the perfect is the enemy of the good.
who's talking about perfect? just something that isn't simultaneously neutered
and filled with pandering amendments. we've already had funding for abstinence-only education, some nonsense about being able to carry guns into national parks (which I'm fine with - I'm not big on gun control - but it obv has nothing to do with health care), now this extra clampdown on abortion funding. the bill the House voted on isn't bad, tbf; it prohibits denial of coverage based on preexisting conditions & limits ways in which premiums can be varied, has both an individual & employer mandate (w/sliding scale tax penalties who don't get insurance), has a quasi-public option in the form of an insurance exchange (this is where "neutered" comes in), etc. it also does some other nice things, like increasing Medicaid payments to primary care physicians. OTOH, it's unclear whether the Senate bill will have all that stuff - esp. the public option and employer mandate, what the final bill will look like or, again, if we'll get a bill at all. or who/how such a bill will be paid for - O really screwed himself/us when he promised not to raise taxes, at all.
in re: right-wing paranoia consuming the GOP, that's not a new story. the more intellectual/pragmatic side of the GOP (i.e. McCain, David Brooks, Natl Review - Buckley must be spinning in his grave these days, etc.) has been trying to ride that tiger for 20+ years and it's finally turned around and bit them in the ass. they have only themselves to blame for Limbaugh, Beck, etc. all those unholy alliances with Ralph Reed & James Dobson & that ilk. it's domestic blowback.