You can talk the talk

Really brief SOTU reaction, because I'm not sure I have anything to say here that's not already covered elsewhere:

The speech proved what we already knew, Obama can give a really good speech, and right afterward, you feel better about his political fortunes.

It was a speech dense with proposals ideas, and so forth, but, probably appropriatly, lacking in specifics.

In the end, therefore, what matters is what he does, or what the results are. Does the speech solidify the political will of the house to pass the bill? Does it nudge the senate into using reconciliation to pass the amendements the house wants on the senate bill?

If the NYT is right that Obama thinks he's going to tackle jobs and other stuff, then come back to healthcare.... well, I'm afraid I think health care would truly be dead if that occured.

What's really depressing about the way the last year has gone is that it's never going to get easier, or better, to pass something politically charged like healthcare.

I suppose we could someday get similar majorities in both chambers during an economic *expansion* which really would make this easier, but I don't see that happening for at least ten years, if not longer, if ever.