What makes this particularly bothersome is that the Republicans are irrelevant. You can ignore them. You can let Barack Obama say nice things about them and enjoy watching them overreact, trying to prove how anti-Obama they are (while Obama chuckles in the background). He’s already said he’ll do it without them, showing that he knows they are irrelevant. Your problem is Max Baucus (metonymously), not the Republicans. Harry Reid saved us from Max Baucus, at least for a little while (and presumably in collaboration with Obama, who seemed almost giddy about it at the time).
Another thing that peeves me about opinions given by Sandler and others is the refrain that we voted for the Democrats to give us healthcare reform. How in the world does she know what the people of Montana, a jillion miles from Miami, voted for when they elected Max Baucus? I myself haven’t the vaguest clue. We’ve got 60 votes, she and other say, assuming that (metonymous) Max Baucus somehow agrees with everything that President Obama thinks.
This is not how our government works, with presidents dictating and party members all following. Indeed, I’d like to see Congress exert some visible authority about something, just to show it is willing.