A Rasmussen poll now has the Republican Party as more trusted on the health care issue than Democrats. That's insanity. The Republicans have killed all efforts at health care reform before, they're killing it as we speak and they almost exclusively represent the interests of the private insurance companies who want to continue to jack up our rates (private insurance premiums have gone up 119% in the last ten years).
So, how are they winning? Because the Democrats brought a scalpel to a gun fight. The Republicans have attacked and attacked and attacked. Meanwhile, what has been the Democratic response? They're reaching out in a spirit of bipartisanship. Why?
Someone says they're going to bite your head off and will almost all vote against you, what is your purpose in continuing to reach out to them? They say they will under no circumstances vote for real health care reform with a public option, which you have said many times before is essential. They are in essence saying the only way they would vote for your bill is if they were positive it sucked. So, why do the Democrats continue to help the Republicans in killing this thing?
It is the unbearable weakness of Democratic being. They cannot find it in their hearts to strongly argue for their own position. To be fair, in this case, the weakness is mainly Obama's. The White House has clearly indicated this weekend that they have already given up on the public option -- and they're still begging the Republicans to work with them. Frankly, it's pathetic.
This continual and monumental weakness has a price. When the other side makes its case and you don't -- you lose. The Republicans never hesitate to make their case, even if they have to lie, cheat and scaremonger to do it. While the Democrats are scared of their own shadow. Obama is playing patty-cakes out there in his town halls. When is the last time he threw a real punch?
Grassley says Obama wants to kill your grandmother. And what's the price for this hideous slander? Obama promises he'll continue to reach out to him. Why? Are you looking for advice on how to kill grandma? The guy just spit in your face. What are you going to do about it?
This isn't a matter of being pointlessly tough so we can feel good. We're losing the debate! It's because our leaders refuse to make the case. The other side might be vicious liars, but at least they have some lions who are willing to fight. Who do we have? Obama and his team of weaklings?
Now, I see why they didn't ask Howard Dean to be part of this administration. It's because he doesn't fit in. He's a fighter. He believes in real health care reform and is willing to fight for it. Just compare Dean's appearances on television and Sebelius's. It's a joke. When is the last time you saw her make a forceful and convincing case for the public option, or for that matter any part of the reform proposal?
It looks like they didn't ask Dean on board because they never believed they were going to do the public option in the first place. They didn't want a guy in there who was a believer. They got bucklers because they wanted bucklers.
A friend of mine just asked me why we don't hold this issue up for a vote with the public. I said we did; it was called the 2008 election. We gave the Democrats the White House, an overwhelming majority in the House and a filibuster-proof Senate. How much clearer did we have to be?
The problem is that the party we voted for isn't the party we got. At some point there has to be a price for not ever delivering on your promises, and worse yet, not really trying very hard. If Obama continues to bring the weak sauce, there has to come a point when we begin to wonder why we elected him as well.