Maggie's Farm

Major social legislation, be it Medicare in 1965 or Social Security in 1935, has been passed once consensus had been achieved. Consensus involves making a case persuasive enough to garner bipartisan support. That explains both why fundamental change comes about slowly in our country and also why, when it does come about, it has an opportunity to be successful. That Obamacare will pass, if it does, on a purely partisan basis ought lead its proponents to wonder whether its passage is enough to ensure its success. This will be a potentially dangerous period. We do not know what major social reform initiated without bipartisan consensus achieves. It looks like we may find out.