The current health care debate has created much turmoil and division in the Democratic Party – to the delight of the Republican Party – as the fissure between moderate and liberal Democrats widens.  After much debate and some heated moments, the Senate Finance Committee has rejected two plans for a public option proposed in committee with both Republicans and moderate Democrats voting against the amendments.  And just today, the Congressional Budget’s Office released a report estimating that Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus’s (D-MT) health care plan, a public option-less plan, will reduce the national deficit by $81 billion over a decade.  Now that a solid middle-of-the-road approach has emerged, is there any possibility for a public option?

The Committee killed Senator Jay Rockefeller’s (D-WV) plan 15-8, with five Democrats joining the Republicans, and Senator Charles Schumer’s (D- NY) plan 13-10, with three Democrats joining the Republicans.  It is quite clear that the most important bloc in the Senate is the moderate Democrats who are needed to push bills out of committees and to create a filibuster-proof vote.  These Democrats are hesitant against voting for a public option for many reasons.  Some are worried that a heavily loaded health care bill would plunge the government into further deficit.  Some are worried that the low federal reimbursement rates will hurt their state hospitals.  And some, like Baucus, believe that a plan that includes a public option will not pass in the Senate and will bring about the death of Obamacare. 

The Baucus plan can allay at least one of the above worries.  The plan is project to cost $774 billion over a decade but ultimately reduce the deficit.  Compared to the $1.2 trillion plan proposed by the House of Representatives this summer, the numbers look angelic.

But before Baucus starts celebrating, there is still a huge possibility that his plan will not garner enough support either.  Baucus’s plan includes the establishment of non-profit cooperatives, the absence of the aforementioned public option and mandatory coverage of employees by businesses, and many spending cuts and tax increases.  Many very liberal Democrats have denounced any health care plan without a public option – including Speaker of the House and the public option’s biggest fan Nancy Pelosi.  And of course, many Republicans will not vote for health care reform that expands the government’s role.  So while the Baucus plan will win the support of moderate Democrats and perhaps even some moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe (R-ME), it will lose the support of very left-leaning Democrats.  In addition, the Senate Finance Committee seems to be one of the last holdouts.  The House has very strong backing for a public option thanks to their supermajority and a public option amendment has already passed in another senate committee.   

Thus, while the public option is ailing, it’s not even close to dead.

Susan Eisenhower, an expert on United States - Russia relations and granddaughter of former Columbia President and United States President Dwight Eisenhower, spoke on a range of issues in Roone Arledge Cinema on Monday night in an event sponsored by the Columbia University International Relations Forum.  Joining her was Lincoln Mitchell, Arnold A. Saltzman Assistant Professor in the Practice of International Politics from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

Republicans nationwide breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday night as Republicans Christopher Christie and Robert McDonnell claimed the New Jersey and Virginia statehouses, respectively.  After the disastrous election last year, any win is a triumphant win, despite the fact that Sarah Palin’s wardrobe would have garnered more attention than these elections had they taken place last year.  But even though GOP Chairman Michael Steele asserted that the wins signal a “Republican renaissance,” this election showed the numerous problems the party faces in 2010.

Sarah Palin isn’t the only former beauty queen to have gone rogue lately. Carrie Prejean, the ex-Miss California who was stripped of her title for not fulfilling contractual obligations, recently appeared on Larry King Live to promote her new book – an interview that destroyed any credibility she had in the political world after her tumultuous year.

Prejean’s ten minutes of fame started last year when she told media blogger Perez Hilton that she defined marriage to be between a man and a woman during the Miss USA pageant. Hilton then took to his blog to bash Prejean and even claimed that her answer was the reason she lost.  Her refusal to back down from Hilton’s attacks elicited sympathy from many, considering Proposition 8 passed in California, and she became an icon of freedom of speech for social conservatives.

A few months ago, Scott Brown was perhaps best known outside of Massachusetts as the senator-wannabe who once posed naked for Cosmo. But after last Tuesday, few politically aware Americans do not recognize the name Scott Brown. He’s the man who allowed insurance companies and many taxpayers to breathe a sigh of relief (for now). He’s the man who could become the GOP’s new poster boy (after all, he does have modeling experience). And he’s the man that plunged the Democrats into a frenzy of fretting, finger pointing and panic (and perhaps increased the number of Nancy Pelosi’s wrinkles).

