Why Democrats Want Health Care! Even If It Destroys Them

Byron York in the Washington Examiner has an excellent column on why the Democrats seem suicidally bent on passing the highly destructive government seizure of health care. They want to do this despite all logic saying that it will hurt them badly next fall in the upcoming Congressional election.

The rationale is that they'll lose those seats any way so...WTF! According to Mr. York's source, they

But they have found a way to view going ahead anyway as the logical thing to do, at least in their eyes.

You have to look at the issue from three different Democratic perspectives: the House of Representatives, the White House and the Senate.

"In the House, the view of [California Rep. Henry] Waxman and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi is that we've waited two generations to get health care passed, and the 20 or 40 members of Congress who are going to lose their seats as a result are transitional players at best," he said. "This is something the party has wanted since Franklin Roosevelt." In this view, losses are just the price of doing something great and historic. (The strategist also noted that it's easy for Waxman and Pelosi to say that, since they come from safely liberal districts.)

"At the White House, the picture is slightly different," he continued. "Their view is, 'We're all in on this, totally committed, and we don't have to run for re-election next year. There will never be a better time to do it than now.'"

"And in the Senate, they look at the most vulnerable Democrats -- like [Christopher] Dodd and [Majority Leader Harry] Reid -- and say those vulnerabilities will probably not change whether health care reform passes or fails. So in that view, if they pass reform, Democrats will lose the same number of seats they were going to lose before."

I suspect that their calculus of the election says they'll lose maybe 20-30 "marginal" seats in the House, and perhaps 2-3 in the Senate. They've arrogated to themselves that belief that this is best for the country, and damn public opinion, "We know best".

"They think the facts are being distorted and the public's being told a story that is not entirely true, and that they are in Congress to be leaders. And they are going to make the decision because Goddammit, it's good for the public."
...

At that point -- Republicans will love this -- he compared congressional Democrats with robbers who have passed the point of no return in deciding to hold up a bank. Whatever they do, they're guilty of something. "They're in the bank, they've got their guns out. They can run outside with no money, or they can stick it out, go through the gunfight, and get away with the money."

That's it. Democrats are all in. They're going through with it. Even if it kills them.

My opinion is that the Democrats will be hurt far more at the polls next fall then they realize. The hard left programs that this President and Congress has presented and are trying to ram through over public opinion and objections will likely cause a 100 seat loss in the House and 16-18 in the Senate. But what is worse, this bill will cost at least three times what they Democrats are projecting...just as Medicare has cost 3-4 times it's original projected Costs. In that vein, yesterday Christna Romer agreed that,

We are going to be expanding coverage to some 30 million Americans. And, of course, that’s going to up the level of health-care spending. You can’t do that and not spend more...While the legislation initially would increase government spending on Medicare and Medicaid, Romer told reporters, the total cost of the two programs would begin to diminish by 2019, when the legislation would deliver an estimated $14 billion in savings. Lower payments to Medicare providers would translate into savings for Medicare beneficiaries, who have seen some premiums double over the past decade, rising at three times the rate of Social Security.

This will come back to haunt them next fall. Even at the best projections, the government will collect taxes/fees/fines for four years BEFORE the seizure of health care will go into effect...meaning that to break even in the first 10 years, they have to tax us for 4 years...it's a shell game that the Democrats in Congress think the public is too stupid to see through...and that will cost them far more than they believe.

Mr. Obama is supporting this insanity on the belief that since he's not up for reelection next fall, that he can push this through with impunity. But if his Congressional majority, which at best case scenario now is a bare majority of 218 seats, in fact is crushed...then his chances for reelection fall within that of Jimmy Carter in 1980. My biggest fear is the price to be paid by the country while a vast new entitlement program that we can't afford to pay for will be implemented and never EVER repealed.