PrintNovember 22, 2010
Why Obama Should Lead the Charge to Repeal ObamaCare
Little doubt remains that Barack Obama is a left-wing ideologue in the strictest sense of the term. The lessons on pragmatism from President Clinton, many conclude, will not be embraced by Brazen Barry.
Bill Clinton toyed with the idea of a federal health care scheme. After its sound rejection, followed by a midterm thumping, the President moved to the center of the political spectrum. In so doing, Clinton saved his presidency and cooperated with Republicans in lowering taxes and bringing about a notable degree of welfare reform.
It's been stated, and for good reason, that Obama will not move an inch to the center. Most likely, he will engage in his perfected art of saying one thing and doing the exact opposite. We likely will see Obama calling for show meetings with Republican congressmen. We might see commissions on bipartisanship, studies on bipartisanship, Obama demands for bipartisanship, Obama speeches on bipartisanship, and bipartisanship summits and conferences. The White House propaganda machine will likely work to reestablish the myth of Obama as the great bipartisan and -- dare they try -- even post-partisan uniter of all people.
But if Obama takes that route, he will almost guarantee his defeat in 2012. Remaining an inflexible ideologue armed with naked rhetoric will provide a plethora of opportunity for Republicans. So long as nothing gets done, the opposition party will have plenty of time for congressional investigations of Democrats wading in corruption. An investigation of those who oversaw Freddie and Fannie and caused the collapse of the U.S. economy via the mortgage crisis comes to mind, for a starter.
The Republicans will consider repeal of ObamaCare a top priority. They will also have the ability to withhold funding for ObamaCare while waiting for 2012. And with Obama's veto pen in full force, the opposition party will effectively have two years to produce material for campaign ads for the 2012 presidential and congressional races.
Consequently, if Obama wishes to revive his agenda and have any chance of reelection, his top priority ought to be the repeal of government-controlled health care.
I could forgive the reader for laughing; after all it's just so unlikely. But think about it. Presently, Obama is solidifying his persona as an arrogant, out-of-touch president. His explanation for the midterm shellacking is that (1) he didn't do a good enough job communicating the virtues of his policies, (2) the voters acted irrationally, and (3) it was the economy, stupid -- if only he had loaded the country down with another trillion in "stimulus" debt, the jobs would have materialized!
But imagine Obama admitting that he gets it and announcing, in the best interests of the country, that we need to scrap the ill-conceived health care law and start from scratch with actual bipartisanship. No more secrecy and backroom dealing, no more votes on Christmas Eve at midnight, and no more deceit.
Imagine Obama apologizing for his bully and bribery tactics. Mr. Obama might want to specifically apologize for proposing a plan (aka the Cornhusker Kickback) to bribe Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) into voting for Obamacare. Of course, he would also need to apologize for buying Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)'s vote (the Louisiana Purchase) with $300 million in taxpayer dollars.
Imagine Obama apologizing for disregarding his promise of transparency. Or for signing thousands of pages of government control and undetermined bureaucratic powers into law without any lawmaker on record as having read the bill. Obama would have to apologize for his long list of misrepresentations, including the myths that we could keep our doctors and current health care plans; that costs would go down, not up; that abortion would not be funded; and on and on. Obama might even want to apologize to Rep. Joe Wilson for the latter having to apologize for his truthful outburst.
Yes, it would be difficult for any man possessing Obama's level of baseless arrogance to humble himself. But if he were to do so, I believe he could salvage his presidency and possibly secure reelection.
Frankly, the "dude" president would have nothing to lose. There is a good chance that ObamaCare will be shot down anyway -- if not by Republicans (and sensible Democrats), then by the federal courts. The individual mandate is a real constitutional problem. And let's not forget the lack of a "severability clause," which means that if any part of the law is found to be unconstitutional, the entire law is likely to die.
With those factors in mind, if Obama were to be seen yielding to the American people, admitting mistakes, hitting the reset button, and putting together a coalition of true bipartisan support, he would probably regain his savior status with the hope and change crowd.
Chris Matthews might even get a new thrill going somewhere in his body.
