Obamacare Now the Law of the Land

It's official:  As I lamented in previous posts for over a year, the Democrats with all the votes needed in both houses of Congress have now made Obamacare (what is it anyway, does anybody really know?) the law of the land, and all the procedural parliamentarian votes in the aftermath have passed both houses of Congress. 

But never despair -- a sleeping giant has been awakened.

Yes it's disheartening to watch the Congress work its will in direct opposition to the majority of the elecorate, but it's never too late to correct our mistakes as I pointed out earlier.  What is most lamentable is that we have witnessed the unscrupulous tactics of this administration and the congressional leadership impose a vast socialist entitlement program across the board against the will of the people.  Healthcare in this country accounts for 18% of the total GNP. 

As we watched the kabuki play unfolding, as we listened to the pros and cons being debated, as our Congress argued over dozens of versions of the basic package, how could anyone keep score?  Do you know what's in the bill?  I don't even pretend to know.  I oppose it strictly on fiscal grounds in a time when America is roiling in $12 trillion in debt, a staggeringly high percentage now of the GNP.  Will our international creditors continue to write checks for our worthless paper?  Time will tell. 

The tragedy for Democrats this year is that they are blind to the rage that is brewing among the electorate.  That rage is being directed now at incumbents of both parties.  If Utah's caucus results are what we think they are, even Bob Bennett, once thought to be a reliable conservative, is now being eaten by his own.  It has nothing (or little) to do with his conservatism, as the national media would have you believe.  Rather, it has to do with his being an aged incumbent whose time is far spent in a year when incumbents are as popular as rocking chairs in a convention full of cats. 

There was little doubt in my mind that some form of Obamacare would pass.  I was never confident that the opposing forces could do anything but stand together in a toothless block and scream from the rafters.  In many ways, Congress has reaped and will yet reap in this current election cycle exactly what it has sown.  They sowed the wind, and now they will reap the whirlwind. 

Votes for the legislation were freely bought and sold in the public marketplace.  Don't worry, they were assured all along, the ends will justify the means.  We have an elitist view in the White House that this government by the people, for the people, and of the people has no clue what they need, so we will supply it for them.  We know better than the rest of you what's good for you.  Now we will wait and see.

Indeed, as feared, President Obama did prevail with healthcare reform.  Jim Matheson will pay a price in his own party here in Utah, but his popularity after his "no" vote rests today at a comfortable 68% among Utahns.  How ironic that Bennett trails badly in his party despite his vocal opposition to the bill.

Despite my dismay at the bill's passage, I was heartened by the groundswell of opposition raging in the hearts and minds of my little precinct's caucus the other night, and now sweeping throughout the land -- an awesome force whose intensity and resolve we had not seen in decades.  As difficult as it would be to maintain the high energy of this resistance through November and beyond, there was still plenty of reason to be euphoric for the moment about our prospects for a sea change in Washington in November.

Those who boldly declared they were "returning to Washington" after the caucuses the other night, are even today backing off their bold declaration of mounting a repeal movement.  Full repeal, they are now realizing, might not be feasible.

At best, this current Congress is quickly considering itself a lame duck Congress.  They have to know in their heart of hearts they are toast on both sides of the aisle.  Pelosi and Reid are paying an enormous price if their popularity numbers of 8% and 11% respectively can be believed.

And thus it begins -- the early caucus results in Utah will yet prove to be the early warning.  The tsunami will reach Washington D.C. in November with decisive sea-changing consequences.