The health care plan before the House of Representatives may have run into another snag – nothing to do with ideology and party politics, per say, but rather an inherent flaw in anything that attempts to be comprehensive.  That is to say, the bill is extremely long – at over 1,900 pages, perhaps too long to survive.

To put this in perspective, ''War and Peace'' was about 1,200 pages in its first printing and is shy of 1,500 in its modern paperback format. The longest book I have read was the 1,100-page version of ''The Stand,''  and I highly doubt that any of the bill’s authors have Tolstoy or King’s creative flair that makes those tomes readable.

Pelosi has been touting this bill as a “must-pass,” but she needs (or perhaps, needed) to be realistic.  Practically, it is difficult, if not impossible, to read this bill in its entirety before any debate on it begins, much less grasp the intricacies of each measure within the text and what it could mean for the future of health care.

While such a tactic could work well when trying to confuse an opponent, it doesn’t bode so well for Pelosi when she has to win over vast segments of her own party.  Moderate Democrats and those in vulnerable seats for 2010 will need to know everything that they are voting for or against so that it doesn’t cost them their seats; more liberal ones are seeking to deliver on promises that the bill may not take into consideration.  Pelosi and the architects of this monstrosity cannot expect to have unanimous support within their own party when the bill is not readable.

Politically, this bill is almost certainly heading towards disaster.  Those 1,900-plus pages don’t even take into account any amendments that will be added to it, especially unrelated riders that could be made to pass otherwise-unpopular or difficult-to-pass measures that congressmen may try to force onto Obama’s desk.

The text will also be difficult to reference by those who would have to administer the bill – imagine trying to explain a person’s benefits under this bill or trying to find out what you can and cannot spend the allocated funds on.  It’s a hideous prospect, and the members of the House know this.  Pelosi may have signed away any chance of passing a bill before the end of the year, if not before the next Congressional election – there won’t be enough time to read the bill.