So let’s turn now to the aftermath of the vote. Unlike another columnist who, for the first time in memory, is quoting the opposition to pretend his point is made, I will use someone who is actually respected and knowledgable. Charlie Cook. The New York Times has called Cook, “…one of the best political handicappers in the nation”. The Wall Street Journal’s Al Hunt once referred to Cook as “the Picasso of election analysis,” while David Broder of The Washington Post has written that Charlie Cook is “perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races.”
“Their choice was to pass bad legislation or prove they’re incapable of governing,”
The Democrats are in full damage control. And they will be for the next seven months. They have lost the health care debate for the last year, and there is no reason to think they can change it in the next seven months. The public has seen how the sausage is made, and they will never want to swallow. The bi-partisanship was all on the “NO” side of the argument. All Republicans and 37 Democrats said so.
For Democrats, the next several months will be spent trying to hold down their losses, which makes passage of the gargantuan healthcare bill all the more audacious — especially when the chief animating force in politics today is a profound mistrust of Washington and anger over the expansive growth of government, embodied by the rise of the “tea party” movement.
The Democrats are hanging their hopes on people being handed the goodies and forgetting all about the mess in the kitchen. The “benefits” so laudibly showered upon the masses by their Progressive leaders will be enough to turn the rabble into cake-eaters. Or so they hope. But it’s hard to benefit politically just because things don’t turn out as bad voters feared.
Consider last year’s economic stimulus package, which experts say prevented a steep economic downturn from being a whole lot worse. Obama and Democrats have received little credit for their rescue effort; to the contrary, the stimulus and serial bailouts that began under President George W. Bush have only fueled populist anger. – Charlie Cook
Health Insurance may, no, should prove as sacrasanct as Social Security and Civil Rights, over time. Certainly being prevented from getting health insurance because of a pre-existing condition makes little sense. Losing your health insurance because you get expensive treatment is wrong too. But the butter on that bread comes with mandates, controls, government bureaucracy and unnecessary and insulting freebies to every left wing special interest the Obama administration could find. And when people find out the government they’ve looked to for solace drops them faster than their private company, and wastes their money easier, they are really going to be angry.
Not to mention when it finally sinks in that Health Insurance doesn’t equal medical care… or that preventive care equals more expensive care… or that the only thing that government can control is spending, not cost…
Oh, and not since the Great Depression have we had such rudderless leadership give us a full year of unemployment greater than 9 percent. And while during the 2001 recession (courtesy of the Clinton Administration) , just 9 percent of job losses came from small business, 45 percent of job losses have come from the current one. These small-business owners have felt the brunt of this recession and are exceedingly reluctant to bring on new people during such uncertainty. So Obama has lost just the people he needed to rely on for new hiring.
When all that education sinks in, it will take a generation to undo the damage for Democrats. And the Democrats will lose a whole generation of middle class and small business voters, just like they lost the South. And they still haven’t gotten that back, 46 years later.
Yeah, “damage control” LOL, read it and weep, Repugs;
From The Huffington Post;
As soon as health care passes, the American people will see immediate benefits. The legislation will:
Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
Lower seniors’ prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;
Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
Require plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.
By enacting these provisions right away, and others over time, we will be able to lower costs for everyone and give all Americans and small businesses more control over their health care choices.
I don’t care what nice things three people have said in the past about Charlie Cook. I could find four people complimenting the insight of David Frum if I wanted to. As long as I’ve been paying attention to politics, Cook seems just a lazy purveyor of the common beltway wisdom. EG:
the chief animating force in politics today is a profound mistrust of Washington and anger over the expansive growth of government, embodied by the rise of the “tea party” movement.
No, the SHINIEST OBJECT on TV these days is the teabaggers (with their Hitler Obama signs and yelling of “nigger and “faggot” at Congressmen.) But they sure do not represent what the majority of Americans think and feel, especially when we get to see the REALITY (or rare effective Democratic messaging) rather than what FOX and Rush spew out all day.
As Quinn said in her only wise words last night, “Time will tell.” We Democrats are feeling good about going into November with this bill behind us, and its effects to be felt by the people – and six more months to work on the economy and jobs, reform immigration, and improve the health bill. Bring it, losers.
far left vern is drinking the kool aid . you are feeling good about going into nov . YOU FAR LEFT CROOKS JUST PASSED A BILL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DID NOT WANT.. 56% of most polls said they did not want this . and your feeling good . now you want to add giving amensty to the illegals haaaaaa you guys are DEAD IN NOV .