A race began today, when the President signed his health-care takeover bill. The vast majority of Americans opposed to this legislation have two election cycles in which to defeat it. If 2010 does not see a Republican House of Representatives, the first victims will disappear under the leading edge of a tax and regulation avalanche. A complete GOP takeover of Congress and the White House in 2012 could begin the process of repeal, and the implementation of real “reforms” that will actually improve the quality, and reduce the cost, of medical care. Even such a transfer of power would not end the race – the same spirit and organization necessary to put the Republicans in office will be needed to keep them focused on the task at hand – but at least the rumble from a trillion tons of unsustainable liability would begin to fade behind us.He talks about how tricky it is to try to predict the shifting of political winds, but one thing is certain: we have weapons with which to go to war.
One example of political firepower I can already hear sliding from its holster is the Narrative. Controlling the storyline is very important in a political debate, and the plot of the health-care horror story has already become so fixed in the public mind that not even the Democrats’ media allies can rewrite it.Another weapon is what the Republican party is flush with right now: focus and energy.Look at the way Nancy Pelosi’s grimly hilarious assertion that we needed to pass ObamaCare to “find out what’s in it” has already led to the discoveries that it controls the writing on restaurant drive-thru menus, and exempts congressional staffers from the back-breaking mandates it piles on the little people.
These developments are more than a belt of ammo feeding into the Twitter mini-guns of conservative bloggers. They’re continuing evidence that the opponents of ObamaCare were absolutely correct about it. Since the voters were already angry about the sleazy passage of this bill, they’re likely to transfer a great deal of their trust away from the people who lied to them.
Suddenly, the Republicans are focused like a laser beam. ObamaCare is too much, too fast. It has galvanized the GOP, and provided a spotlight for star turns by people like Paul Ryan and John Boehner. The Democrats have long coasted upon the inertia of an inexorably growing State. They will come to appreciate the danger of handing their opponents a simple banner of “Repeal!”, which they can raise above an electorate angry about being deceived and ignored. The American tradition is to elect representatives… and depose rulers.There is also a startling degree of clarity and vision on our side, both of which are formidable weapons.
The slow, senseless lumber toward insolvency is over. Social Security and Medicare have entered the early stages of meltdown… and Democrats laughed and applauded as they signed a bill that will add trillions more to our national debt. The endgame for American socialism is no longer a distant matter we can foist on our grandchildren. It’s probably less than twenty years away, and the continuing collapse of the private sector will accelerate it. There are plenty of unforeseen events that could make it worse, and very few that could make things better.Obama fatigue has already set in, and a public that is weary of hearing the same speeches isn't going to appreciate the post-vote sell-job that Obama is beginning now. He seems to think that we simply don't understand why this bill is actually good for us; what he misunderstands is that we truly do understand why this bill is disastrous for us. No amount of pulpit-pounding and speechifying is going to suddenly persuade the almost 2/3 of America that has heard it all before and rejected it before.The Republicans have an opportunity to put all of this in context, presenting ObamaCare as the most absurd excess of a doomed system, rather than an isolated outrage. The vision of dependency and control expressed by this bill, coupled with its delusional ignorance of economic reality, is profoundly at odds with the American tradition of independence and Constitutional restraint. To put it simply, this statist agenda won’t work – it never does, and never has. Explaining why is a challenging, and rewarding, task. Met successfully, it will have far more profound results that merely repealing ObamaCare.
The point is that this is not a guaranteed victory. The GOP has added plenty to the mess in its own right. But, if the GOP can return to its Reagan roots and core principles, then offer those principles in a consistent and clear message, then we have an opportunity to transform one of the biggest debacles in American history into one of the biggest victories in American history.
Strong stuff from a persuasive writer.
Now, how about a dose of real life? Not that we haven't gotten a full dose of real life in the form of elections-have-consequences already this week, of course, but how about real life in a DemCare America?
First of all, it should be noted that Stupak's total cave-in on what he called a principle -- the life of the unborn -- is already being proven as the scam we suspected. Remember that executive order that Obama promised him? Not only would it do nothing to prevent taxpayer funded abortions, but it appears that Obama isn't really that into signing it, regardless of its irrelevance. Gee, no one could have seen that one coming.
Next, Reason TV has a good video explaining just a couple reasons why DemCare will do anything but cut into the deficit and control spending:
Also, we're going to start seeing more stories like this, from St. Louis:
While most provisions of the health care overhaul package are not slated to take effect for years, families of children with chronic or severe illnesses can expect almost immediate relief from health insurance companies.Never mind the fact that Obama signed the S-CHIP expansion into law shortly after taking office, thus covering uninsured children all over the country (trifle a liberal not with facts or history!). Anyway...okay, all the requisite warm fuzzies are there. Let's read a bit further down:
Under the legislation, insurers will be required to provide health coverage for these children, even those with pre-existing conditions such as Down syndrome or childhood diabetes, who might otherwise be disqualified.
