No Abortion Deal - HCR

The Hill: Reports that the liberal House leadership has failed to do a deal with conservative Democrats who oppose government funded abortion. On this issue you have to salute the liberal leadership, they have kept to their agenda, they want the Government to fund abortion, its the right policy if not the right politics. Lets see if the Conservative Democrats fold and support health care reform or bury the Obama Agenda. As stated the Speaker Pelosi would not be foolish to go for a vote if she did not have the votes to pass health care reform. If we take that as a given we then move on to the politics after HCR is passed. The Democrats will really have to sell the Act, they have some plus points to sell, the Act bars the insurance companies from saying NO to people with a pre- existing condition or it prevents a cap on the cost of cover. Also it cover more Americans than the Republican Plan. On the liberal side its a move to fund abortion. Thus we come to the negatives, it will cost one trillion dollars, that's TRILLION folks. The cost of getting of insurance wont go down, there will be tax hikes and also Americans will be forced to buy Medical cover. Thus the Republicans will have one message, " Repeal ObamaCare ". The political cost to Democrats could be the loss of the House and the Senate in 2010 and the White House in 2012.

Government should fund Abortion - House Leadership

Fox News: Reports that the liberal leadership in the House has shown it true colours, a leading House Chairman has stated that the US Government should pay for abortion. On this issue this blog agrees with liberals, the US Government should pay for state abortions, the liberals if they are going to pass health care reform should mandate that the US Government should either fund abortions or pay a majority of the cost. If your a real liberal Democrat you should demand this in any health care reform package. In the 2010 Mid Term Congressional Elections the voter will be the final judge of the issue.

HCR Vote - Next Week

The New York Times: Reports that there will be a vote on health care reform next week, the NYT writes the following, " As early as Thursday or Friday, Democrats said, they would first pass the health care bill already approved by the Senate in December,..." In other words Speaker Pelosi has found those missing 9 votes, the Speaker would not push for a vote if she was heading for defeat. Thus expect passage of health care reform by the House and Senate, the the Republicans can go in to the Mid Term Congressional Elections with one slogan, " Repeal ObamaCare ". Then after the passing the Act the Democrats will have to sell the Act, lets see if Obama has that skill or have American voters tuned out the President.

Gallup - Obama at 46% Approval

Gallup Daily: Reports on the latest nosedive in the Obama approval ratings, the latest Gallup Daily tracking poll has Obama on 46% job approval and 45% disapproval. Thus since taking office in January of 2009 President Obama has shred 22% off his approval ratings, the Gallup Poll for the first few days of the Obama Presidency had Obama on 68% approval and 12% disapproval. The one issue that has shrunk the Obama appeal has been health care reform, the near obsessive quest for health care reform has split independents from Obama, thus the recent Republican Governor and Senate wins for Republicans. The political strategy of the Obama White House is to push health care reform through and then hope it appeals to the US voter. The Republicans will run with one message in 2010, repeal ObamaCare. If the Republicans take the House and the Senate the Obama Agenda is dead on the Hill. This would force Obama to move to the centre or be a very lame duck President for two years. The next question after that is will Obama have the political skills to be the new Bill Clinton, Clinton lost the House in 1994 and thus had to move to the centre of American Politics, he won a second term in 1996. Lets see if Obama can go beyond his ego.

March 18 - No HCR Vote

Fox News: Reports on the comments by Speaker Pelosi that there will not be a vote on health care reform on March 18. As reported in the Hill and WSJ the Speaker does not have the votes, the question is will she have the votes she has now after the Congressional recess. It can be postulated that Speaker will strong arm her Democrats to vote for the Obama health care reform bill, but the cost will be that the Democrats will lose the House in the 2010 Mid Term Congressional Elections.

Barone on HCR

WSJ: The shrewed political expert Michael Barone has a look at how the votes stand in the House when it comes to health care reform, Mr Barone states the following, " Are there enough votes in the House to pass the Senate's health-care bill? As of today, it's clear there aren't.... " As stated in previous post the Hill has the Democrats down by nine votes to pass HCR. The question that the House and Senate leadership must ask is what happens after the recess, will they have the votes they have now or will they find that voters have changed the mind of House members and of Senators. Also we come to the question of trust, can the House trust the Senate to change the House passed Bill when it comes to their side of the expected deal, in that deal the House will pass the Senate version of health care reform and then the Senate will fix any problems that the House has with the Bill. Lets recall there is the 2010 Mid Term Congressional Elections, will Senators want to spend weeks and months on health care reform, or discuss bills that will make them popular, yes the House is wise not trust the Senate. Lets see if Speaker Pelosi can control the House, the Speaker might not be in total control of events. That's the fun of politics folks.

Dems 9 votes short - HCR

The Hill: Reports that the House Democratic leadership is 9 votes short to pass President Obama's health care reform bill: The House leadership and the Oval needs to get this bill passed before Congress goes in to recess, if they don't push the Bill through now they might find that Congressmen/women after talking to voters in their districts decide that its better to throw Obama over the cliff than take the political fall themselves. Thus Obama needs to show that he is the new LBJ, this is about naked political force, the Oval should pressure, buy, force Democrats to support the Obama Agenda. This week could decide the Obama Agenda in Congress, a good win and Obama will have power on the hill, a lose and he is another Jimmy Carter.