DemCare Summit Preview

So, the 'bipartisan' summit takes place today. Everyone knows it's pure political theater, and there is no intent whatsoever on the part of Obama to do anything other than berate the GOP and inaccurately portray them as obstructionist.

By pushing DemCare, Obama is ignoring an ever-growing chorus of opposition. In fact, 72% of the American people are now saying that DemCare should be either started over from scratch or just scrapped altogether. But hey, what do all of you stupid people know, in comparison to The One? Go sit down and shut up while he rapes the American economy and takes over your health care.

But it's going to be tough. Dems in the Senate are saying that the House needs to go first. The House is saying that it's going to be even tougher to pass there than in the Senate, and it appears that they're a solid 15 votes short. Why all the finger-pointing? Because everyone knows that a vote for DemCare is a career-ending vote. In case you're interested in exactly why they're between a rock and a hard place (beyond just being directly opposed to the will of the American people, I mean), this is a great explanation of the machinations of Congress:

Senator Conrad, the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee said yesterday that reconciliation can only be used if the House passes the Senate bill first. As Sen. Conrad declared, “I don’t know of any way, I don’t know of any way where you can have a reconciliation bill pass before the bill that it is meant to reconcile passes.” Neither do I.

Then, the kicker: “When reminded that House Democrats don’t want to do health care in that order, Conrad said bluntly: ‘Fine, then it’s dead.‘”

Now, the Speaker finds herself in the position of having to pass a bill she says she does not have the votes to pass.

Without passing the Senate bill she can’t pass, the Speaker can’t do reconciliation. (See Sen. Conrad, above.)

OK. Now, this next part is really, really important.

The Speaker and the White House find themselves in this position because of Senator DeMint (R-SC). He insisted that Senator McConnell object to the appointment of the House-Senate Conferees, thus preventing a Conference on the bill.

The inability of the Dems to have a House-Senate Conference then forced the Speaker to have a House floor vote on the Senate bill, which she can’t pass. And there the process has been stuck. Has not moved an inch since Sen. DeMint’s objection. It can’t, she does not have the votes.

The Speaker could fix the Senate bill on the House floor by amendment, then pass the Senate bill amended and fixed, but then it would have to go back to the Senate, where it would have to get 60 yes votes, or die. Since it will not get 60 votes ever again in the Senate, it will die — if the Speaker tries the amend the Senate bill on the House floor and send it back to the Senate route.

When Senator DeMint (R-SC) denied the Speaker the ability to fix the bill in Conference, he put the Speaker and the White House in their current box. If there had been a House-Senate Conference, then the House could have fixed the bill without a floor vote and the bill could have changed, without having to send it back to the Senate to face 60 vote margins.

But now, they can’t have a conference, and the Speaker and the White House must pass the unpassable Senate bill, in order to even try reconciliation.

When the Democrats finally admit ObamaCare is dead, historians should note, this is the single act that killed it. And it was such an artistic assassination of the bill.

Can you imagine how different things might have been if DeMint was the leader of the Republicans in the Senate? Regardless, let's hope this does indeed kill the bill.

It is interesting to note that Obama and the Dems are doing precisely the same thing they decried just a few years ago. Back when the Republican party had the White House and Congress, these same Dems howled about how the Founders would have been profoundly upset to learn that a majority would dare attempt to use reconciliation to make policy changes. ***GASP*** The SHAME of such a thing! Of course, they were right then - the Founders would be profoundly upset at such an abuse of the reconciliation process. Of course, now that they hold the White House and Congress, it doesn't seem to be any kind of a stumbling block. Hmmm...

So, if they pass DemCare, what will that mean for you and me? Taxes, taxes, taxes. We will see higher taxes on payroll, higher taxes on Medicare, higher taxes on so-called Cadillac health care plans, higher taxes on medical devices, higher taxes on drugs, higher taxes on insurance costs, and more. The only thing that will be lower is on the amount you can put into your own FSA or HSA account. Oh, and there will be the small matter of government bureaucrats stepping in between you and your doctor. Other than that, it'll be a great deal!

For an idea of just how great, let's once again look at our friends across the pond who already have the kind of health care system that Obama wants to implement here:

The London Times reports on England's latest medical scandal:

Patients were routinely neglected or left "sobbing and humiliated" by staff at an NHS trust where at least 400 deaths have been linked to appalling care.

An independent inquiry found that managers at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust stopped providing safe care because they were preoccupied with government targets and cutting costs. ...

Staff shortages at Stafford Hospital meant that patients went unwashed for weeks, were left without food or drink and were even unable to get to the lavatory. Some lay in soiled sheets that relatives had to take home to wash, others developed infections or had falls, occasionally fatal. Many staff did their best but the attitude of some nurses "left a lot to be desired".

Attitudes under socialism generally leave a lot to be desired.

The report, which follows reviews by the Care Quality Commission and the Department of Health, said that "unimaginable" suffering had been caused.

Unimaginable suffering--that pretty much sums up government-controlled medicine. That's our future, though, if the Democrats get their way. They care only about their own power, not about the quality of your medical care.

As we brace for the dog-and-pony show of the summit, let's take a few moments to review what Ronald Reagan said several decades ago about government health care. This is outstanding stuff and I can't recommend it highly enough:

Stay tuned for details of the dog-and-pony show.

There's my two cents.