Also this year, the bill will allow young adults to remain on their parents' insurance policies until they are 26 years old, if they do not have jobs that provide health coverage.
Overhaul advocates have praised the bill's immediate effect on children.
"Anything that we do to get the kids access to health care, we're thrilled about," said Julie Leicht, senior policy director of Citizens for Missouri's Children, referring to the 130,000 children in the state who lack health insurance.
But health experts said the proposed regulations pertaining to children will result in higher premiums for consumers. The issue of who will pay the medical costs of the nation's uninsured and underinsured children, especially those with potentially debilitating and lifelong conditions, is not yet settled.Stop the presses!!! What's that? Someone is going to have to pay for all that 'free' health care for the children?? Why, how cruel! How rude! How very un-American! Oh, and guess who gets to pay that bill? If you pay taxes, just look in the mirror.
Lower the costs of health care and premiums? Democrat lies, meet reality. Poof.
Oh, and guess what else? Those poor widdle innocent children may not actually be covered for another few years.
Heritage clearly intends to hold Obama to his words in terms of DemCare promises. For example, he promised these things over and over and over:
- DemCare would drop insurance premiums by $2500
- if you like your current insurance, you can keep it
- health care costs would go down
- DemCare would decrease the deficit
Really? (If you believe that, I have some land on Mars I'd like to sell you. It's really great, oceanfront property and everything.) Hit the link for all the details and Heritage's analysis, but here's just one quick example of how reality proves Obama's rhetoric is completely hollow:
Caterpillar Inc. recently addressed a letter to House leadership claiming that the health care legislation passed Sunday would result in over $100 million in new costs for the company in the first year of implementation alone, due to the increase in Medicare taxes and mandated benefits. Said the letter, “We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors.” Effects of the bill’s provisions will include job loss, wage reductions, and reduced hours, as testified by more than 130 economists in a letter to President Obama and members of Congress.Real life isn't going to be kind to the political rhetoric and empty promises Obama and the Dems made over the past year and a half. Unfortunately, DemCare isn't going to be kind to America, either.
And, in perhaps the greatest example of the day of Democrat schemes running afoul of real life and being obliterated:
Given that it's Obama's mission to take America down a notch, I'd guess we'll get both, and pretty quickly. Apparently, the market agrees, as the U.S. is now in danger of being downgraded from its AAA credit rating.
... Ultimately, the warm and fuzzies being felt at the thought of insuring the uninsured will run head-first into anxiety about government bloat, unless Democrats can come up with a way to argue that a massive new federal entitlement is somehow going to shrink government too. ... eventually they’ll either raise taxes and anger that 65 percent or not raise taxes and anger them by driving up the deficit. Although, given the sheer magnitude by which this thing could overshoot cost estimates, I suppose higher taxes and higher deficits are possible.The latest Fox News poll finds that 79 percent of voters think it’s possible the economy could collapse, including large majorities of Democrats (72 percent), Republicans (84 percent) and independents (80 percent).
Just 18 percent think the economy is “so big and strong it could never collapse.”
Moreover, 78 percent of voters believe the federal government is “larger and more costly” than it has ever been before, and by nearly three-to-one more voters think the national debt (65 percent) is a greater potential threat to the country’s future than terrorism (23 percent)…
Three in 10 American voters (30 percent) say they are comfortable with the size and role of the federal government right now, while 65 percent say the government has become too big and “is restricting American freedoms.”
Sizable majorities of Republicans (84 percent) and independents (74 percent) think the government is too big, while just over half of Democrats (51 percent) are okay with the size of government.
So, with the passage of DemCare, America finds itself in a very sticky bind. If you ask me, I think the only way we can avoid a complete collapse is to take back a big majority in the House in 2010. We may even get a small majority in the Senate, too, but given that only 1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election in any one election, that really slows things down on that side. But, with control of the House, the GOP can stall much of his DemCare (and otherwise) agenda by simply refusing to fund it. Then, in 2012, the GOP has a chance to really shake things up by taking back even bigger majorities in Congress...and take back the White House. Only then can we hope to truly repeal this abomination, this nation-killer called DemCare. We can't rely on the courts. We can't rely on our current representatives to follow our lead (obviously). We can rely on only one sure thing: our own votes. If America does not turn out in huge numbers to throw out the radical Leftist Dems in the next two election cycles, the country is finished.
Sound pessimistic? Yep. But...the good news is that this can happen. It's up to you, and it's up to me. Step out of your comfort zone, talk to a few people, make a few phone calls, and stand up for what you know is right. Spread the word about what's really going on, and fight for the truth wherever you see it being slandered and lied about. This will be a grass roots effort like we've never seen before, and it can bring about the kind of real change that will save this country.
Let's get to work.
There's my two cents.
Related Reading:
Patrick Henry's fight for liberty
John Boehner's statement on the passage of DemCare
Pelosi, Reid suffer hideous approval ratings
It's either the beginning of the end, or the beginning of a rebirth
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