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    Saturday, March 6, 2010

    Bam Pulling out all the bribes (oops, stops) to pass Obamacare

    The time has come for Obama to get tough and get his signature piece of legislation passed.  Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts at the absolute 11th hour, and his pledge to be the 41st (and filibuster sustaining) vote against it helped get him elected even in far-left Massachusetts.

    Yet, rather than read this in a Clinton-like manner, as an indictment against the scale of the growth of government (bailouts, buyouts, pork, stimulus) and the massive regulation of 1/6 of the economy, and tack to the center, Obama is displaying his true colors, which is to strike as the iron cools and get his signature piece of legislation, and democrats Holy Grail of a massive new middle-class entitlement, passed.

    For years, Democrats have considered FDR their model of the successful Dem president, yet, it was WW2 that cemented FDR's greatness, as most of the New Deal was an abject failure by 1939.  Yet, they continued to press on with social policies that would continue to enslave us and march us down the path to European-style socialism (indeed, the model for most Leftists is Fascists Italy).  LBJ used the Great Society programs to create Medicare and Medicaid which has led to a government takeover of 50% of the health care industry.  Unlike FDR, who needed a war to save the country economically (and his place in history), LBJ needed social change to mask his own ineptness in fighting a war in Vietnam.

    So, these two put into place most of the social programs that are threatening our financial stability today (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid), and Republican presidents and Republicans aided and abetted them.  So, we're not to blame if we decide that Medicare and Medicaid need more customers, and that the rest of the health care industry needs some over regulation from a government already incapable of managing any part of the economy.  We asked for it.

    But, despite the fact that we deserve what we're going to get, we still don't really want it. And, despite the fact that we really don't want this POS legislation known as Obamacare, the Dems want to force feed it to us, for our own good.  Kind of like taking a bitter pill. Except, in this case, the patient knows it is going to be very hard to swallow, will probably lead to nausea down the road, and is going to resist with every fiber.

    In these circumstances, how do you get it passed?

    Well, if you're from Chicago, you used old fashioned arm twisting and outright graft.

    Rep. Jim Matheson (a rare Utah Dem) voted no the first time.  So, Obama has given his brother a lifetime seat on a federal bench.  Wonder if Rep. Matheson will have the courage of his convictions, or loyalty to his brother and the man who hooked him up for life?

    Another, Rep. Eric Massa, a D from NY and a Navy veteran, is being forced out of office for using "salty language" and allegedly sexually harassing a male staffer.  Maybe there's some truth to this, but, interesting the timing, replacing a "no" vote at the last minute.  In a Congress where Charlie Rangel holds on to power until basically the smoking gun evidence is in front of the Ethics Committee, some guy who calls a staffer a name is forced to resign.  What do you want to bet if Rangel had been a no vote, the Ethics Committee would have worked a hell of a lot faster.

    Another "Yes" vote, Alan Mollohan (D, WV), just had a Justice Department investigation into his shady deals where he was earmarking to non-profits he was working real estate deals for, dismissed by Eric Holder's DoJ.

    Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

    So, the Dems have eliminated one vote against, perhaps switched one to Yes, and saved one.

    Updated: Corrected Mollohan to WV.

    2 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    Alan Mollohan is in WV, not FL.

    Jay said...

    Anon- THanks for the correction. Mollohan does represent the 1st district of WV. His sweetheart earmark deal involved real estate holdings in Florida.