"We will not make a decision to pursue reconciliation until we have exhausted efforts to produce a bipartisan bill," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid. "However, patience is not unlimited, and we are determined to get something done this year by any legislative means necessary."The Wall Street Journal is reporting the possibility that the Dems may take the most noxious parts of ObamaCare, split them from the rest of the bill, pass them through reconciliation, and leave the rest of the bill to a Senate vote. That would be the parts they believe Republicans would pass, such as insurance regulation.
Why in the world do they think this would be a smart move? It's simply broadcasting that they don't care what the American people want.
And if the public option is forced in through reconciliation, as well as those other offensive parts of ObamaCare, why would ANY Republican vote for any of the rest of it after that, regardless how sensible?
This move to split the bill would, in my opinion, cement the fate of those Democrats who are already in trouble of looking for a new job in 2010. In many cases they will then be voted out. On an issue as important to the American people, such a personal issue, reconciliation is a particularly nasty way to go. We say that ObamaCare is a "takeover" of the American health care system, but reconciliation puts "takeover" in a new context. It signals that those you sent to Washington don't give a damn about your interests, they care only for politics and protecting "their president" and his agenda.
ObamaCare is sinking like a rock in the polls. The more Americans learn about it, the more they hate it. There still is no single plan for anyone to look at; each plan in the works right now has different features and problems. The outcry at the town halls has shown American resistance to this takeover. Washington would do well to listen, rather than to bully this down our throats.
(H/T: Memeorandum)
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