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3/2/2010
Burri: Universal Health Care - November and America be damned
You may have noticed: Republicans and conservatives aren’t always unified. Lately, especially. Especially lately, though, two things have unified them: ObamaCare, and reconciliation.
Both unpopular. Both lightning rods. Both considered to be big, wet electoral kisses leaving lipstick all over blushing Republican faces, come November.
ObamaCare plus reconciliation. Raw Democrat liberalism plus rampant Obama fatigue. I’m looking forward to the results of that wonderful combination, too. It’s going to be fun, for a change, watching the returns come in.
But wait:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleagues to back a major overhaul of U.S. health care even if it threatens their political careers, a call to arms that underscores the issue's massive role in this election year.
Lawmakers sometimes must enact policies that, even if unpopular at the moment, will help the public, Pelosi said in an interview being broadcast Sunday the ABC News program "This Week."
"We're not here just to self-perpetuate our service in Congress," she said. "We're here to do the job for the American people."
Do the job on the American people, more like it – the polls pretty clearly show that the American people don’t want her doing this job.
And yet, he says through gritted teeth, Pelosi is right. The only polls that really matter are the ones we hold in November, every other year. Win that poll, and you can do what you want, for whatever reason you want.
Democrats have won the last two of those. They might think winning another is the most important thing in the world. At least, individually, winning their own might be. But. If Democrats really believe in government-run, "universal" health care – if they honestly believe it's the right thing to do – then they should do it, and November be damned.
That is, I believe, what conservatives wanted from Republicans in 2008. Do the right thing. Do the conservative thing, even when it's going to cost you at the polls. Those conservatives who have parted with the Republican Party have done so because the Republican Party did more game-playing – more moderating and prevaricating in a vain attempt to stay in power – than governing.
Speaker Pelosi might have caught on to that. She is that most dangerous of political animals: the true believer in a safe seat. The field commander, willing to sacrifice her troops, give up ground, lose battle after battle…if it means winning the war. If it means socializing health care in America, or taking a big step toward it.
Consider: no matter how badly Democrats do in November, it’s unlikely that Republicans will take over both Houses of Congress. One of them, maybe. Oh, fine, maybe both. But not likely. And even so, President Obama will still be President Obama. He’ll still have the veto.
So: Democrats pass ObamaCare. Maybe they’ll use reconciliation, maybe not. Maybe they’ll find a “moderate” Republican or two, willing to vote their way.
Maybe that’ll kill them in November. Maybe Republicans will sweep into office, unstoppable.
And then…
…what, then? We won’t be able to repeal it. Not even with both Houses. The filibuster will stop us. Obama’s veto will.
Okay, sure, maybe President Obama’s relative lack of experience will allow Republicans to manipulate him, force him to pull back. Maybe. But maybe not. And those 60 Senate votes we'll need?
Maybe. And maybe the Republican wave will continue into 2012. Maybe we’ll have a Republican president to sign a Republican Congress’ bills into law. Maybe the electorate won’t have gotten so used to ObamaCare that repealing it becomes "taking it away."
But that's a few too many "maybes" for me.
Lance Burri blogs regularly via his site, The TrogloPundit.
COMMENTS
Damn the polls. Do what is right. The polls don't mean anything of substance for the bill (as opposed to political substance) since it is very clear that the people responding to the polls have very different responses when they learn more about the elements of health care reform (pick the bill). I remember a day when Republicans used to to be so self congratulatory when they (falsely mostly) claimed that they were true to their convictions and didn't follow polls. Well now, is it the polls that Republicans are saying that Democrats should follow or should the Democrats do what they believe in their heart is right. Which should it be, conviction or polls?
dave allen (Tue Mar 02 20:29:45 2010)
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