Let’s be realistic.
The Health Care bill is going to pass.
Just as the passage of the stimulus bill proved, wobbly Democrats pretending to hold out for “legitimate concerns” means they are either waiting to be bought off, or they really have no moral fortitude. Their last minute hold outs are just political posturing done in hopes that it will somehow show their constituents they possess some fake party independence.
While tempting goodies can’t be added onto this bill to buy votes needed for passage by the President’s dead-line of March 18th, they can be promised oodles of treats in separate bills afterward if they vote for this one.
And if past history is any guide, this will happen.
Upon winning passage of this dirty legislation, the Democrats, including President Obama, will get to exhibit a public feeling of satisfaction. Smiling Democrats, back-slapping deviants, slogan-covered backdrops, and speeches filled with rhetoric touting this as a victory for the American people, will be on display for an all-too-willing media ready to provide Democrats with much needed cover and public image rehabilitation.
Though this will be a technical win for Democrats, it will have been obtained at their own peril. Polling consistently shows that the majority of the American people are adamantly opposed to this bill, no matter who the Democrats try to paint as the boogie-man. Thus, it will be a feeling of uneasy satisfaction. One where the use of heavy-handed trickery in passing this unwanted bill will overshadow any warm feelings of accomplishment, and present itself as the largest obstacle to their reelection.
The Democrats have no morals concerning the use of Reconciliation to push through such a bill of monumental proportions. By design, this bill will not become effective until 2014. That’s not just some arbitrary timeline which was picked to sound good. It accomplishes two objectives. First, it gives four years after the passage of the bill to let the public outrage dissipate, and give the purveyors of this monstrosity time to say, “See, your coverage has not changed. Nothing bad has happened and all the nay-sayers were a bunch of partisan chicken-littles who just didn’t want this administration to succeed in passing Health Reform.” That said, when 2014 hits, and it comes time for this plan to be imposed on us all, the full effect will be felt. Their hope is that, no matter who may be in charge, nothing can be done about it. Their goal in the next four years is to weave and intertwine this behemoth into the fabric of our institutions with the hope that, once in place, it cannot be ripped out. The bureaucracies which will be created by this bill will be so entrenched within the existing health care system, that removing and altering them will, as they intended, be near impossible without ruining the system at large.
The arrogance displayed by the Democrats through all of this will be their undoing.
This is not the same electorate as years passed, where passive ignorance on the part of the voter was a politician’s best friend.
The vociferous public condemnation of this bill, the rise of a loud and powerful grass-roots “Tea Party” movement, and the continuing, growing strength of the “new media” will not allow the actions of these power-drunk, self-important political creatures to fade into the past.
Its a new time. With a new type of voter. One who has become engaged, informed, and sickened by what they have seen.
And they are eagerly counting the days to November.
The Democrats may win this battle, but they will lose the war.
