Vox Populi AfterChat – 1-22-10

OK I’ve being a little disingenuous to make a point.

Probably in 100 years I would not vote for a Republican unless I get Alzheimer’s but I think it’s important to stress what 2010 and 2012 will look like if Obama does not pass his signature issue. I know we have our disagreements on how to get there, but we must get there. Nine months of Obama’s presidency would have been spinning his wheels if healthcare does not pass. Not passing healthcare is simply not an option and makes the future that much worse for Dems and most importantly for us. Every other big issue is predicated on the success of healthcare as well because if it is not passed there will never be enough support to pass other meaningful pieces of legislation.

This is my favorite semi-recent protest band “Rage Against the Machine – Wake Up”

To throw out another hypothetical how many Repubs in the Senate right now would vote for the Senate bill maybe with a few changes if McCain was president Rather than Obama?

Wow I just went to Huffy a second, don’t ask me why save for the main it’s all about the banks. I just don’t get it people.

One of the reasons I blame Obama less than most is because in the process he’s the only Dem or pundit or whoever that was invoked in the process that never did anything to slow it down on purpose. He revived the whole effort after teabag August only for people to say he was being too visible. He never said wait for this or that or step back. He tried to set down due dates. He definitely did not say kill the bill like our progressive friends.

Yes some of his actions slowed down the process like trying to get Snowe on board sure. But again most other players did much more to slow down the process than that. Pelosi could have rammed through the House bill before the August recess or at least by the end of September for example but wanted to wait for the Senate. Reid could have seen that he did not have the votes for the PO and got it done in the Senate earlier. The legislator legislates and I think it got further this time because a bill was not rammed down by the white house. Dems hate passing pieces of legislation they don’t own in Congress. Republicans are different in that regard.

In fact now is the only time I saw Obama say slow down. That’s why I know anything new is impossible. He knows that if the House does not pass the Senate bill there is no other way to pass healthcare reform.

The biggest thing that happened to the legislation is that after the Senate passed it Democrats got complacent just like a team on the one yard line of a football game and first and ten they thought the last part was inevitable. If they had realized they had two weeks to consolidate the bills it might have been different.

Again I’m serious if Romney runs on healthcare reform in 2012 I will vote for him. The fact is the GOP over demonizes government but progressives over demonize business as well. Other great healthcare systems that are 100% private run well in countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland and Singapore even at much lower cost and with better service than ours.