Jul 24 2009
Congressional Liberals Hell Bent On Self Destruction
Before I get into the lemming-like actions of the congressional liberals on Obamacare, I must warn the ‘true conservatives’ from not snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on this. The reason the Obamacare push is failing is not because the far right did anything better or smarter, it is because the centrists (from the conservative democrats to the moderate republicans) refused to by into the liberal take over of health care. The fact everyone right of Pelosi and Obama are balking at the nightmare that is the house bill is a sign that the country understands the issue and is rejecting the takeover.
It is not just because or primarily because of the superior intellect of the self-anointed superior beings who arrogantly proclaim their moral superiority from on high Mount “True Conservative”. The only way to stop Obamacare, as crafted in the House bill, is by an alliance of centrists and conservatives. Liberal democrats are primarily responsible for the current situation because of the myriad of ways they screwed up, as incredibly well summarized by Kimberely Strassel in the WSJ today:
The administration thought it was clever back in February, using its $787 billion “stimulus†as an excuse to pass all manner of non-stimulating spending. But the bill sent deficits soaring, forcing those numbers to the center of today’s health debate and unnerving Democratic deficit hawks. Mr. Obama’s demand that a bill be deficit-neutral enthused House liberals to propose crushing tax hikes that further alienated conservative Democrats.
….
dministration took the equally dangerous path of no management at all. Left to wild impulses, Nancy Pelosi, Henry Waxman and Ted Kennedy took the most radical of Mr. Obama’s proposals (a public option entitlement) as a starting point, and ran left with new mandates, income tax surcharges, and business penalties. The House bill stirred a Blue Dog rebellion and mired the bill in committee. Mrs. Pelosi failed to include enticements for susceptible Republicans, leaving her hard-pressed to poach GOP votes.
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Mr. Obama is right to worry this project is a race against time and falling poll numbers. But the administration’s unwavering demand for bills before recess led to the gridlock it hoped to avoid. The deadline inspired the House leadership to rush out a bill without consensus, further antagonizing the Blue Dogs. In the Senate, the pressure on Mr. Baucus to produce has very nearly pushed away Mr. Grassley, who Democrats need for cover.
These are the overreaching mistakes of ideologues and the inexperience inside Obama’s administration. To date the GOP has not solved the health care problems of skyrocketing costs (which leads to limiting access). The GOP would do well not to gloat or over reach themselves in celebrating another failed attempt to fix health care in this nation. The smart ones are supporting the cause, bemoaning the liberal idiocy and promising to do something. Which requires alliances.
And right now there are plenty of opportunities for centrist alliances. Take Democrat strategist Susan Estridge and her view of the liberal Obamacare package:
We’re only talking about our health and our kids’ health, the things my mother, may she rest in peace, told me a thousand times are the only things worth caring about. If you have your health, you have everything. And if you don’t, what in the world matters more than the best health care in the world, which is found right here?
Not by everybody, mind you, and not cheaply, for anybody. No one’s suggesting for a moment that there aren’t major problems with both access and cost. But the best health care in the world is still here, and before we take steps that could make things much worse, I’d like to be very certain that they will indeed make things much better.
Your health, as I now tell my children, is not something to fool around with. Read the labels. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Look before you leap. The devil is in the details.
That is someone willing to build some bipartisan bridges. That is what America is demanding. Obama and the liberal dems screwed up royally when they passed and then over sold the stimulus package, which has put this nation into massive debt and done nothing for job creation. As a result of promises made and not kept, America is turning sour on Obama and the Democrat led Congress. Check out this poll and the loss of independents,
3 to 1 the Independents are bolting on the Dems and Obama. How about his poll?
Furthermore, fully 79 percent think if health care legislation is passed they personally will pay more in taxes, 1 percent think their taxes will decrease and 18 percent expect no change. Large majorities of those living in both higher income and lower income households believe their taxes will go up.
Nearly half of Americans (45 percent) think the quality of their family’s health care would be worse under the current proposed reforms. That is significantly higher than the number (29 percent) who say they would get better quality health care under the proposed plans. Another 17 percent expect no difference.
Also on the personal level, some 58 percent think health care reforms would cost them money — that’s twice the number who say the reforms would save them money (24 percent).
