From ruse to reconciliation
Both parties have used the reconciliation process 21 times since 1974. However, the differences between prior issues and ObamaCare are their amplitude and the fact that a significant majority of Americans do not want it in any way, shape, manner, or form:
Reconciliation is a last-ditch, rarely-used, and controversial tactic that allows bills to be passed in the Senate with only a simple majority of votes. After the conclusion of the Potemkin Village-like ObamaCare summit next week, reconciliation will be trundled out.
The Democrat Congress will employ it to force their fiscally unsound, hugely unpopular, and quite unnecessary government-run health care scheme on the American people. Under Democrat rule, this charade is now what embodies representative government in the United States of America.
Just last month, America witnessed a decisive verdict on ObamaCare. In a bluest-of-blue Massachusetts special election, voters were given a clear choice: Defeat Scott Brown and health care passes; Elect Scott Brown and it dies. For those of you who missed it, Scott Brown won decisively. In Democrat-owned Massachusetts. What is the Democrat Congress missing here?
Nothing, and neither is Obama. One can only deduce that they do not care one whit about our concerns, the wishes of a significant majority, or the nation's welfare.
Disingenuous do-over
Upon being pronounced dead by Massachusetts voters, it was crystal clear to Obama and the Democrat Congress that ObamaCare would never pass. Enter the end-around play, Reconciliation:
Stage a televised, fraudulent, "bipartisan" health care summit. Thwart any significant changes to the existing ObamaCare scheme whilst carefully choreographing the proceedings to present the opposition in the worst possible light. Afterward, announce that the American people have witnessed Republican gridlock, and for the good of the nation the ObamaCare bill must be passed through reconciliation.
Point to ponder: There will be a few wobbly, weak-kneed Republicans in attendance. The only scenario worse than the above is if the Democrats dupe the by-then neutered Republicans into actively offering concessions to the ObamaCare scheme. Game, set, and match.
Why bother?
Obama and the Democrat Congress did not plot out this summit sham to hear Republican ideas. It is a clear attempt to label Republicans as obstructionists and resurrect ObamaCare from the dead.
Which brings up the question: Why would any sane Republican attend at all?
There is no gridlock on this issue. The position of the American people is clear; The American majority does not want ObamaCare. If the Democrat Congress doesn't have the votes to pass it, why let them off the hook and serve them as enablers?
Remember these indisputable facts: The Democrat Congress shut Republicans out of the entire ObamaCare process. Democrat Congress and White House staffs, as well as radical special-interest groups collaborated in writing the House and Senate versions during closed-door meetings. House and Senate versions were passed in direct opposition to the will of the American people.
"It would be wrong . . ."
It is clear to all that leftist Democrat Barney Frank has been actively battling for ObamaCare. Yet following the Scott Brown election, this is what Frank had to say:
"I have two reactions to the election in Massachusetts. One, I am disappointed. Two, I feel strongly that the Democrat majority in Congress must respect the process and make no effort to bypass the electoral results. If Martha Coakley had won, I believe we could have worked out a reasonable compromise between the House and Senate health care bills. But since Scott Brown has won and the Republicans now have 41 votes in the Senate, that approach is no longer appropriate.
I am hopeful that some Republican Senators will be willing to discuss a revised version of health care reform because I do not think that the country would be well-served by the health care status quo. But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened.
Going forward, I hope there will be a serious effort to change the Senate rule which means that 59 votes are not enough to pass major legislation, but those are the rules by which the health care bill was considered, and it would be wrong to change them in the middle of the process."
Apparently Frank's words do not resonate with his colleagues. In staff level discussions, the White House has made it clear that it supports making changes to the Senate bill through reconciliation because that is the only way to pass ObamaCare.
Decline of the nation
The Democrat Congress' case for passing government-run health care via reconciliation is not that it will suddenly become popular over the next eight months. It will not. Democrats have simply decided that passing an unpopular, costly, Big Government bill against the wishes of the American people will satisfy their base.
And of course there's this: If the Democrat Congress doesn't pass its $2.5 trillion, tax-raising, abortion-funding bill now -- by hook or by crook -- they may never get another chance.
To Democrats, it is therefore unfortunate indeed that pesky little nuisances like constituencies, sacred oaths of office, the Constitution, ethical conduct, and the grievous harm ObamaCare will do to the nation must even be mentioned.
Hype and Chains.
background:
Image by Fox News Channel
Barney Frank Deals Potential Death Blow to Obamacare
Health Care and Reconciliation
Liberals Still Fighting for Reconciliation
White House Signaling Support For Reconciliation