By John W. Lillpop
Although recent news concerning ObamaCare has generally been to the president’s liking, that may change dramatically after the senate has officially approved its 2,000+ page monster and said monster is scheduled for reconciliation with the equally goofy and bloated House version.
As former New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra once observed, “It ain’t over ‘till its over!” Yogi was talking about a baseball game, but the same admonition may apply to health care reform as well.
The level of dissatisfaction for both bills, from both the left and right, is palpable. Changes that would involve abortion, the public option, and other hot button issues could push the entire mess into a sink hole on Capitol Hill.
And Maxine Waters may play a pivotal role in ending Obama’s foolish fairy tale. As reported on thehill.com, in part: (1)
“One of the public option's most vocal supporters in the House on Monday stressed she and her colleagues would fight "as hard as we possibly can" to ensure its inclusion in the final healthcare bill.
”The government plan is sure to be one of the most difficult debates to resolve once House and Senate lawmakers confer and combine their bills early next year. But Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) made clear last night that other liberal Democrats would not accept the Senate's decision to strip its bill of both the public option and a proposed expansion of Medicare.
"A lot of us will be fighting and encouraging our conferees to hold tight for the public option," she told MSNBC. "We haven't given up on that. That's extremely important to a lot of people — not just Democrats, but I mean Americans throughout this country.”
Meanwhile, the abortion language in the senate version of ObamaCare may bring the House of Cards down to earth with a huge crash. As also reported, in part, at the hill.com (2):
“House Democrats who oppose abortion rights "will find it very difficult" to support the Senate's healthcare bill, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) warned Tuesday.
”Stupak, the author of an amendment to the House healthcare bill that would forbid federal subsidies from supporting insurance plans that cover abortion, said that he and the 63 other Democrats who supported that amendment were skeptical of the Senate's language on abortion.
"They know that the 64 Democrats who voted with the Republicans on my amendment, we feel strongly that we cannot support a healthcare bill which goes past the current restrictions, which is no federal funding for abortion," Stupak said on Fox News, referring to Democratic leaders in the House.
“Stupak, who has said the Senate's language on abortion is "unacceptable," warned that the Senate's provision and other elements of the bill could cost Democrats support for final passage of health reform in the House.
Sell-out Senator Ben Nelson has also signaled that his YEA vote for the bill would be in serious jeopardy should the Pelosi abortion fanatics succeed in tinkering with the language that finally sealed the deal for him.
All of this back and forth bickering between Democrats is going to provide a significant test of Obama’s ability to cajole, heal, and lead.
Another Yogi Berra truism may be helpful to our befuddled president: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”
(1)http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/73313-rep-waters-house-liberals-to-put-up-tough-public-option-fight
(2) http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/73389-stupak-house-abortion-rights-foes-may-oppose-senate-bill
