Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It's the Democrats, Mostly Blue Dogs

FireDogLake has a petition urging the House to stay in session until health care reform passes. Jane Hamsher reports the petitions will be delivered by Mike Stark to the House (on video) next week. Why is this important and why should you go over and sign the petition?

Let's face the reality of the situation on health care reform. There is no question that the GOP is bound and determined to defeat health care reform. They see it as a test of the Obama presidency and its failure will be a failure of his presidency. We understand that and that is really no change from what the GOP has been doing for years and years and that is put politics ahead of what is right for America. In spite of the insanity spewing from idiots like DeMint, Steele, Rush and the rest, the hard truth is that Republicans don't really have the power to stop health care reform regardless of their rabid desire to. The Democrats control both houses of Congress and the Presidency. Democrats either pass health care reform or own the failure completely...no excuses. So, here's a simple message for Democrats. Don't go home for vacation without a health care bill:
You know what happens if they allow health care reform to be delayed until after the August recess? These Members go home, they get hit by hundreds of TV ads from the murder-by-spreadsheet industry, and they get phone calls from angry voters about "socialized health care." Then they come back, scared to pass real health care reform, so they end up passing health care reform that may not include a public option or a national insurance exchange. The stakes are very high this week.

If major health care reform fails then President Obama and the Democrats own that failure completely. Delaying action only works for the opponents of meaningful reform.

The problem is that the Blue Dog Democrats are being stooges for the GOP. What is amazing is that they don't seem to realize it. We all know that that the Blue Dogs come from very conservative districts but they should realize that if the Democrats take a big hit on health care reform and lose progressive momentum then the Blue Dogs will feel it first in their own districts. By following the GOP line on health care reform the Blue Dogs are giving the conservatives much more energy and therefore actually hurting their reelection chances. They are setting themselves up for a big loss. The thing is, the Blue dogs are getting what they want, "pay-go" legislation. That's what they've been asking for and that will give them the budget conservative credentials they need in their conservative home districts. What they need to do now is get on board with the President's agenda and solve the American health care crisis. Otherwise, the Republicans can just relax, spew their bull shit and let the Blue Dogs do their dirty work and defeat meaningful health care reform. What is so hard to understand?

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