Ted Kennedy's senate seat, that's why. And a heavy dose of politics. It seems that the late senators dream of health care reform could be doomed by the very seat that he held. That's right, the Massachusetts senate seat could go to, now hold your breath, a REPUBLICAN. (Insert sound bite of Janet Leigh's scream here) In a state that not only has been the bastion of Democrats since the name Kennedy became synonymous with the party on the left, Dems outnumber Reps by a 3-1 margin. Scott Brown, the Republican who dares to take the seat, has vowed to ix-nay the said health care thingy, thus taking away the senates filibuster proof margin. And this doesn't sit well with POTUS. You see, the election is tomorrow, and given the approximate 1 to 2 week inauguration period, if Brown wins, he could be sworn in just in time to vote against the package that the majority of the American people don't want. But the administration is having none of that. They want to rush it through before the public, via Scott Brown, can have its say. So basically, they want to deny the will of the people in order to save face. They are even planning on a contingency just in case Brown gets sworn in before they can stick it to us. They are going to accept a version of the bill they didn't want, in a concession to House Democrats, just to, again, save face. That's right. They will push through a bill that they have so vehemently argued against in the past, just to, whew I am getting tired of repeating myself, SAVE FACE. People, there is a damn good reason why we have a 2-party system. It is to deny exactly what is taking place here. Giving too much power to any one group, bad idea. Check and balances, good idea.
So, here we are on the brink of the most important event in the brief career of Obama, and the politicians involved, worrying about their own re-election chances however far down the road, would rather cover their own ass than do what the people actually want. President Obama is just the latest in a string of Presidents that has campaigned to try and bring the country together. But it is clear, at least in my living memory, that we haven't been more apart.
Interesting take on the poll, Guitarman. But, I ask you to consider the possibility that what that and other polls like it show is NOT that the American public is not in favor of health care reform bill...even this one, which has, granted, garnered a lot of controversy, albeit almost exclusively along party lines. I think the American public, in general, is in favor of health care reform. What I think the majority of Americans are sick of is the bickering and dickering that's been going on with both the House and Senate versions of the health care bill.
ReplyDeleteYou also bring up a good point about our system of checks and balances within our government. There are two things I would like to point out. The first is that that system was installed not so there would be a "balance" between the House and Senate. Indeed, there very rarely can be in those situations. No, the system of "checks and balances" refers to the three branches of government: legislative, judicial and executive. That system is there so that none of the three branches of government has more power than the other.
The second thing I would like to point out is that, from what I've read and seen in the media and from my personal and professional contacts, the Republicans all seem hell-bent on preventing EITHER ONE of the health care proposals in the House or Senate from passing. Even if some kind of compromise is reached, it's going to take a couple of non-hyper-conservatives from the Republican side to vote in favor of a compromised health care bill to get anything passed. Otherwise, the Republicans will still have enough votes to kill any possibility of reform...well, then nothing will happen, regardless of what happens in Massachuesetts with Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.
But, according to the poll you cite, that's exactly what the majority of the American public wants to have happen. So, I ask you again: after all the cantankerous and raucous debate ("YOU LIE!"...remember that guy?) with both the Democratic and Republican parties with SPECIFIC regard to the proposed health care reform, isn't it possible that the American public just wants our elected officials to reach some kind of compromise...to stop yapping about reform and actually DO SOMETHING about it? That's the way I see it.