On the campaign trail, Holtz-Eakin promoted McCain’s plan to eliminate the tax exemption for employer-sponsored health insurance and give tax credits to individuals to buy their own coverage.

Of the bills moving through Congress, Holtz-Eakin said: “I wish the policies were different, and I wish I could’ve somehow gotten us to a bipartisan place. I think McCain had the capacity to do that.

Have Mercy. Still with the McCain bipartisan BS.

But here is what is mind-boggling here — the Baucus’ exise tax on big-ticket health care plans pretty much gets to what the removal of the tax exemption was trying to get at anyway. This way is just more gradual as health care costs (and the price of plans) goes up. The other thing that is really missing here is why — if they are so concerned about cost controls — would repubs just sit on their hands here? Cost control was a clear goal set by Obama and I’ll never understand sitting back and saying NO to everything rather than jumping in and being heros on the one thing that people might stand back and give you credit for being better than Democrats on. Stupid.