Funny, I don't recall them complaining about Reconciliation with the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, or any of the other dozens of times it has been used by the GOP. But now that the Dems are finally considering what they should have done last year in order save our health care system from impending disaster, this year-long process is now being treated as a fast-tracked scam.
Even though the GOP used it to make the rich even richer, it would be wrong, goes their argument, to use reconciliation now because:
...an abuse of the process in the past is a poor argument for doing so now.
Reality check: Reconciliation is in the Constitution. Fillibusters requiring a super-majority IS NOT. Even if you agree with the principle of a fillibuster, no reasonable person can argue that the GOP is using it responsibly. They have fillibustered EVERY SINGLE BILL in the Senate!! Even bills that get over 80 votes in the end, even bills that fund our troops, even a bill to pay unemployment benefits!
The article even acknowledges the Dem plan is good and mocks the GOP plan as meager. They even admitted that the GOP has offered "little beyond obstruction." But in the very next sentence, the editorial board confusingly states this:
But if the Democrats' plan so sharply divides Congress that it can't become law unless rules are bent, it will be a weak plan. Already unpopular with the public, it'll be vulnerable to repeal when the partisan balance in Washington, D.C. shifts.
Democrats also will further poison the atmosphere in Congress if they pull a power play through reconciliation. Good luck getting anything else done — even on urgent matters such as the economy.
There's a better way forward. Senate and House leaders should hash out their differences in open meetings. They should strip the payoffs from the bill. They should make more room for good ideas from Republicans — Mr. Obama already has suggested four.
Riiiiiiiight!! Let's load up the bill with MORE ineffective GOP ideas and THEN they will play nicely!!
The GOP is opposed to covering everyone. Period. They said so. They are on the record against subsidies and against the public option. Passing a bill that says we promise we'll work harder on fraud and the ever present "tort reform" is a joke that WILL NOT stop the out of control price gouging and won't cover one extra person.
The GOP will also not repeal this. Once in effect, people will have health care coverage and will see that the sky didn't fall. Could you imagine the GOP trying to take away Medicare?? No, in fact, after years of arguing to gut Medicare they have the audacity to pretend to be its guardians--ironically while all the while opposing "government-run" healthcare!
That is why the GOP is fighting SO HARD, along with the insurance industry, to stop this bill! They know it will work and once its in effect, it will be too late. However, if they defeat the bill, all the false, negative things they said will become true and they will run campaign after campaign saying how they saved us from disaster with the added bonus of saying (rightfully so) that the Democrats can't govern.
Don't LET THESE LIES go answered! Take a few seconds and VOTE NO:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpoll-saturday,0,2955208.poll
While you are at it, respond to this poll to. It asks if Dems should move forward on HCR without GOP support. Obviously, vote YES!:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-poll-health-care-reform-030510,0,1120017.poll
They print the results of the polls the following day. Since tomorrow is Sunday, when most people get the paper,...let's send them a strong message!
Excellent take. More should be said about the R's knowing that health care passage will destroy them for a generation like SS and Medicare. The very short term (2010-maybe 2012) may hurt but once it cuts in, forget it R's. Next article put Kristol's warning from 1993 about HC and how it would kill them if passed, same thing here, kill it at all costs.
ReplyDeleteAmen Terry!
ReplyDelete