Deterrence: the Republicans’ only weapon

Politico has an article about the procedural hurdles the Senate Republicans are planning to employ aimed at barring various fixes in the bill from being passed by reconciliation if it gets to the Senate. As I’ve said before, I can see this strategy working as the ultimate deterrent directed at those House members who insist on fixes; if the fixes are doomed in the Senate, the House members won’t vote for the bill in the House, and the bill dies. But if the deterrent fails and the bill is passed by the House and gets to the Senate, what good will it do for us, the opponents of the bill, to get the fixes taken out at that point? In order to get to the Senate, the underlying bill must, as far as I understand it, already have been signed into law by the president. So, whether the Republicans succeed or not in getting some fixes taken out of the bill once it reaches the Senate, the bill at that point will be the law of the land. Yes, a lot of House Democrats will be devastated at having voted into law a bill containing measures that are unacceptable to them; but what is that to us? Obama will have achieved his government takeover of America.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 19, 2010 12:00 AM | Send