David is right. If you name the legislation after Kennedy, then whatever piece of crap the Democrats end up agreeing to - and it will be crap - will be "the Kennedy bill," and no one can vote against that. But, if the Kennedy Option is up for a vote, good luck getting the votes to take that down. What would the Republicans do in our stead? They'd have the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tax Cuts to "reform" health care. Here's David Waldman at Dkos:
The temptation to name the health care reform bill after fallen health care champion Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) is as understandable as it is overwhelming. But with the bill currently still at the mercy of players who are, shall we say, not as clearly dedicated to a product that offers the kind of help Kennedy envisioned, I suggest that we not offer them the opportunity to attach his name to anything less than a bill he would have fought for.
So while it's undoubtedly in that spirit that the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and others have begun their drive to honor Kennedy's memory by demanding that the HELP Committee's bill be passed and named after him, I suggest that it serves us and the Senator's memory better if our essential element -- a strong public option -- carries his name instead.
I suggest this because I expect the temptation will be equally overwhelming to attach Kennedy's name to a bill that's been significantly weakened in the process of merging competing versions in each house, and then again in conference between the House and Senate, even if that bill might not have met with his approval.
Put Kennedy's name on a weakened bill, and you'll likely be able to break the progressive bloc in the House in two seconds flat when "the Kennedy bill" comes out of conference with the individual mandate but no public option, and progressives are faced with having to oppose "the Kennedy bill."
