11.11
I signed off on the blog post from 11/7 like this:
And, by the way. In the end they will probably stick all the abortion stuff back in there anyway. It’ll only stay out long enough for a vote. Then they’ll amend it right back in.
And, of course that’s exactly what happened:
A House Democratic leader said Monday she’s “confident” controversial language on abortion will be stripped from a final healthcare bill.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the Democrats’ chief deputy whip in the House, said that she and other pro-abortion rights lawmakers would work to strip the amendment included in the House health bill that bars federal funding from subsidizing abortions.
“I am confident that when it comes back from the conference committee that that language won’t be there,” Wasserman Schultz said during an appearance on MSNBC. “And I think we’re all going to be working very hard, particularly the pro-choice members, to make sure that’s the case.”
So, the language banning funding of abortion is coming out of the bill. Surprise, surprise. But, that’s not what you should be taking away from this whole scenario. If you see how all of this played out and then walk away thinking the Republicans and Blue-dogs got duped then you’ve played right into what they want you to believe. The dirty little secret is that the Republicans want this Obamacare bill just as much as the Democrats. They just need to appear as if they don’t for the purpose of re-election. Don’t believe me? Is that just too much to swallow? Well then, do a little thought experiment with me.
Imagine that Obamacare passes the Senate in a few weeks and it’s as bad as everyone fears it will be. It’s got the public option, mandatory death consultations(death panels), abortion funding, buy mandates, etc., etc. Of course, none of this goes into effect until 2013/2014. That’s always been the case. Now, imagine that because of all this, the Republicans win back control of the House and even the Senate(unlikely) in 2010. Can you convince yourself that they would immediately repeal Obamacare? Can you? No. Of course they won’t. Did they repeal anything Clinton did when they took control in 1994? Nope.
You see, they could have scuttled the entire House vote this past Saturday night by voting “present” instead of a “no.” But they didn’t do that. They used the abortion thing as cover just as much as the blue dogs did:
Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said he plans to buck right-to-life groups and his own party and vote “present” on a Democratic amendment that would prevent federal funding for abortions as part of health-care overhaul legislation.
Shadegg is doing so in the face of strong support from groups like National Right to Life and Americans United for Life, which say they will count present votes as not supporting its pro-life agenda. He said this was a “bad call” for pro-life organizations and he vowed not to “give a vote away” to right-to-life groups for what he considers a very flawed process. Shadegg contends that Pelosi is using this amendment to wrangle votes for the overall bill.
“(Nancy) Pelosi is speaker and she’s pro abortion every minute of every hour of every day as speaker,” Shadegg said in an interview with POLITICO Saturday evening. “This is a vote to help her move the bill forward.”
He said he expects at least four or five other Republicans to join along. Sources say Republican Reps. Phil Gingrey (Ariz.), Steve King (Iowa), and Scott Garrett (N.J.) are likely to also vote present.
The Arizonan has been bickering all day via email with his Republican colleagues. He said he feels House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) circumvented his conference by announcing he would support the amendment, brought by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), without consensus from GOP lawmakers.
“This is a gut-wrenching issue for a lot of people,” Shadegg said. “But I won’t support Pelosi’s bill, which is not pro-life at all.”
Shadegg saw it for what it was. Organizations like NRL can’t see beyond their own nose. They should have stayed out of the whole thing. Instead, their lobbying gave cover. And in the end it allowed the very thing to happen that they claim to be opposed to. Regardless, the thing to take away from all this is that – like I’ve said a thousand times – you don’t have anyone in Washington that cares about you. You must understand this. The whole system is built to make you think that you do. But you absolutely do not have a “representative” in D.C. I’m sorry, but that’s just the truth.
