Some of the nation's top political commentators, legislators and intellectuals offer insight into the biggest story burning up the blogosphere today.
Today's question:
What have we learned about the leadership of President Barack Obama and other Democrats through the push to pass healthcare reform legislation?
Hal Lewis, professor of Physics at UC Santa Barbara, said:
Nothing we didn't already know, but it has been driven home. The Obama crowd will coerce, buy, or steal enough votes to accomplish their ends, utterly without conscience or any sense of history or concern for the future. And will call that leadership. What is really remarkable is that the Republican party itself has many contesting subspecies, but the Obamacrats have been so flagrant, tone deaf, and dictatorial that even the Republicans are unanimous in their opposition. And this from a President who was elected on a promise of a transparent and bipartisan administration. The only people he has in fact treated with deference and respect are our foreign enemies---the folks who clamor openly for our death.
Justin Raimondo, editorial director of Antiwar.com, said:
We've learned that the Democratic leadership style is artless, while the President's is spineless. We've learned (again) that lobbyists rule Washington, and that the Democratic party is ultimately beholden to the Big Triumvirate -- Big Government, Big Business, and Big Labor.
Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager of Health Care for America Now, said:
In the past two months, since the Massachusetts election, President Obama and Democratic leadership in both houses have shown true grit. They’ve demonstrated the depth of their commitment to health care reform. It is clear that the President, the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and a great many Democratic members are deeply, personally committed to passing legislation that will make health care a right, not a privilege, in America. It is clear that they understand the historical significance of this. And it is clear that the President understands his ability to deliver on the promises of 2008 hangs in the balance. We’ve also learned that while the President’s instinct is to reach out to interest groups and reach across the aisle, he’s willing to take on corporate and political opponents if they are blocking his agenda.
A. B. Stoddard, associate editor and columnist, said:
If President Obama didn't learn during last year's protracted, chaotic and tortured health care reform debate that he needs to take a stronger hand in legislative battles if he wants to meet his substantial goals, then he and his presidency will continue to struggle.
The latitude Obama gave to the Congress with his very first bill out of the gate -- the economic stimulus program -- set the tone for the health care debate and allowed the process to languish while a divided party fought with itself. The Democrats may have majorities in the House and Senate, but there are conservative majorities in the House and Senate when you include Republicans. The Democratic party won numerous Republican seats in 2006 and 2008 and is holding on to fragile control with these swing seats that are now in play. Watch what happens on health care -- the liberals will have to come home, no matter how disappointed they are in the bill, because too many conservative Democrats will have to vote no.
Next year, should Democrats keep control of the Congress, they will have fewer seats and more divisions. Think the 52 Blue Dogs were difficult to corral this year? Just wait until their group gets smaller. If Obama thinks he can let Congress take the lead in every debate, after losing a year and much political capital in the health care battle, then he will use up his first term migthy fast.
David Schanzer, director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, said:
If the bill passes, what we’ve learned is that the Democrats understand that to be taken seriously as a governing party, they have to show the ability to govern effectively. You cannot be taken seriously if you campaign on an issue in repeated election cycles, announce this as a priority, start down the legislative path with much fanfare, have your president stake most of his political capital on the issue, engage in a national debate, use the platform of a joint address to Congress – and then fail to follow through.
There may be electoral consequences in November if caricatures of what the bill actually will do continue to dominate public opinion. But the electoral consequences of not passing the bill would be enormous: Democrats would have managed to anger friend and foe alike, undercut their own popular president, and made a mockery of themselves as a serious party capable of governing.
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said:
There is no amount of taxpayer dollars that Obama/Reid/Pelosi will not spend to buy votes to extract more money from taxpayers to buy future votes to do same ad infinitum.
Alan Abramowitz, professor of political science at Emory University, said:
Steven Pearlstein said it best in his column in today’s Washington Post:
“Over the past year, anyone following the health-care drama has been tempted, at various points, to question the judgment and the leadership of President Obama, his staff and the Democratic leaders in Congress. Should they succeed this weekend, however, there is no disputing that it will be a remarkable political achievement, the result of a combination of focus, determination, flexibility and patience not seen since the early Reagan years.”
John F. McManus, president of the John Birch Society, said:
The push to pass healthcare teaches us that high officials in our government will use the enormous clout they possess to reward or punish those who don't "play ball." Recall the promises made to Nebraska and Louisiana for Senate votes. We can only guess what Dennis Kucinich was promised on the Air Force One flight with the President. Others are being assured that federal benefits will flow their way if they vote as requested.
When government gets as big as ours has become, rewarding "team players" with federal dollars, appointments, etc. can be expected. That it's completely wrong - even subversive of good order - isn't considered. Most citizens shrug their shoulders in frustration about this ongoing practice - if they even think about it.
Government is best when it is close to the people. This is one reason why our federal government was given so few powers. James Madison explained this feature of the Constitution in Federalist #45:
"The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce.... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."
The lesson that should be learned from the current push for unconstitutional federal takeover of healthcare is that less government, not more, is the proper course for America.
During his recant foray into Ohio, President Obama told a rally, "We are only a few days away from fundamentally transforming America." That's what he said, and the healthcare measure he wants enacted will indeed transform America toward socialism. Members of Congress who support the President's call for "fundamentally transforming America" are joining with him in betraying their constituents, and betraying America.
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