If any political candidate had an opponent who was trailing in the polls with only 42 percent support, while the incumbent was garnering over 54 percent, the race would be declared all but over. The political obituaries would already be written for the contender, who was destined to be defeated.
And yet, that is precisely the position ObamaCare finds itself in today. The most recent Rasmussen poll finds 54 percent opposed to the radical legislation, with only 42 percent favoring it. In fact, every single Rasmussen poll since September 13-14 has had opposition polling at 50 percent or greater, and support for the bill has not risen above 46 percent for almost two months.
If ObamaCare were a candidate running for public office, its political obituaries would already be written.
The most recent gauging of public opinion was after Senate and House Democrats presented their final versions of the legislation. But nobody has yet written the bill’s political obituaries. No matter how opposed the American public is to this abomination, which could cost over $2.1 trillion over ten years once fully implemented, its ghoulish progenitors insist keeping it alive.
Politico’s Jeanne Cummings writes that the bill is “inexorably” making its way through Congress. “Ready or not,” writes the Hill’s Jared Allen and Mike Soraghan, “House Democratic leaders say they are pushing for a healthcare vote this week.” In other words, Congress is Hell-bent on making government-run socialized medicine the law of the land.
Of course, floor votes on ObamaCare in both chambers have been “all but inevitable’ since before the August recess. The deadline for voting has been pushed forward so many times that even astute observers have lost count—and none will be surprised if it is pushed into next week or the week thereafter. Why?
Quite simply, because Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid do not yet have the votes they need. Now, the question that should be asked of the troika as to on when a vote might be is, “How about never?”
And the people asking that question should be the members of Congress who have as much at stake, with the 2010 election cycle imminent. Said ALG President Bill Wilson last week, “Members of Congress are now faced with the ultimate moral dilemma: Do they represent the people of their districts, who do not want their health care taken over by government, rationed, and watered-down, nor their taxes raised, the budget broken, and Medicare cut to pay for it? Or do they represent Nancy Pelosi, who does want all of those things?”
In short, will members represent the will of their constituents, or those of the political elite in Washington who seek to force their will upon the American people?
One thing is for certain. If there was any propensity for members to listen to the people and show some spine in opposing the political establishment’s unsustainable expansion of government, the outcome of this legislation would not be in doubt. The political obituaries of ObamaCare would already be written. And that, in the final analysis is precisely how it should be.
