Liberal Leverage on Health Care Reform?

Here's the thing about pushing people to the point where they have nothing left to lose:

People who have nothing left to lose are free to do anything.

Including this:

Moments ago, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced that he is prepared to vote against the Senate health care bill in light of the recent decision to strip the public option and the Medicare buy-in provision from the legislation. Appearing on Fox Business’ Cavuto, Sanders said he’s “struggling with this,” but is inclined to vote against:

I’m struggling with this. As of this point, I’m not voting for the bill. … I’m going to do my best to make this bill a better bill, a bill that I can vote for, but I’ve indicated both to the White House and the Democratic leadership that my vote is not secure at this point. And here is the reason. When the public option was withdrawn, because of Lieberman’s action, what I worry about is how do you control escalating health care costs?

Video here.

h/t Zandar, who warned weeks ago about the electoral danger of liberals killing health care reform and thus letting Democrats suffer voters' wrath.

But now the piece of shit in the Senate is finally the bill President Obama and his buddies in Big Insurance and Big Pharma desperatey want - a trillion-dollar giveaway of tax dollars in return for a promise of the corporations returning 1 percent of it in campaign donations to Democrats in 2012.

Now, finally, liberals may have the leverage. Modify the worst fuck-the-middle-class aspects of the Senate bill, or watch your new corporate friends run back to the repugs.

Maybe I'm blinded by desperate hope, and unfounded faith in Bernie Sanders' negotiating smarts, but I am tempted to believe that Barack and Rahm may have outsmarted themselves.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....