Steyn: Why Democrats risk control … health care is “worth it”

Mark Steyn had a pretty good editorial over on Investors.com on Friday. He agrees on my point that Democrats in Washington are perfectly willing to give up control of Congress if they can get federal health care legislation.

Steyn writes

So there was President Obama giving his bazillionth speech on health care, droning yet again that “now is the hour when we must seize the moment,” the same moment he’s been seizing every day of the week for the past year, only this time his genius photo-op guys thought it would look good to have him surrounded by men in white coats.

Why is he doing this? Why let “health” “care” “reform” stagger on like the rotting husk in a low-grade creature feature who refuses to stay dead no matter how many stakes you pound through his chest?

Because it’s worth it. Big time. I’ve been saying in this space for two years that the governmentalization of health care is the fastest way to a permanent left-of-center political culture.

It redefines the relationship between the citizen and the state in fundamental ways that make limited government all but impossible.

Right on the money Mark is…

I swear I wrote about this exact topic – the Democrats perfectly willing to give up control of both Houses in exchange for health care – just weeks ago but I’m unable to find it using our search feature.

Wait, here it is… I did a search on “veto proof” and found it. From Feb. 20…

So what’s their end-game at this point?

  1. Pass health care at any cost. If they loose the House and Senate so be it. Pay off those who lost seats with comfy federal jobs or high-paying lobbyist gigs.
  2. Their real fight – once Democrats loose Congress – will be to ensure the president can hold a veto-proof majority when and if the new Congress repeals the health care legislation.
  3. Hold the line for the next two years through 2012, by that point we’ll be stuck with declining health care quality and service. Health care will be moving towards single payer. Congress will be moving to increase the debt ceiling from the current $14 trillion to more than $17.5 trillion.
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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

3 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on March 8, 2010 at 4:15 am

    Add to that the fact that they have to save some face when they come to the elections with a handful of failures (jobs, economy, diplomacy, terrorism, Gitmo etc.).  They need something to show they have been "working" and prop up their base, even though this predictable failure will only rear its ugly head years down the line.



  2. cherwin on March 8, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    Healthcare effects all Americans on a very personal level. So taking over this aspect of our lives is a huge step in the direction of complete government takeover.

    Once you have the power to make decisions about life or death for other people, you have them in your control.

    There is nothing else that can take away so much from so many. 



  3. Anne-EH on March 9, 2010 at 11:15 am

    President Obama either knows or does not care to know that the Democratic ship is heading towards an iceberg called the November 2, 2010 midterms elections.



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