Leftist Democrats declare war—on us


Ezra (“Just Do It”) Klein

Ezra Klein at the Washington Post, a relentlessly upbeat promoter of Obamacare, says that while the substantive changes in Obama’s revised version of the bill are modest,

the impact on the politics will be tremendous…. The release of this plan marks the end of the Scott Brown election and the resumption of the health-care process.

Here is Klein’s closing passage. Notice the sentences I’ve bolded:

That, of course, is the real plan: finish the bill. The Democrats have been roundly criticized for mishandling the politics of health-care reform, and those criticisms have often been justified. But there’s a larger truth, too: The only way to win this issue is to pass the bill. Their biggest mistake has been letting the legislation take so long. But that doesn’t mean they’ve failed. They fail if the bill fails, and they succeed if the bill passes. The progress has become slow and halting and unsteady, but they are still moving toward the finish line.

Look at them again:

That, of course, is the real plan: finish the bill. The only way to win this issue is to pass the bill. They fail if the bill fails, and they succeed if the bill passes.

It’s no longer mainly about reforming or fixing health care. It’s about winning at all costs, so as to maintain Obama’s and the Democrats’ power. These Bolshevik types are willing to wreak any amount of torture and damage on the American people in order to have their way. They don’t care that a large majority of the people oppose and fear what they are doing, and in fact have already resoundingly rejected it. They don’t care that the individual mandate is grossly unconstitutional. They don’t care that the reconciliation process by which they plan to pass the bill represents an outrageous and unprecedented distortion of normal legislation rules. They will have their way.

True, the Democrats are not literal Bolsheviks, not violent revolutionaries. But the essence of their remorseless mentality, of their will to supremacy, of their hatred for the existing order of society and of their desire to overturn it through the illegal and immoral exercise of pure power, is Bolshevik.

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Mark Jaws writes:

Is there any VFR reader who doubts that if given the right circumstances—a wrecked economy, a collapse of order, and a disarmed white populace—that the Democratic leaders would NOT ACT LIKE the Bolsheviks of 1917 and set out to impose “social justice” by disbanding the military and unleashing the likes of the MS-13 and the Bloods and Cribs on those segments of Middle America which refused to roll over? Thank God for our Second Amendment—which stands as our Bailey Building & Loan against the incessant power grabs of Mr. Potter.

LA writes:

Various indications still tell me, as they have since even before Scott Brown’s election, that the Democrats do not have the votes, even among their own House and Senate members, to pass the bill. But Klein expresses what the Democrats want to do, if they could.

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Here is a selection of the huge number of readers’ comments following Klein’s article:

I think the administration and democratic leadership are still tilting at windmills. Regardless of political fallout, they can “fix” the Senate Bill using reconciliation, to make it line up with the President’s proposal. At that point the Senate will be done. BUT …

The Pelosi has to get the amended version of the senate bill passed by a simple majority of the house. Unless the Democrats have been taking a lot of lessons in party discipline, I am very doutfull that is going to happen. They barely passed their own bill, and that was with the support of Stupak’s group. He doesn’t seem happy with the Senate’s abortion compromise. If his group says “no”, there is no passed legislation, reconciliation or no reconciliation.

Posted by: WEW72 | February 22, 2010 11:55 AM | Report abuse

This is Obama’s 90-foot shot at the buzzer. He’s trying to rig the game and change the rules, but Americans are on to his con. If Democrats go for this bill, which effectively nationalizes health insurance and health care, they’ll lose control of Congress and most governors’ chairs next fall. As I blogged this morning:

President Obama today announced that instead of creating a public option, government run health insurance organization, he wants to effectively take over private health insurers by imposing price controls and regulations that would destroy the companies and eliminate any real competition in the health insurance markets. He’s going for all or nothing.

By nationalizing insurers, Obama effectively would impose wage and price controls on physicians,

nurses, medical group practices, hospitals and other health care providers. If Congress imposes ObamaCare on insurers, they will have to pass the price controls and new regulations on to providers. And providers will reduce access to care to America’s sickest and most needy patients.

Under ObamaCare, health insurance and health care markets will become even more politicized, and every medical and health care policy will reflect the political needs of politicians, unions, providers, medical supply and device makers and insurers.

Patients will have virtually no say about their insurance or care, because they aren’t organized and don’t have high-paid lobbyists making contributions to the politicians who will be looking out for number one—themselves.