But before the Republicans pop the champagne and start celebrating the demise of the health care bill and the likely gains in this year’s elections, they must, well, do something productive.

Many political pundits are saying that health care reform is dead after the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof supermajority. While a Jan. 22 Rasmussen Poll found that 62 percent of Americans want Congress to drop the health care bills, I would think that few Americans would disagree with the sentiment that American health care needs reform. The United States is one of the biggest spenders on health care in the world in terms of health care spending as a percentage of GDP, and we have little to show for it. We spend almost double what the other OECD countries spend, yet we have a system where at least 15 percent of our population is uninsured.

Although I agree with Americans that the current health care bills are bloated, fiscally unsound and will only exacerbate our problems, I also believe that the Republicans need to get off their nay-saying bottoms and come up with a plan that actually helps Americans instead of hurting them in the long run.

Another common sentiment is that this election indicates the impending success of the GOP in the 2010 midterm elections. While the GOP will most likely gain seats in the election, that does not mean they are doing anything right. Rather, it means neither party is doing anything right. Massachusetts voters voted for the Republicans to express dissatisfaction with the Democrats. But all it takes is one triumph by the Democrats to change public opinion, especially since public opinion of the Republican Party is not astonishingly, or even slightly, high. Voting for the Republicans is merely regarded as a way to stop the spendaholic Democrats. If the economy rebounds soon, unemployment falls, etc., the GOP will once again be utterly powerless as the Democrats go on a spending spree. Thus, the GOP needs to show that they care about the American people and are concerned about more than elections to truly do good for America.

For if the GOP wants to re-gain power and become contributing members of the government, they must become more than “the party of no.”

Perhaps the biggest news coming out of the Tea Party Convention held last week in Nashville, TN was the fact that Sarah Palin wrote notes on her hand during her keynote speech. While criticizing President Obama for using a teleprompter. While being paid $100,000 to speak at the convention.

But Palin jokes aside, the conference marks a huge turning point for American politics and especially, the Republican Party. A recent Washington Post-ABC News Poll found that two-thirds of Americans are dissatisfied with the federal government in D.C. With the spendthrift Democrats attempting to plow ahead with their agenda against the wishes of the American population and the Republicans doing little to stop them, many Republicans and right-leaning Independents have turned to the Tea Party movement to express their anger.

Every year, thousands of young conservative activists gather to mingle, network, and see their idols up close and live while seeing who can come up with the best zinger against the Democrats. This year, there were the expected attacks against and jokes about the much-reviled trio of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, but they also turned their guns towards a surprise target – the Republican Party.

Despite the fact that almost all the speakers are currently Republicans or have lost an election as a Republican (that would be you Rick Santorum in case you forgot in your diversity hating delirium), someone with limited political knowledge could have easily mistaken conservatives as a third political party in the United States. In fact, some speakers did call for a third political party while giving the middle finger to the GOP. Glenn Beck, in his keynote address, absolutely slammed the Republicans and compared them to the Democrats, which would be like comparing someone to George Bush at Columbia.

To all the GOPers out there crying foul at President Obama’s recess appointments of 15 officials to influential posts, I have two words for you: John Bolton.

Although it is true that Bolton’s confirmation as Ambassador to the United Nations was blocked by a Democratic filibuster while Becker’s appointment was flat out rejected by the Senate, the underlying principle behind both actions remains the same - partisanship. Partisanship, which has risen over the past few years, has reached the point where any cooperation with the other party can easily be labeled traitorous behavior akin to Benedict Arnold turning over the plans of West Point to the British.

With the 2010 midterm elections rapidly approaching, politicians everywhere are doing everything they can to ensure they won't join the 6.5 million unemployed Americans. These past few weeks have seen an onslaught of political activity as legislators, governors and other elected officials seek to reassure voters they have not been twiddling their thumbs this past term. But one issue has especially triggered debates, protests, and passions from both Republicans and Democrats, more then the Goldman Sachs case or the Charlie Crist news - the passage of Arizona Senate Bill 1070.

This bill, three-pronged in its approach to dealing with illegal immigrants, has drawn controversy over the provision that allows police to detain or arrest someone if there is probable cause that he or she is not carrying the necessary documents to prove his or her right to be in the country. Critics have charged that this law will be conducive to racial profiling. Even some Republicans, such as Representative Connie Mack (R-Fla.), have criticized the bill, with Mack calling it "reminiscent of a time during World War II" of "the Gestapo in Germany."