While the Senate is the place to kill ObamaCare, to understand the dynamics of what must happen next it is important to understand the impact of the Stupak amendment to stop federally funded abortions on getting the bill passed in the House. Read: It Was The Stupak Amendment, Stupid. Before embarking on that journey, it is important to realize that winning this battle will require strategical voting, something many in the general public do not understand. It will require voting in a contrarian manner or at least voting present on an amendment if the vote itself will result in the death of the bill in question. To the point:

On the day of the vote on PelosiCare in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democratic Leadership was at least 10 votes short of passing the bill because anti-abortion Members could not accept the prospect of government-funded abortions. Thus, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi allowed a vote on the Stupak Amendment, which provided anti-abortion Members a political fig leaf to hide behind even though as a matter of fact the amendment would be ineffective in preventing government-funded and assisted abortion once a government-run healthcare system is in place.

It is unambiguously clear that it was passage of the Stupak, anti-abortion amendment that allowed PelosiCare to pass the House. Had House opponents of PelosiCare had their strategic wits about them, they would have voted “present” on the Stupak Amendment, and it would have failed, thus taking down the entire Pelosi bill with it.

Defeating the entire Pelosi health bill by voting “present,” and hence defeating the Stupak Amendment would have been a far more effective way to prevent government-subsidized abortions than tacitly endorsing government-run healthcare by supporting a supposed prohibition on government-supported abortion that will be totally ineffective once a government-run healthcare system is in place. No legislative language will succeed in preventing bureaucrats, politicians and judges from finding a way to support abortions once the government takes over healthcare.

By supporting the Stupak fig leaf, anti-abortion forces snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on PelosiCare. That is what happens when single-issue politics run by Washington-based organizations strong arm Members of Congress. Four of the five leading anti-abortion organizations all issued conditional key-vote letters indicating they would score the vote on final passage of the Pelosi bill only if the Stupak Amendment was not adopted. In other words, these four groups told Members of Congress they would give them a free pass to vote “yea” on a government takeover of healthcare as long as it contained the anti-abortion fig leaf. Read the organizations’ letters: Family Research Council, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, and National Right to Life Committee.

Read the whole thing, including the quoted Rush Limbaugh monologue. The Republicans knew full well Pelosi’s plan but voted in the name of political expediency to include the Stupak amendment, all but guaranteeing the passage of healthcare legislation in the House. So twisted is the current legislative process that if the general public were truly aware of the posturing and cowardice of our so-called leaders it would sicken them. As Dr. Larry Hunter wrote to me in an email:

If you haven’t already figured it out, most everything that goes on inside Washington is pure posturing and self-serving. Most of these jokers would rather have the issue to raise funds on than win the battle. I knew asking people to engage in strategic voting would be a heavy lift, and it looks like it is going to be beyond them.

The reason politicians are able to pull off these shenanigans is the complete ignorance of many, but not all, of the public to the importance of strategic voting and our unwillingness to hold accountable those whose interests are self-serving, thereby aiding the enemy in the full-scale assault on our liberties and ultimately destroying this country. We must be willing to hold them accountable for their cowardice. Even more guilty are the tools of the Democrats, the Family Research Council, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Americans United for Life, and National Right to Life Committee. The reader may be shocked to read these groups are tools of the Democrats, but a useful idiot is a tool until they decide to quit being useful idiots.

These groups should know better than anyone how strategic voting works – they lobby Washington all the time – but rather than play their cards correctly and take the time to educate their members, they would rather play right into the hands of Nancy Pelosi. As far as strategies go, our choice is either to pressure these groups to do what is in our best interests or be forced to quit considering them our strategic partners. As far as I am concerned, until they make the effort to do what is right for this country and perform the painful task required of them to educate their membership, they are as bad as the liberals trying to ram ObamaCare down our throats and I would hesitate to call them allies. Either they lack the will to do what is right, or their leadership is truly ignorant, and neither option is comforting.

The next fight in the Senate will require the same type of strategical voting – both on government funded abortion and on the public option. Many of the same players listed above will again play the role of useful idiots while spineless politicians cower in the corner at the very thought of strategic voting. It is the people who must pressure them to do what is right for this country – there will be no hiding behind skirts.

Based upon the above, it is clear how to defeat ObamaCare in the Senate.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 11:38 am and is filed under Health Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.