So what is the congressional liberal Democrat plan? Attempt to push it down the throats of everyone who is balking:
House healthcare negotiations dissolved in acrimony on Friday, with Blue Dog Democrats saying they were “lied†to by their Democratic leaders.
The seven Blue Dogs on the Energy and Commerce Committee stormed out of a Friday meeting with their committee chairman, Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), saying Waxman had been negotiating in bad faith over a number of provisions Blue Dogs demanded be changed in the stalled healthcare bill.
I’ve been lied to,†Blue Dog Coalition Co-Chairman Charlie Melancon (D-La.) said on Friday. “We have not had legitimate negotiations.
“Mr. Waxman has decided to sever discussions with the Blue Dogs who are trying to make this bill work for America,†Melancon said.
Waxman plans to force a floor vote next week, where the measure will meet certain and embarrassing defeat. Setting the stage for a centrist coalition to fight off Obama and the liberal dems, who will be seen as saving America from the far left zealots. I hope Waxman goes ahead and seals the liberals fate.
Finally a sensible article, about conservatives, with which I can agree.
I can’t believe Waxman and Pelosi will actually take this to the floor. Even they should be able to see that taking an unsupported bill to the floor would be a catastrophic blunder.
But I don’t know – Waxman and Pelosi are about the most hardcore idealogues in the house, and they surround themselves with people who tell them they are wonderful and they will always win. They may just be arrogant enough to try.
It was unbelievable to read how Waxman destroyed negotiations with the Blue Dogs on his committee by offering them concessions and then yanking them back after they were accepted. That’s a guaranteed way to destroy any negotiation on any level.
“It was unbelievable to read how Waxman destroyed negotiations with the Blue Dogs on his committee by offering them concessions and then yanking them back after they were accepted.”
California Democrats do that all the time. Most recently in our legislature when we reached a budget agreement. The Democrats promised no wholesale releases of prisoners but as soon as the compromise was agreed on and announced to the public, the Democrats said they were changing it to release 27,000 prisoners. They were hoping they could then change the bill and make the Republicans look like the “bad guys” if they scuttled it after the public had already been told that there was agreement. This relies heavily on the press spinning it their way and in this case the press reported both sides so the Democrats were forced to back off.
Democrats seem to lie as a matter of doing business. The end justifies the means. Lying is ok if it is to further their agenda. If you ever see a bill with a name such as “Garage Protection Act” that is sponsored by a Democrat, you can pretty much rest assured it is really a bill about eliminating garages. They are the party of George Orwell’s fiction come to life.
I fail to see how any human being with a shred of personal integrity can align themselves with that party and look at themselves in the mirror each day.
The state of Texas is threatening to ignore any legislation. And this brings me back to a point that keeps making itself very clear. States lost their check on Federal Government when the Senate was changed from being appointed by the state legislatures to being directly elected. Control of the Senate passed in 1917 from the state legislatures to the one or two major metropolitan areas that carry a state’s popular vote and swamp the votes in the rest of the state.
There is a way to compromise and for the states to regain their check without changing the constitution. Senators should be nominated by the legislature and elected by the people. The legislature could nominate one candidate from each party represented in it and one candidate not aligned with any party and have the people narrow the choice in the primary and choose the final candidate in the general election.
The Senate would still be elected by the people but Senators that vote against the interests of their state would find themselves out of a seat when it came time to be renominated. That makes the Senator answerable to BOTH the legislature AND the people and returns at least some of the check that the founders originally wanted the state governments to have on the federal government.
That’s a good plan, Cross, and it’s a sad thing that it can never happen. Here’s why – to make that change would require repealing the 17th Amendment, which can only be done by another constitutional amendment.
But part of passing an amendment is getting 2/3 of the Senate to vote in favor of it before it goes to the states. So we would have to get 2/3 of a group who are winners under the current setup and who will be losers in any new setup to vote in favor of stripping themselves of their power, and more importantly to vote in favor of divesting themselves of their future cash generating potential.
What are the odds? I think you know.
There’s always the constitutional convention route, but nobody seriously ever wants to go that way because what that really means is throwing the entire current constitution overboard and hoping the products of today’s educational systems would be just as inspired as Madison and the others were. I think you can guess the odds of that one working out, too.
