On Monday morning at 1 am, Senate Democrats wheeled out ailing 92-year-old Senator “Big Daddy” Robert Byrd, the King of Pork, to cast the 60th vote to end debate in the Senate on Obamacare.
Does this mean the fight is over?
Democrats have the votes to pass a bill that the majority of Americans oppose. They know they will not get another chance to control one sixth of the American economy and are willing to take heavy losses in the 2010 Congressional elections. They know that once the bill is passed it will take 60 votes in the Senate to reverse the law and 67 votes to override a veto as long as Barack Obama is president.
They also know that people who receive benefits as a result of Obamacare will become vocal supporters for the new status quo even though Americans will lose more than they gain from this creeping government takeover of health care. It will be easier to amend the law to gradually increase government control than to roll it back.
Given these hurdles to reversing Obamacare once it is passed, opponents should continue to use every means of opposing the bill’s final passage.
The forces opposing Obamacare including the growing Tea Party movement are strong and represent a majority of Americans. Rasmussen reports on Dec. 21 that 41% of voters nationwide favor the bill and 55% are opposed. Popular opposition can change the outcome of political debates.
However, at least some of the political leaders opposing Obamacare seem to be giving up. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed not to insist on following the Senate’s process to the letter and will let Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hold a final vote at 8 am on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, rather than delay the process to the evening on Dec. 24 and potentially beyond.
Why not keep Senators in Washington for Christmas if they want to pass Obamacare? Republican opponents could even go home and let Democrats vote to pass the bill in the Senate by themselves.
McConnell has been consistent in his opposition to Obamacare, but doesn’t seem to have the energy to lead the fight. Some Republican leaders still seem to be incapable of understanding what it means to fight Obama’s takeover of more and more sectors of the economy. If they do not change or are replaced by more passionate leaders, they may squander the popular anger opposing Obama in the 2010 election.
Other Republicans and Democrats are ready to fight on. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina is challenging several aspects of the bill including a passage that appears to say that the Senate cannot make changes to portions of Obamacare in the future (see We Are No Longer a Nation of Laws. Senate Sets Up Requirement for Super-Majority to Ever Repeal Obamacare for more information).
You can watch Senator DeMint’s challenge on the floor of the Senate. He starts with several seemingly arcane parliamentary inquiries regarding senate rules which require a two third majority to pass. If you are pressed for time, fast forward to 6 minutes into the video for the key question:
Senator DeMint also announced today hat he will demand a vote in the Senate on the constitutionality of the mandate forcing people to buy insurance. If the Republicans had just a handful of Jim DeMint’s in their leadership we wouldn’t be where we are today.
Michigan Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak who amended the House bill to continue the 30 year federal policy of not using taxpayer money to fund abortion continues stand firm on his principles.
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said the White House and the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives have been pressuring him not to speak out on the “compromise” abortion language in the Senate version of the health care bill.
“They think I shouldn’t be expressing my views on this bill until they get a chance to try to sell me the language,” Stupak told CNSNews.com in an interview on Tuesday. “Well, I don’t need anyone to sell me the language. I can read it. I’ve seen it. I’ve worked with it. I know what it says. I don’t need to have a conference with the White House. I have the legislation in front of me here.”
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“A review of the Senate language indicates a dramatic shift in federal policy that would allow the federal government to subsidize insurance policies with abortion coverage,” said the statement.Stupak said he is not alone in being pressured from the White House and the House Democratic leadership – other pro-life Democratic colleagues apparently are, as well. But they plan to hold firm, he said.
“We’re getting a lot of pressure not to say anything, to try to compromise this principle or belief,” Stupak said. “[T]hat’s just not us. We’re not going to do that. Members who voted for the Stupak language in the House – especially the Democrats, 64 Democrats that voted for it – feel very strongly about it. It’s been part of who we are, part of our make up. It’s the principle belief that we have. We are not just going to abandon it in the name of health care.”
“…if all the issues are resolved and we’re down to the pro-life view or, I should say, no public funding for abortion, there’s at least 10 to 12 members who have said, repeatedly, unless this language is fixed and current law is maintained, and no public funding for abortion,” said Stupak. “There’s 10 or 12 of us, and they only passed the bill by 3 votes, so they’re going to be short 8 to 9, maybe 6 to 8 votes. So they [Democrats] do not have the votes to pass it in the House.”
This is important: the House passed the bill by only three votes and, if the Democrats keep the Senate version on abortion, the House will be short about 8 votes in passing the final bill.
There are other efforts to question the legality of how Obamacare is being passed. Prosecutors in seven states are looking into the legality of the deal that Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson made to sell his vote. The Associate Press reports:
The top prosecutors in seven states are probing the constitutionality of a political deal that cut a funding break for Nebraska in order to pass a federal health care reform bill, South Carolina’s attorney general said Tuesday.
Attorney General Henry McMaster said he and his counterparts in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas and Washington state — all Republicans — are jointly taking a look at the deal they’ve dubbed the “Nebraska compromise.”
“The Nebraska compromise, which permanently exempts Nebraska from paying Medicaid costs that Texas and all other 49 states must pay, may violate the United States Constitution — as well as other provisions of federal law,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said.
Ironically, the original Nebraska Compromise — passed in 1854 and leading to the expansion of slavery in Western states — led to the formation of the Republican Party in the same year, Abraham Lincoln’s win of the Presidency in 1860 and the Civil War that finally ended slavery. (See Florida Pundit’s Harry Reid’s Nebraska Compromise or How Harry Bought the 60th Vote for Obamacare for the first comparison of Ben Nelson’s deal to the historic Nebraska Compromise.)
Is the fight against Obamacare over?
It is likely that Obamacare will pass, but it would only take three Representatives to change their vote to change this outcome and let America continue the principles of freedom and individual choice that have made America what it is today. For this to happen, Americans need to continue to speak up, to demonstrate and to contribute to politicians that are firm in their opposition to Obamacare.
If you need inspiration to get energized in your opposition to Obamacare and all the other initiatives of this administration to expand government and restrict freedom listen to Florida Congressional candidate Lieutenant Colonel Allen West:
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