Today in Washington, D.C. - Feb 24, 2010 - Arrogant Democrats Move To Ram - "Rahm" - Through Obamacare

This morning the Senate approved a $15 billion jobs bill, 70 to 28. The next stop is the House where Democratic leaders are weighing whether to pass the Senate version or go to conference the US House to reconcile it with the $154 billion jobs bill the House passed in December.

The press has taken up the terms "Ramming" or "Ram" in regard to the method of violating normal protocol to get Obamacare (government health care) through Congress and to the President for signature. Although, "Ram" may be the correct term, it might well be labeled "Rahm" after White House Rahm Emanuel, Chicago style thuggery methods.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal's Editorial Board posted “ObamaCare At Ramming Speed” noted: "'The President's Proposal,' as the 11-page White House document is headlined, is in one sense a notable achievement: It manages to take the worst of both the House and Senate bills and combine them into something more destructive. It includes more taxes, more subsidies and even less cost control than the Senate bill. And it purports to fix the special-interest favors in the Senate bill not by eliminating them-but by expanding them to everyone. . . . The larger political message of this new proposal is that Mr. Obama and Democrats have no intention of compromising on an incremental reform, or of listening to Republican, or any other, ideas on health care. They want what they want, and they're going to play by Chicago Rules and try to dragoon it into law on a narrow partisan vote via Congressional rules that have never been used for such a major change in national policy. If you want to know why Democratic Washington is "ungovernable," this is it."

Today, Politico reports, “An idea that seemed toxic only weeks ago — using a parliamentary tactic to ram health reform through the Senate — is gaining acceptance among moderate Democrats who have resisted the strategy but now say GOP opposition may force their hands.”

And yet President Obama is inviting members of Congress to the White House to supposedly hash out bipartisan ideas on health care. Just on Saturday, he said, “I am inviting members of both parties to take part in a bipartisan health care meeting, and I hope they come in a spirit of good faith. . . . I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations.”

If Senate Democrats are readying a reconciliation bill behind the scenes to "ram" it through without Republican input or votes, how exactly is that “in a spirit of good faith”? Who could plausibly argue that a health care bill written in this way is “seek[ing] common ground”?

For many Democrats, supporting reconciliation would be an about-face from what they said just a year ago. In September, the Omaha World-Herald reported, “Sen. Ben Nelson, a Democrat, said Sunday that he would vote against using a tactic called reconciliation to push through a health care bill.” But according to Politico today, “Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said he doesn’t prefer reconciliation, but it may be the only way.” He said, “[A]t the end of the day, with the obstructionism going on at the level that it is, I’m more interested in what’s in the package than I am in the process of how many votes it takes to get it through.” Last year, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said reconciliation “was intended for deficit reduction, and it should not be used for other things.” But she told Politico, “I’m staying open to see how these negotiations go forward.”

What’s even worse is the incredible arrogance on display in ignoring the clear wishes of the American people to scrap this health care bill and start over. According to Politico, “[The] mood in the Senate was matched Tuesday by a growing momentum for President Barack Obama’s health care proposal in the House, where Democrats were beginning to coalesce around the view that passing a flawed bill is better than passing none at all.”

Democrats are apparently eager to "ram" through a bill that they know is flawed, just for the sake of passing it. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) expressed this morning, “What [Democrats] have in mind is a last ditch legislative sleight of hand called reconciliation that would enable them to impose government-run health care for all on the American people, whether Americans want it or not. And we know that Americans don’t, in fact, want it. Americans have seen these proposals before. They don’t want them. So this is the height of legislative arrogance. If you didn’t like the Cornhusker Kickback, get ready. This is the Cornhusker Kickback on steroids.”

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) responded: "There's no question . . . the American people want health care reform that lowers the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government. But it's also clear that the American people don't want a government takeover of health care. They don't want the government takeover of health care that passed the House or the Senate, and the American people don't want the more of the same government takeover bill that the White House raised the curtain on . . ."

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) sums up the position of Republican house members over the Democrats actions to "ram" through Obamacare: "The American people have spoken loudly and clearly that they want to scrap this big government takeover of health care and start over. Republicans have been offering ideas for months about how to take commonsense steps to make our current system work better for American families and businesses that would help bring down the cost of health insurance and make it more available for more Americans. [Healthcare.gop.gov has the Republican Proposals] . . . look at what the president has done, he's basically crippled the summit that's expected on Thursday by coming in with a re-run of the same failed bill that couldn't pass the House or Senate. ... I would hope that the president would heed our call. Let's scrap the bill. Let's begin to work on common sense steps that will make our current system better. But if you look at one piece of the president's proposal yesterday, and that's the tax - or penalty, if you will - on employers who do not provide health insurance. Under the president's new proposal, it's $2,000 per employee if you don't provide health insurance to your employees. What that will do will cripple job creation in America at a time where the American people are asking ‘where are the jobs?' We can't make it more difficult for American employers to bring new employees onto their payroll. It's our intent to be there on Thursday. Eric [Cantor] and I sent a letter to Rahm Emanuel two weeks ago and we are waiting for a response and we are hopeful that we will receive one soon."

Americans oppose the health care bills the House and Senate Democrats passed, and on which Obama’s new proposal is based. Rasmussen Reports yesterday identified that 56% Oppose the Obama’s Health Care Plan with 41% favoring. Note the opposition continues to grow while the those favoring continues to decline as they become educated on the situation. Note there will always be those who live predominantly on the Government dole who will favor getting something more from the government without regard to the cost to others especially the cost to future generations.

Even the Democrats admit the major flaws in the bill, they are apparently planning to arrogantly "ram," or is that "Rahm," through the health care bill despite public opposition.

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