President Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a plethora of other House and Senate Democrats either have extremely short memories, or are completely inept in their political strategies being deployed in hopes of passing Obamacare, a complete federal takeover of the U.S. healthcare industry.
They are not the first Democrats to pursue such a strategy. As I recall, in the early-to-mid 90's there was a similar dynamic in which the Democrats had control of the Presidency (William Jefferson Clinton); the Senate by a 56-44 margin (George Mitchell was MajorityKeader and Bob Dole Minority Leader); and the U.S. House of Representatives by a whopping 82 seat margin.
An Elephant Never Forgets...
Just two years later, the Republicans picked up a net 54-seat gain in the House, winning a landslide mid-term election that resulted in Newt Gingrich's ascension to the House Speaker position. An net gain of eight Senate seats left the GOP with the same advantage the Democrats had held going into the election: 56-44. Senator Dole (whose wife Senator Elizabeth Dole I have met) became the Majority Leader and Hillarycare was history... Until now.
Remember what the big issue-of-the-day was going into the '94 mid-term elections? I remember. It was the very same issue dominating all the headlines coming out of Capitol Hill today.
There was little if any substantive difference between the plan the former First Lady and current Senator wanted to take credit for when her husband (and I use that term loosely, no pun intended), and the one President Obama has staked his legacy on today.
My point is, let the Democrats pass the damned thing if they're that hell-bent on it. It will ensure we gain power back that much sooner - long before their healthcare bill will even begin to be implemented.
If 1994 was any indication of what will happen this coming November if Obamacare IS passed (considering Hillarycare never became law in the 90's), the GOP will not only win back majorities in both Chambers of Congress, but the prospect of obtaining a supermajority in one is not an unrealistic possibility. There could well be some party-swapping going on between October and December with less-radical Democrats defecting to the party in power.
Whether the bill gets passed or not, the Dems were voted enough rope to completely hang themselves with, and they've done everything within their capability to do just that.
The panic I see in the eyes of tea party-goers is good if it can be sustained until November. As long as American voters don't forget what happened throughout this past year, I'm quite comfortable with the GOP's electoral chances at winning back strong House and Senate majorities, effectively rendering Obama a lame-duck for the final two years of his Presidency (unlike Clinton, Obama's a one-term President).
are you against President Barack Obama,
ReplyDeletei like him...
This post was intended first and foremost to be informative, highlighting the current healthcare debate from a historical perspective.
ReplyDeleteAs for my position on Obama, I am not "against" President Obama. That said, I do oppose most of his policies.
It is my belief based upon the reasons outlined above, that even if the bill is passed, the GOP will sweep the November midterm elections and therefore be able to kill any bill passed now simply by refusing to fund it.
Remember, all spending legislation must originate in the House, and if the GOP controls the House, Obamacare is dead whether or not it passes.
The Supreme Court has denied a request to expedite the judicial process and review a Federal court decision that ruled President Barack Obama's healthcare law unConstitutional.
ReplyDeleteVery informative post, you do have a good point there.
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