For anyone who doubted my August blog that said the health (non) care bill was a done deal, CSPAN is reporting Ben Nelson will vote yes, and the final vote will be on Monday. This was never, ever in doubt. No matter what has, or has not, come out of this bill, it will go to conference committee with the much more radical House version, and will come out exactly as the Dems always intended: with a “public option.” (BTW, as I understand it, only a simple majority is required to then pass the final bill in each House).
The Republicans’ strategy was the best they could do, namely to stall, delay, and hope that the Senate actually paid attention to public opinion. No dice. And, not to play Grinch here, but the supposed “failed” Copenhagen talks that arrived at a non-binding “agreement” to keep global temperatures to a two-degree increase? HUH?? We already have cooling global temperatures, so this is a set-up for these one-world/big-government types to thump their chests and say, “See! Our plan worked. Let’s attack capitalism more!”
Finally, to pour arsenic in the eggnog, the very next big bill up for the Congress next year will almost certainly be amnesty.
I don’t think there is any question at all that in 2010, the Democrats will sustain serious, significant losses. Unfortunately, short of throwing out two-thirds of each house, I don’t think it will matter. One ray of hope is that a GOP majority in the House could dampen the damage through a dedicated scorched earth policy in funding bills. That’s expecting an awful lot, even if the large number of House Republicans are conservatives. In any contest, there is always some attrition, and we are going to need a two-thirds conservative majority in each house to begin to undo this fascism.
God save us.
Diane Borawski says:
Watching & listening to Nelson defend this nonsense as I read. Time is always a major consideration. Will enough of it have elapsed before re-election that their constituents forget? Or will the effects of the bill be so damning that they vote them out of office. Big problem is we are approachiing the 50% mark of those on the dole (including most government paid employees) vs. those working in the private sector. Does anyone recall Rome?
Diana Theobald says:
Sigh..I knew you were right, Larry..I just still had a small piece of me hope that somehow..someway this is all just some bad dream. Our society will soon radically change and our Constitution will hang by a thread…as it is difficult to witness..we must still not give up! Just waiting with baited breath for the Fairness Doctrine to rear its ugly head again…
Jim Bjaloncik says:
I, like Diana, hoped against hope. Nelson caved because they got to him. Was it the threat of closing Offutt AFB in his home state? Was it something else? Who knows. His arm got twisted and he caved in, pure and simple.
Our only response now should be to begin working in earnest to throw these bastards out of office. I’ll be looking to make sure our progressive dirt-bag Sherrod Brown here in Ohio doesn’t come back, and I appeal to others to take up similar causes. There is talk of a new uprising similar to that of 1994, when Gingrich and the GOP took back both houses of Congress. The opportunity now looms before us – we need to seize the moment.