What’s most frustrating about this is that insurers are asking for it. Wellpoint’s politically tone-deaf announcement that it was raising some Blue Cross and Blue Shield premiums by 39% gave Obama the opening to propose price controls.

People are angry enough about those rate increases and about a lot of other dumb things insurers do to almost demand that the insurers be put out of business.

What they forget, of course, is that when government takes over, every decision is all about politics, not about doing what’s right for people who buy insurance and need timely, high-quality health care services. www.businessword.com.

Posted by: donaldjohnson | February 22, 2010 12:17 PM |

Will the lemmings REALLY follow Barack, Nancy and Harry right off the healthcare cliff? Is no one in the Democratic party paying attention to the sentiment of the public? Did they not just watch a Republican win Teddy’s seat, running AGAINST the very healthcare “reform” effort they are now going to try to push through? This is absolutely political suicide but the Dems refuse to pay attention.

Posted by: eddie_the_k | February 22, 2010 1:14 PM |

Ah Ezra, the Berkeley sophomore writes with salivating bias for BHO’s new new new socialist tripe of Care. The Plan is an outline, not even in bill form so the CBO cannot even score it. When San Fran Nan and Hoyer already are scoffing at it, and public comments already see this as an arrogant way to go round the Pubs once more as well as any common sense Dems who are left in that radical group in Congress, one knows that this may get the MSM and flacks like you all hot for change but this is just another gimmick of leftist nonsense which will try to fool the voters again. My bet is, it will not. Now Feb. 25 is another fraud and Ezra, you need to point that out if you are honest. It is a trap. And Pubs should put their own Care Plan out on CSPAN, Fox, Talk Radio, twitter, Facebook and forget you guys and the WH radical crew. Americans will then finally see an opposite free enterprise plan rather than a European socialist try again. C’mon Ezra. Tell us that you really are just in the bag for this radical!!!!

Posted by: phillyfanatic | February 22, 2010 1:29 PM |

Ezra, your continuing optimisim for Obamcare is too cute. Just keep telling yourself that everything will be OK over and over and maybe it’ll help dull the pain when Obamacare come crashing down. One thing you never mention is that the Democrats still have to pass Obamacare in the House for it to become law. You keep talking like House passage is a given. The more liberal version of Obamacare only managed to get 220 with 218 votes needed for passage. The lone Republican to vote for the House version of Obmacare has already said he won’t vote for the Senate version so there’s one vote gone. Bart Stupak says he won’t vote for the Senate bill because it weakened his abortion restrictions and Neil Abercrombie Congressman for Hawaii and Obamacare supporter has resigned to run for governor. With those three votes gone Obamacare drops below 218 and that doesn’t include others in the House who realize Obamacare will cause them to lose their jobs in 2010 and will consequently vote against it. But keep thinking those happy thoughts Ezra.

Posted by: RobT1 | February 22, 2010 1:36 PM

Yes, the Republicans are obstructist—thank goodness. We the people out here are grateful.

Don’t blame them for this mess … the Democrats could have passed a bill at any point without a single Republican last year. The public was assured of the Democrats attitude: “we won.” They didn’t have to work with Republicans and refused to. The fact that they closed out any meaningful dialogue is why the bill has no tort reform, no appreciation for the fact that insurance companies are businesses with actuarial tables that they use to be profitable and stay in business, and is just a huge new entitlement favored by the far left.

The Democrats are crazy to just make demands of the free market with no thoughts of the consequences….

Posted by: BeckyinMo | February 22, 2010 1:51 PM |

Rahm-rod it through! Ignore any opposition! The President knows best and the Congressional Leadership knows better than any citizen what’s good for this nation and its people!

Keep it up…. the cliff’s edge is only a little farther ahead….

We are not lemmings, or sheep. Come November, you will find out exactly how disgusted we are, though.

Posted by: Wanderer13 | February 22, 2010 2:18 PM |

That’s right! Ram it through and the he!! with what the majority want, even thogh we cannot afford it!! Has everyone had a glimpse of what the White House placed on their site?

Their heads will be reeling after they force it. This president sure is determined to be a one term president.

The good news: We will have a brand new Congress after the November elections!

Posted by: SeniorVet | February 22, 2010 2:28 PM

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Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 22, 2010 11:51 PM | Send