Barbara Ehrenreich: Catching the Can’t-Do Spirit

After their roaring two-house victory, the Democrats are squeaking about micro-policies. There’ll be no impeachment, we’re told, though maybe a bit more oversight of Halliburton-style war profiteering. No withdrawal from Iraq, only a “phased redeployment.” And, the New York Times assures us (11/12/06), that the Dems “ have largely dropped … talk of a Canadian-style national health insurance.” Instead, they might try to reverse the Medicare drug plan’s ban on bargaining for drug price discounts.

They’ve caught the can’t-do spirit that hovers over that former malarial swamp, Washington D.C.