• To those who argue that piecemeal health care reform is worse than no health care reform, I have five words: the 1957 Civil Rights Act.
• Slate columnist Fred Kaplan • Regarding another piece of legislation that was watered down to nothingness. It’s forgotten about now, but the legislation was the small push that led to much larger gains for the Civil Rights movement, and later much tougher legislation. It was testy at the time, too – Strom Thurmond filibustered the bill for an entire day, by himself – but the legislation led to big gains in the end. “The 1957 Civil Rights Act was a preposterously small hinge that helped swing open a very wide gate,” Kaplan notes. “It’s not out of the question that a pared-down health care bill might do the same.” source

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