One More Analysis of Health Care Reform

Health care reform looks like its dragging on President Obama right now, and it probably is.  However, this is still March, and the President is going to look like a genius in November.

The Republicans, in addition to not doing things which benefit quotidian Americans, also manage to not benefit themselves.  Should they continue at this rate, we may actually see a political party succeed at self-immolation. 

John Boehner with his "HELL NO!" rant is living on borrowed time.  While his district is conservative, there is a very good chance that a pro-labor Blue Dog could take the seat from Boehner in southwestern Ohio.  It would be comparatively easy.

First of all, there is the link to unions and jobs.  Southwestern Ohio is still a place with a long legacy to organized labor.  It is also a place which has overlap into the Cincinnati television market, which means that Mitch McConnell is also on the table as a recognizable face.

Link Republican opposition to card check, McConnell's support for NAFTA, and conflate Boehner with both.  This could turn into a very ugly, destructive campaign for the man with the unnaturally orange skin.

The Tea Party movement is also sitting at about 14:55 and counting on their fifteen minutes of fame.  The key Republican strategists know it, and they're also easing their strongest candidate quietly back toward the center.  They need Palin, which also means that they have to protect her.

Sarah Palin is going to be quietly disassociated from her natural constituencies in the Tea Party movement.  She makes her face time at the shindig in Searchlight, throws a couple of screeds on twitter, and over the next six months she is going to have to be a new Sarah. The Republican party cannot afford the old one for more than about 60 more days.

Republicans know that there is no possible way that Health Care Reform can be repealed before people start benefitting from it.  Once an entitlement gets started, there is no turning back.  And once enough people have benefitted from HCR, it is going to be over.

The strategery is to call congresscritters and scream profanities over the telephone.  Other bright ideas include shades-of-kristallnacht vandalism, and attempted sabotage of congresscritter homes.  The former is a strong image for Democratic candidates. The latter is just embarrassing, because they got the wrong house.

A super-genius in Nashville is sitting under a felony reckless endangerment charge after trying to drive over a car with an Obama sticker with his SUV.  This is not the kind of publicity that will further the objectives of a political movement.  Indeed, even people who would find the objectives worthy tend to be turned off by this behavior.

Radio hatemongers Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh are weakened.  They failed to deliver for their business interests.  Glenn Beck's caustic delivery will be the first to go: he isn't delivering on public opinion, and he isn't delivering ad dollars for Fox.  Beck may be lucky if he is not delivering pizzas by the end of 2011.  

Limbaugh and Hannity may survive, but there is a litany of mediocre right-wing talkers who will see their opportunities suddenly reduced.  The Rusty Humphries and Hugh Hewitts of the world will discover their outlets becoming more profitable leasing themselves out to religious broadcasters.  Or even better, they will wind up serving an ethnic community.

One looks forward to the day when Lou Dobbs' radio home in Atlanta starts broadcasting in Spanish.  Play Salsa and Bachata, please.

The future holds the following: A Teabagger in a restaurant acknowledges the image of President Obama, and states, "There goes the rotten so-and-so who brought socialist medicine to America." All it will take is the first waitress to pour a pot of coffee in his lap and respond, "Really? All I see is the man who saved my grandbaby's life."


That is the final break. At the moment, we have a population who cannot believe that the Tea Parties did not stop Health Care Reform from becoming reality. They are not happy, but it is a mentality which has question as to the outcome of a pro wrestling match where the opponent is "Bob from Syracuse."  They got what they did not want, and they aren't coping well.

Democrats are still a bit dazed, but somehow one imagines that they will get used to this idea.  After multiple attempts, the United States has managed to develop a health care system which works for its patients as opposed to a private insurance industry.  It may not be everything the hard core of progressivism would have preferred, but it is a big step in the right direction.

As for the hard core of progressivism goes, how many people think that there is not at least one of those private insurers who hasn't cooked the books?  And who precisely do you think will wind up managing the health care of their customers when the fecal matter hits the ventilation device? Chill out, the Wolf is coming, and he's got Single Payer in his trunk.

There may be a dozen people in the country who will not think its a good idea when all of this happens.  There will not be the money available to sway public opinion in that proximate future.  Indeed, there may be a great deal of industry support for single payer by then.

To borrow a bit from John F. Kennedy, Mr. Obama, your opponents just blinked.