Whose Waterloo Will It Be?

by Dee Newman

Three quarters of the American people including many moderate Republicans want healthcare reform and recognize that the present system is both outrageously expensive and inadequate and that the United States must bring its healthcare costs under control and make it possible for every person in the country to have access to affordable healthcare.

Though conservatives who oppose healthcare reform have very little public support, that has not stopped them from trying to derail the President’s healthcare plan. Delay, obstruct and lie. It should be obvious by now that they will do anything and say anything to kill it.

They do not care about the well-being of the American people. They care about themselves. They believe if they can prevent President Obama from successively reforming healthcare in the United States, then they will be able to reverse their political misfortune and eventually retake the House and Senate.

The Republican Senator from South Carolina, Jim DeMint, has said, "If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him."




Their spinmeister, Dr. Frank Luntz, has told them “the best anti-Democrat message” is – “the Democrats want to put Washington politicians in charge of YOUR healthcare . . . Say no to a Washington takeover of healthcare and say yes to personalized patient-centered care.”

The following are a few examples of the language Luntz has suggested for them to use:

* The plan put forward by the Democrats will deny people treatments they need and make them wait to get the treatments they are allowed to receive.

* In countries with government run healthcare, politicians make your healthcare decisions. They decide if you’ll get the procedure you need, or if you are disqualified because the treatment is too expensive or because you are too old.

* Frame progressive legislation as a “government takeover” of health care, resulting in bureaucracy, delay, and loss of patient choice.

* Tell people they personally will experience lower-quality care, and that government bureaucrats will make choices for them.

Sound familiar?

Luntz has also told congressional Republicans that “fear” is always a good tactic to use and that “the idea that a doctor or a hospital would deny care that they need is what frightens them [the public] the most about a Washington takeover.”

Enormous amounts of money are being provided by the private insurance industry (1.5 million dollars a day, that's right, a day) to both Congressional Republicans and Democrats, as well as, their friends in the media to characterize the President’s healthcare reform plan in a negative light.

And, from where do you think that money comes? That's right – from the American people, from healthcare premiums. That's one of, if not, the major the reason why health care in this country is so damn expensive and why for-profit health insurance companies deny so many claims. They spend so much money lobbying congress and funding their political cronies that there is precious little left to cover the public's healthcare needs.

To know who is being bought and paid for – follow the money. And then, vote the scumbags out of office.

As a tactical matter, Republicans cannot succeed on their own. They simply do not have the votes. Though their plan is obvious, they have no way to effectively implement or accomplish it.

Democrats are finally in a position to reform healthcare.

The only way that Republicans can stop them – is for Democrats to help them.

Those Democrats (the Blue Dogs) who have been working at cross purposes with the White House and their Congressional leadership would do well to remember that the American people will not forget their opposition to healthcare reform, as well.