It's hard to believe that anyone could misread the events of the past week as badly as the Democrats, but Susie Madrak manages to do just that. Her list of things President Obama did wrong regarding Obamacare is almost exactly backwards.
First, the problem wasn't that Obama delegated creation of Obamacare to Democrats, but that he set up goals, then changed his mind about them. Originally, he said he wanted to Give all Americans access to affordable, comprehensive, portable health coverage and "Implement Reforms to Help Lower Costs and Improve Health Care Quality." But what has come out of committee are plans that would severely tax businesses, forcing more Americans into the misnamed "public option."
Then there's the usual Democrat whinging about "bipartisanship." The truth is that Democrats haven't wanted Republican input or compromise on any of the legislation, shutting out all but a handful of Republicans from the process. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tried to ram through legislation before the August recess and didn't care about bipartisanship then. We've been treated to Democratic threats of reconciliation and utter contempt for anyone voicing concern about health care reform. And pity the fate of the Blue Dogs...
Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi need to come up with new strategies, since kissing their collective Blue Dog butts only inflates their already-swollen egos. Someone (Obama?) should lay down the law. Put them in the worst offices, cut their staff budgets until they cooperate.
It seems to me that punishing Congressmen for doing the will of their constituents is the best way to help themselves into the minority. Blue Dogs vote with Nancy Pelosi 70% of the time. It's difficult to argue that they are much less than lap dogs with a voting record like that.
Madrak, as most Democrats, is misinterpreting what has happened concerning health care. Democrats could have reformed the system through changes in regulation and tort reform. Instead, it's easier to blame everyone but themselves and their own arrogance.
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