero, como recuerda Klein, falta el paso decisivo: la mayoría calificada del Senado:
Health-care reform passed the House, quite literally, at the eleventh hour. It passed with a slim, two-vote margin. But it passed. That is more than has ever happened before. More than Truman or Nixon or Carter or Clinton managed. More than Rayburn or O’Neill or Gingrich managed. It is success, at least for this stage in the process. It is history, even, though it’s hard to sense the importance of the moment when you watch members of Congress spend the day squabbling over the true meaning of the word freedom.
But it was also sobering. Harry Reid’s job will be harder. Health-care reform passed the House with 50.5 percent of the vote. It will need 60 percent in the Senate. Pelosi had the luxury of losing 40 Democrats. When it comes to beating the filibuster, Reid probably won’t be able to lose even one.
Foto © Luke Sharrett/The New York Times
