In my January 21 post, I wrote, "Where is today's Gang of 14, defusing the partisan logjam over health care reform by negotiating key differences on reform between Democrats and Republicans?" In last Friday's post, I wrote, "I would like to see McCain or some other bipartisan senators (including Lieberman, Landrieu, Lincoln, Byrd, Nelson, and others), band together to block the use of reconciliation for major policy issues." I focused on Democratic senators there, but on the Republican side, I would include Graham, the Maine senators, Scott Brown, and perhaps the retiring senators from Ohio and Missouri.
The Hill today reports that McCain is calling precisely for that. In part, his tactical strategy is to attack the use of deep Medicare cuts to fund the new health insurance subsidy (versus shore up a rapidly deteriorating trust fund position which Obama and the Democrats have refused to address, a far higher priority by any objective standard). I really haven't addressed some of the unrealistic assumptions underlying CBO projections in part being used to rationalize the new health care entitlement (I've sarcastically compared the cynical use of CBO projections by Democrats as kaleidoscope budgeting--you keep on massaging budgets, spending cut here and tax hike there, do the hokey pokey and turn yourself about, find the lost change in the couch, and exploit unspecified but unrealistic or incomplete data assumptions until you get the results you want.) Even if you ignore the fact that any Medicare cuts should be used to shore up a $38T unfunded mandate, not to fund a new federal entitlement, the assumption that you could maintain Medicare cuts on an indefinite basis just as the majority of the baby boomers start to retire and join the Medicare program seems to require a leap of faith.
I was reading some comments scoffing at the idea, saying effectively there's nothing of value that the Republicans can offer to centrist Democrats, particularly considering the fact that the latter will be primary targets during the next few election cycles. No, the point is that the centrist Democrats ironically could be fighting for the future of their party, not to mention the place for moderates or independents in the Democratic Party. Keep in mind what goes around, comes around. If the GOP regains majority status in the House and/or Senate, the Pandora's Box the Democratic leadership is unleashing will come back to haunt them. For example, I fully expect, even if the GOP can't repeal the act with over 40% Democrats in the Senate and Obama in the White House (I suspect if the fall elections are swept, the remaining Democrats and President may back off), they could reallocate funds during reconciliation to pay down the debt.
Political Potpourri
It was interesting to see Sen. Lincoln (AR-D) release a recent campaign ad rebuke of Democratic leadership, noting her opposition to the health care public option and cap-and-trade, taking a Scott Brown tactic of stressing independent thinking and state over party interests. Well, Senator: no matter how much you spin your votes over the past year (including party line votes on last year's outrageous spending bills), those are no diamonds in the rough.
More Democratic scandals are resulting in resignations and retirements from Congress. If you recall the troubling case several days back of Amy Bishop, the UAH professor accused of murdering fellow faculty members after her application for tenure was denied, background research on her revealed the circumstances involving the death of her younger brother which Amy and her parents claimed resulted from an accidental shooting. A key figure was William Delahunt (MA-D), at that time the district attorney whom decided not to prosecute Bishop despite troubling evidence. Brown carried the district with 60% of the vote in January, meaning that Republicans have a decent shot at turning one of the solid blue Congressional seats.
Then there's the case of freshman bisexual Congressman Eric Massa (NY-D), representing a traditionally Republican district, whom barely edged out the incumbent; Massa has been under scrutiny over alleged sexual harassment of a male aide; Massa announced today (after withdrawing as a candidate this fall earlier this week) that he will resign his seat Monday. Ironically, that might be a setback for those against the Democratic Party Health Care Bill during the upcoming reconciliation battle because Massa was one of the original dissenting Democratic votes.
For those keeping score, I believe the current score is something like 17 Democrats retiring vs. 19 Republicans. The big difference is that a number of GOP Congressmen are leaving to run for higher offices (e.g., US Senator or governor, such as Kirk in Illinois and Castle in Delaware).
Political Cartoon
Scott Stantis symbolizes the effects of the Democratic abuse of power on future bipartisan efforts through the unprecedented use of budget reconciliation to muscle a partisan health care "reform" bill through Congress. The idea that you are going to impose a federal government-imposed bureaucratic micro-mismanagement over traditional state regulation because you can't afford the time to get reform of one-sixth of our economy right, given limited resources and an overextended public debt, is a sham, unconvincing rationalization no thinking person can regard as reasonable.
Quote of the Day
At one glance I love you With a thousand hearts.
Mihri Hatun
Musical Interlude: Second Phase Careers
Paul Anka, "Hold Me Til the Morning Comes" (an all-time favorite)
Neil Sedaka, "Solitaire" (a song I've sung dozens of times over the years)
Donny Osmond, "Sacred Emotion"
