What does this have to do with anything of actual importance? I feel like the past months of following the health care debate have been a condensed version of my experience as a Pirates fan. Every time a new package or compromise or new procedural avenue is announced, I convince myself that it’s the one that’s going to get the bill through. And every time, thus far, I’ve been disappointed. So with the White House house announcing that “this is the week!” and the House and Senate having a tentative agreement on how to get the bill through, my reaction is both to celebrate “here we go!” and to lament “here we go again. . .”

In one way, the Democrats inability to pass a health care bill is a lot sadder than the Pirates inability to put together a winning season. (OK, in two ways: whereas passing a health care bill involves giving millions of people access to medical care, the Pirates having a winning season involves winning some baseball games.) While the Pirates’ losing records are consistent with the lack of talent, poor management, and low payrolls they’ve had over the past two decades, the Democrats have failed to pass a health care bill despite large majorities in both houses of Congress. Despite the fact that Republicans have used every procedural tool at their disposal to block legislation since they’ve been in the minority, and despite the fact that Republicans used every tool they could to pass legislation when they were in the majority, Democrats have, to this point, been unwilling to push the limits of the rules so that a simple majority vote could pass the bill. So while there’s a lot to be encouraged by in Harry Reid’s recent “get tough” letter to Mitch McConnell, it also has a “what took you so long?!?” quality.

McConnell, for his part, calls Democratic efforts to pass the bill by majority vote “a raw exercise of legislative power.” I’m not sure exactly what work the word “raw” does in that sentence, but passing a piece of legislation is no doubt an exercise of legislative power. Which is, you know, kind of an appropriate thing for the legislative branch to do.

-AR

It’s the second most beautiful place in America!

It has the best baseball stadium!

Just one small city outside Pittsburgh is the birthplace of Arnold Palmer, Rolling Rock, the banana split, professional football, and my father, and is the childhood home of Mr. Rogers!

Thirteen out of 43 Super Bowls have been won by either the Pittsburgh Steelers or a starting quarterback from Western PA!

It is the birthplace of both the AFL and the CIO!

And, perhaps more important than the 6 Super Bowls, 5 World Series, and 3 Stanley Cups, during World War II the Pittsburgh area produced more steel than Germany and Japan combined, thus saving the free world from fascism!

-AR

So I understand the desire to grasp for any sign of hope. Just as I get thrilled when the Pirates start a season 11-7 and start convincing myself that this is the year, that the team’s for real, so Republicans find themselves overjoyed that Obama’s approval ratings six months into his presidency are slipping and that polls show him tied with Mitt Romney and barely ahead of Sarah Palin. But there’s a lot of baseball left to be played. (The Pirates, by the way, are now 42-52). The 2010 midterms, and likely the 2012 presidential election as well, are going to determined by two things: the success of the stimulus, and health care reform. The former hasn’t really had a chance to operate yet, and the latter hasn’t even been brought to the floor in Congress. Until we have some sense of how Obama has delivered on those two issues, polls are essentially meaningless.

-AR