President Obama’s approval rating has hit a new low. Harry Reid can’t get 60 votes to pass Obama’s health care legislation. Today, Obama ordered all 60 senators in the Democratic caucus to the White House to try to save his increasingly unpopular bill.
There are reports tonight (Dec. 14) that the Democrats are ready to drop the public option and the expansion of Medicare to people below age 65. We’ll have to read the fine print to confirm that this is true, but even if these reports are accurate, there is no point in passing a bill that creates layers of new bureaucracy, raises taxes, increases insurance premiums, doesn’t insure most uninsured Americans, guts Medicare and rations health care.
The only reason for Democrats to proceed with this bill is that Barack Obama believes that a failure to pass some form of health care legislation will result in the failure of his presidency. Obama and Reid would rather pass something now even if it hurts average Americans rather than wait and let Senators hear from their constituents about their opposition to this bad bill during the Christmas / New Year recess.
The future of America’s health care system hangs in the balance. Either Harry Reid will pass something in the Senate that will have enough hooks to expand government control of health care or Reid and Obama will be defeated and Americans will get a chance to pass true reform after the 2010 elections.
Given that the current bill’s so-called “improvements” don’t go into effect until 2013 (although taxes and other costs would kick in immediately), there is no reason to rush into passing a bill other than political calculations.
The Democrats are planning massive phone calls promoting Obamacare this week in Florida and are likely engaging in similar efforts in other states. They are trying to cut deals with their own members and Republican senators with weak principles. They have shown their willingness to buy votes with hundreds of millions of dollars. They are calculating that they can get away with this while Americans are focused on the holiday season.
Read more about why you must oppose Obamacare here.
Now is not the time to be complacent. Call and email your senators to let them know that your support depends on their opposition to Obamacare. Donate to their opponents or give to Reversethevote.org.
