Today I received a letter from Jon Vogel, director of the DCCC.
Joseph--
The Republican strategy to defeat health insurance reform is simple: poison the debate with lies and then drown us out by yelling and screaming as loud as they can.
Fair enough. But the remedy Mr. Vogel suggests is that I contribute money to the DCCC. My response is on the flip.
Dear Mr. Vogel,
I agree with you that the Republican attacks on health insurance reform are heinous. However, they really don't matter; we can pass comprehensive health care reform without a single Republican vote. The reconciliation process can be used to get the bill through the Senate with only 50 votes (plus Joe Biden's), and President Obama will happily sign it. The millions of Americans who then obtain affordable health insurance will then become reliable Democratic voters for decades. This is why the Republicans are doing their utmost to block any reform.
The obstacle is not the Republican party. They are powerless. The obstacle is that some Democrats are allying themselves with the Republicans and the insurance industry and are blocking meaningful reform. It gets worse. Many of those Democrats are in unsafe seats, and the DCCC will be forced to spend substantial funds defending their seats.
What this means is that you are asking us to fund the obstructionists, and you are using Republican obstructionism as a justification for this!
Now, I do want to help the Democrats. So I'll make you a deal. The day a strong health reform bill passes the House, I will send a contribution to the DCCC. When a strong health reform bill passes both houses, I will send a large contribution to the DCCC and the DSCC; it will be the biggest political contribution of my life, I promise.
But I'm not going to reward you if you don't get the job done. You have the power. Lean on the dissident Democrats and tell them to stop sabotaging the party. Use carrots, use sticks, do what you have to do. If the number of Americans without insurance goes from 50 million to near zero, your job in 2010 will be easy and you'll pick up dozens of seats. If no bill passes, we're talking 1994.
Thank you.