Progress: The Republican House bill might have been a good bill back in the day

Watching Dr. Nancy on MSNBC talking about the Republican HCR bill in the House. (Seems they actually came up with one.)

It's horribly inadequate, of course, but if a Dem ran on it in 1984 or 1988 it probably would have seemed okay.

So at least the landscape has shifted.

For instance, up to a 50% surcharge for pre-existing conditions. I just paid a 25% surcharge to Blue Cross for a fairly minor pre-existing condition so 50% for an expensive, chronic problem seems a lot better than denial of coverage.

Again, the pug bill is crap but it is also a sign of cultural progress. The soil for HCR is a lot more fertile than previously.

Kind of like civil-unions... inadequate and nasty but also a lot more than mainstream politicians supported twenty years ago.