WWS, no, it would NOT require a change to the 17th amendment. That is the entire point. The 17th says the Senators will be elected by the people. It does not specify a nominating procedure. THAT is done in the state constitution.
The Senators would still be elected by the people from a field of several potential candidates just as they are now.
Okay, I’ll grant that’s an interesting point. You’re right, they *could* do it that way, and now I see who’s standing in the way and who would have to be defeated for it to ever happen.
All current political parties. They have a monopoly on the nominating process right now, and that’s where things really went wrong. As long as we have powerful political parties, they (and their representatives inside the various legislatures) will continue to assert their power over the system to the detriment of the rest of us.
And requiring nominations from all parties and one from no party ensures that even if a party had complete control of the legislature, a candidate not of that party would still get nominated. It prevents one party control of the Senate, gives the people a voice, but also returns a voice to the Legislature.
Obama campaigned on three issues, renewable energy toward energy independence, reforming our health care system and education reform.
I think it is a little odd that he introduced his education initiative today, $5 billion worth, from the stimulus package, with all the stuff that is going on. It is probably not a one time deal, so more will need to be appropriated.
With all Obama’s initiatives there is no way that we can pay for them with Clinton level taxation, never mind the need to raise a trillion for health care redo.
No wonder the blue dogs are balking. We are in an impossible situation and nothing on the horizon at home or abroad leads me to think that things are getting better any time soon.
The blue dogs look like they’re already rolling over tonite.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/waxman-blue-dogs-brush-aside-healthcare-discord-2009-07-24.html
was it all for show? Are they ready to sell out at the drop of a hat?
Did you know that 37 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan so far in the month of July. Also some have have been killed this month in Iraq. Are we still fighting wars? Why is MSM absent? I find it so haunting that we are not recognizing what our American military are doing in these two theater. There are still 200,000 Americans military men and woman engaged.
4 deaths due to hostile fire in Iraq this month, 7 total there. Media is only interested in controversy. If there is no controversy, there will be no coverage.
Yes, Cross – the media only wanted to use the soldiers as pawns to ruin George Bush. Now, the war must be ignored, lest it draw attention to the festering maggot heap that is terrorism, umm sorry, man caused disaster participants…
The echo chamber that Pelosi and Waxman inhabit is going to be their undoing, I hope.
I have become a veritable John the Baptist, proselytizing to anyone who will listen about what this plan will mean. I hand out the Lewin Group report like a Moonie at the airport. I have large parts of my office reading the bill on line all throughout the day. The pressure has to mount and stay at fever pitch until this is defeated.
[…] but now they’re trying to strong-arm and deceive the moderate members of their own party. Congressional Liberals Hell Bent On Self Destruction – strata-sphere.com 07/24/2009 Before I get into the lemming-like actions of the congressional […]
I would give some credit to the conservative leadership for keeping the Republicans united against the outrageous spending plans coming out of Congress these days. But, honestly, the only thing that can stop this is the Blue Dogs. I would give credit to the grassroots movement that keeps pressure on them mostly for that. I hope they don’t faulter. I think it was a bad move by Pelosi/Waxman to tell the Blue Dogs to roll over and play dead. I hope they continue to stand on their principle. Conservatives can reach compromise with the Blue Dogs as easily as moderate Republican’s can. Let’s hope Pelosi/Waxman/Obama don’t twist their arms too much. They gave in on too many other issues they once stood up against. The only thing stronger than the liberal arm twisting to keep the Blue Dogs in line……is the voices they hear back home in the town hall meetings and tea parties. So, if you live in their districts…..keep up the pressure/support of the Blue dogs.
There is another shocking poll out there. Rasmussen has Obama’s overall approval at 49% today in their three day rolling average.
I really wanted to comment 2 days ago unfortunately due to a family health problem this is the first time I have had the time.
The Blue Dogs of today are not the B.Dogs of 30 years ago, they won their seats in Rep. areas trying to sound like they are conservative alternatives to republicans. It was a stategy that the Dem. party used in the 2006 and 2008 cycle while the republican party was shooting themselfs in the foot with very unpopular messages to their constituents. I unfortunately don’t feel that they are honest enough or really believe that they are center or center right as they proclaim and will buckle with liberal brethren.
Aj…I am going to suggest you try out the term…
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“Responsible conservatives”
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once in awhile instead of bashing “true conservatives” all the time…