Democrats had 60 votes and Lieberman was an independent at the time. They were going to pass a better ACA but once Kennedy died they needed Lieberman vote and had to water it down to pass it.

As far as GOP killing the filibuster, I doubt they will. If they were going to kill it they would have done so back in 2016-17 when they had the majority to do so and Trump tweeting for them to do so.

I do agree that the democrats have a PR and messaging problem with this and really everything they seem to pass. That has been a consistent problem.

I do wish Kamala or Biden were out there every day talking this up and how important it and how it will help people.

Also, the means tested stuff bothers me as well.