Now or Never for ObamaCare
Ubiquitous
Democrats:
When President Barack Obama meets with Senate Democrats
at the White House today, look for him to make the case
that this is the LAST CHANCE FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM. Sen.
Lieberman's rejection of the Dem leadership's compromise,
which had put the Senate on track to pass reform by Christmas,
makes it possible (though still unlikely) that the measure
will collapse. The West Wing believes that it is still on
track to pass but that there remains a chance it doesn't.
So with the days ticking away, Obama will spell out the
stakes in increasingly apocalyptic terms. White House
Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer: "If President Obama
doesn't pass health reform, it's hard to imagine another
president ever taking on this herculean task. For those whose
life's work is reforming health care, this may be the last
train leaving the station."
More bluntly: If Obama does not pass health care in this
environment--with 60 senators and a large House majority--no
president will ever attempt it again. This is the last chance
to reform the system in a comprehensive way. There are people
in the middle and on the left who are quibbling over pieces
of this. They seem to believe if this bill goes down, there
will be a second chance. There won't be. Congress won't come
back to health care next year: It will be all jobs. The next
president will not stake political capital on this. If Clinton
and Obama can't get it done, no one else will try.
In the Bizarro World that is our nation's capital, this is an argument for
enacting legislation that would drive up government debt, taxes and insurance
premiums while reducing the quality of medical care. Hey, we'll never have
another chance to do it! You only live once!
"Time to kill this monstrosity coming out of the Senate," writes one blogger.
We heartily agree, even though the quote comes from Markos Moulitsas, who runs
the far-left hate site DailyKos.com. Moulitsas is unhappy because of the price
Sen. Joe Lieberman has exacted. As the Associated Press reports:
Lieberman says he expects to support the Democrats' health
care legislation as long as any government-run insurance
plan stays out of the bill.
Lieberman has been a question mark on the health care
legislation for months. To win him over, Senate leaders
said late Monday they were backing away from a Medicare
expansion Lieberman opposed. They already had dropped a
full-blown government insurance program.
Lieberman told reporters Tuesday that if the Medicare expansion
and government insurance plan are gone, "I'm going to be in a
position where I can say what I've wanted to say all along: that
I'm ready to vote for health care reform."
The Puffington Host reports that a good many so-called progressives now oppose
the Senate's ObamaCare bill--although none of the ones cited actually serve in
Congress. One suspects that Democratic congressmen will swallow their
objections out of party loyalty--though what the party gets out of it is less
and less clear.
What explains the Democrats' seemingly reckless renewed push for ObamaCare
after last month's election losses? One theory: They worry that if they fail
to rally their left-wing base, they'll suffer even worse defeats next year.
Lieberman's efforts may prevent them from accomplishing even that.
To be sure, it would be satisfying to see Lieberman take revenge against the
party that abandoned him in 2006. But for the country, it's not worth it if
the price is enactment of even a watered-down version of ObamaCare. So let's
hope the progressives succeed in thwarting the last, best chance at wrecking
American health care.
--
It's now time for healing, and for fixing the damage the Democrats did
to America.