It's time for Congress to pass the health care bill. The votes will be there. They will fall in to place. I promise that there is no vulnerable Democrat in the House who will want to stand up and oppose health care after seeing what progressive groups are doing to do to Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas. If a group of Democrats is going to vote to stop health care reform, they may as well save their time, buy a shovel, and dig their own political grave.
Democrats won't get credit from Republicans for voting against the health care bill. Period. Republicans who oppose "socialize medicine" will not vote for a Democrat because they vote against a health care bill. They will vote against ALL Democrats, regardless of their vote. The Republican Party has gotten to a point where they are grandstanding on voting against any health care reform package. The fact that people like Bart Stupak have even been INVOLVED in the process implicates him, and will make anyone opposed to health care reform vote against him.
The Republicans are lying about when reconciliation has been used. Democrats on the left and right are threatening to vote against the bill for a variety of reasons. How many times have Dennis Kucinich, Bart Stupak, Paul Ryan, and Joh Boehner agreed on a piece of legislation? If Kucinich and Stupak are the demise of health care reform, it will end their careers, as well it should.
Democrats need to move on. They need to act on jobs and energy legislation, which, according to Lindsay Graham, could have a big push forward in a bipartisan direction right after health care finishes.
Democrats need to stop playing politics. Kucinich thinks he's representing his base by threatening to oppose the health care bill, but the only thing he could do that would infuriate the left is to sink what would be our last chance to get this done. If he votes this down, it won't mean starting over with a public option. It will mean reform never getting done.
The left can take care of their electoral lives by delivering on their promises. Three of their central promises were health care, jobs, and energy legislation. If they are able to get all of those through, Democrats in tough districts and Democrats in safe districts don't have to worry about individual votes on tough legislation, because voters resonate with results. These results, thankfully, also happen to be the right things for our country.
Fight for the votes, put Democrats on the spot, let the Senate pass the bill with a simple majority, fix the bill so it's a bill that DEMOCRATS can be proud of and Republicans will bemoan not involving themselves in, and the voters will reward you.