Health Care: Fight The Good Fight
c/o Michael Ramirez, IBD Editorial
I wanted to clarify some of my opinions this week on where the health care debate is.
On Monday, I posted an article stating the public option is dead. Well, I think it is dead, largely because there is almost ZERO chance it passes the Senate. But that does NOT mean the fight does not go on.
Liberals, in their usual way, almost had a fit when Obama appeared to be backing away from the Public Option. The White House quickly pulled back, confirming Obama’s continued loyalty to the public option. That said, both the President and his advisors have been giving hints that the Public option could be headed for the chopping block…and that is not done without some strategic vision. The White House is quickly coming to understand that they cannot allow all health care reforms to die a slow death on Capitol Hill just because of the Public Option.
Nancy Pelosi, Anthony Weiner, Jay Rockefeller…they have all reacted almost violently to the public option being slowly withdrawn from the table. It shows where liberals are. They realize what this is: their one and only chance to get a single payer system that liberals have dreamt about for the last several generations. And they all know that the public option is the foot in the door for a single payer option. Weiner stated that Obama would lose 100 votes in the House if he removed the Public option. That is about the emptiest threat ever. Democrats are not going to abandon Barack Obama…it simply will not happen.
However, what liberals fail to understand is that the public has already walked away from single payer. Look at seniors. They are rebelling against the AARP and other organizations because of their tacit support of the Obamacare proposals. A majority are now against a government solution to health care. Yes, people want affordable, dependable, and accessable health care. They just don’t want huge, intrusive government intervention to achieve those goals.
Individually, everyone on the left from the President on down is losing credibility on the health care issue. In the latest IBD/TIPP Poll conducted Aug. 4 to 8, the president gets a C- for his handling of health care policy. Democrats give him a B-, Republicans give him a D and Independents a C-. Independents, a constituency the president needs, who give Obama a GPA of 1.54 on the issue — a grade below C — are closer to Republicans who give him a failing GPA of 0.85 than to Democrats with a GPA of 2.67. It gets worse for Congress. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters nationwide think Pelosi and Hoyer are wrong when they say the passage of health care reform will mean more affordable coverage for all Americans. But 36% share the Democratic Congressional leaders’ view and believe health care will become more affordable if the plan passes. Eighteen percent (18%) are undecided.
Here is the misconception: this is a center-right country. We on the right have said this for years, and liberals though they had turned the tide with Barack Obama’s huge victory last year. Not so:
Conservatives outnumber liberals IN ALL 50 STATES. Only the District of Columbia has a majority of liberals. Now, that doesn’t mean that these people are all Republicans…we know for a fact that many of these people voted for Democrats and Barack Obama in 2008. But it does tell you that ideologically, Americans are conservative. You can see that in polling of independents, as stated above; they are trending closer in views of health care with Republicans than Democrats. And the public option, well, is NOT conservative. Heck, 54% now would rather have NO REFORM than the Obama plan. The public is moving away from liberals, and they are too blind to even realize it. It is so bad that Democrat Congressman are hiding from their constituents…because frankly, they have no intellectual way of handling their questions.
I still believe that the public option is dead. But that never stopped liberals from fighting. And understand…the reality of the environment is still against us. Democrats hold supermajorities in Congress and can pass whatever they want. It may have huge repercussions in 2010…but they could do a lot of damage on their way out.
It is not time to lay down and claim victory. It is time for us to understand what we have achieved, and how much work we have in front of us. Democrats will come full force in September, and I am sure many will try to revive the Public Option, especially in the House. It is our job to keep up pressure on moderate Democrats and Republicans. The Public option, for us, is a nonstarter. And anyone who supports it should be considered someone who is not worthy of representing us ever again. We need to continue pressing our message, that we want reform, but only reform that will give us more choice, and will keep government out of our lives as much as possible. We are winning the argument…it is no time to stop now.
We’re always going to have to “fight the fight” because it’s the natural order of things if history is an indicator. We have an advantage in our country that no other country enjoyed; we have a wonderful constitution and a constitutional republic instead of a democracy which is nothing more than mob rule. I will make a prediction; the WOMEN are going to save our wonderful republic when push comes to shove. They seem to be the only ones with the “gonads” now. As a “type-A” personality male (Alpha male) I’m embarassed yet encouraged at the same time. It seems like the only ones out there standing their ground without compromising or trying to please everyone are the WOMEN! Michelle Malkin, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Monica Crowley and others are taking the fight to the opposition, standing tall and proud. I see the men crying at press conferences, wavering on their views on anything politically sensitive, politically “calculating” or “compromising” everything and I’m wondering what the hell happened. Jesse Ventura may not be someone with which I agree on many issues but he’s the type of male politician with the pure “guts” to believe in something and stand by it (like the women I cited)that I would like to see fighting on the right. There’s a couple of men out there like Rush, Sean, Mark and a few others but they’ve been categorized, trivialized, and castrated to the point they can be dismissed as right wing nuts, racists, fascists or something else. Don’t worry girls! We, the men, will be right behind you while you’re fighting for our very essence as a country!
Every chance you get, speak with the facts and with conviction to expose the liberal lie. Our health care is a privelege,not a right, that is being doled out like candy to the people who choose to do little with their lives and refuse responsibility for themselves. I work in the health care profession and more than not, people expect everything for nothing. This health care is NOT free. It is on the backs of all the hard working Americans. And, is being stolen from the future. Expose the lie.
Liz: I don’t think the opposition cares because we have reached a point where they feel that they can do what they want and are willing to take a little “heat” for their party because it won’t matter in the long run. Thank you for doing what you do and telling the truth about people’s attitudes that you encounter because those of us that understand you pay for everything, nothing is free, and we have individual responsibilities for ourselves and our families… there are so many out there that don’t. We have to get rid or each and every politician that votes for this thing because they know and WE know that it’s about control over citizens of our Republic and has little or nothing to do with actually providing better healthcare. If it did then there would be a lot of things addressed that they are ignoring.