The liberal/Progressive agenda has moved forward a step with House passage of the Healthcare bill last night. HR 3962 is not a good bill by any standard. It will not reduce the cost of healthcare and there is no way in hell that it will provide more or better coverage for more Americans. But, no matter, Obama and Pelosi got “Healthcare” passed. There may be consequences in 2010 for the 40 Congresscritters who broke party lines to vote against their leadership (39 Democrats who opposed the bill, and 1 Republican who voted for it). MoveOn.org is already claiming they have $3.5 million in the bank to use in primary contests against the “traitors”. [Note to political neophytes: This is called “Eating Your Own” and is normally a self-defeating tactic indulged in by both major political parties and all of the minor parties when they confuse purity of principles with stark-raving political reality.] The fact that the Blue-dog Democrats were protected by the Democrat leadership to such a huge degree that they were allowed to insert an anti-abortion amendment into the bill should serve more as a caution to the Progressives that their agenda is beyond the mainstream. A few minutes’ worth of research on conservative political blogs and various TEA Party sites indicates that contributions to candidates running against the liberal agenda will be more forthcoming than usual. The healthcare bill will be a rallying issue next year – no doubt about that.
Here in Montana, there is much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth in certain circles with respect to the House race against Denny Rehberg in 2010, but, so far anyway, the opposition candidates are little more than tokens with very little chance of overcoming Denny’s name recognition, financial strength, and very positive approval rating with the vast majority of Montana voters. But whispers of bigger things to come wafted across the fruited plains last week when news of Denny’s meeting with the Republican National Senatorial Committee was leaked to the media.
Does this mean that Jon Tester is being put on notice that his votes on the Senate healthcare bill and possibly Cap and Tax have assumed a whole new level of importance? The gauntlet has not yet been thrown – but certainly someone is waving it from the wings.
What does the Magic 8 Ball say?
As of right now, the Senate leadership does not want to bring the healthcare bill to the floor. Senator Joe Lieberman has announced that he will not vote for cloture and unless one of the liberal Republicans crosses over to the dark side it doesn’t seem like Dingy Harry can afford the slapdown. Also, Senator Tom Colburn (R-OK) has vowed to clear his calendar to stage a full-fledged, old-fashioned, shades of Strom Thurman fillibuster. But, such theatrics are generally little more than delaying the inevitable. Clearly the Democrats have enough votes to pass the bill – as long as they don’t require some kind of imaginary bipartisan support.
So, the United States Senate may defer to political reality and indulge in timely cowardice, thus avoiding the showdown that could thwart the President’s agenda post 2010 and his reelection in 2012. Or, the powers that be in this administration – and here I speak not of the President, but rather of his puppet masters, Soros, Axelrod, Emanuel, et al, – may understand that 2010 and 2012 are already pretty much lost and go for the gusto now – damn the consequences. After all, they’ve demonstrated time and again that they are willing to use and abuse whomever is at hand and throw them under the bus whenever expediency demands it. Obama is not calling the shots (and probably never has) – he’s just the dancing puppet designated to headline the show. If advancing the cause of the Progressive agenda, taking over more and more of the US economy, growing the federal government beyond all previous attempts, and bankrupting this country for generations to come is possible, the cost to the political frontmen is of little concern to the string-pullers. It becomes the triumph of ideology over power.
Is that what last night’s House vote foreshadowed? Who knows?
Like much in life, the score of the game at halftime is not always indicative of the final result.
It seems like the democrats made a tactical mistake. They threw all of their eggs in one basket and put everything on the line. The bill is too radical to get thru the senate.
But maybe it is a bargaining manuver. Throw everything in and settle for less. Be happy with what you get, then slowly add everything you gave up at the bargaining table. Use the court system to find ‘rights’ that never existed. Banning illegal aliens and abortions might seem like a win for us. But the court system is likely to reinstate both. There is already prescedent for reversing both. They would be easy to give up at the table knowing you would win them back later.
What will be interesting is to see how well the public remembers this a year from now. The democrats are betting the public will forget.
Pelosi thinks she is safe, Reid is pretty sure he is gone, the rest of the old democrat leadership must think they are safe. It is the bluedogs and the 1st termers who might be thrown to the wolves. And if they are thrown out for how long. Could a short term loss be worth a bigger long term gain to the democrats. It would sew up huge voting blocks of minorities.
Sometimes I hate the voters, such short term memories and only think of themselves and not the country.
You hit the nail right on the head, JLW. Combine short-term memories with an inside knowledge of how the system works and a liberal-leaning judicial system and there’s no end to the havoc that can come of this.
However, there’s still a whole lot of time in this game and you never can tell. As the “deals” come to light, the voters are more likely to become less enchanted with the deal makers.
It is up to those of us who get it to keep beating the drums and getting the real messages out. An informed electorate is a powerful weapon.