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The
Best Defense Is...
by Jonathan Cohn
This time the message is more
unambiguous:
Any HC repeal bill that comes to
the White House is dead on arrival.
As it should be. But have you noticed a pattern lately?
For most of last year, Democrats were playing defense on health care,
responding to Republican
criticisms or trying desperately to change the subject of debate. Now
something has changed.
Congressional Democrats are challenging Republicans, daring them to
come out against the bill's
more popular provisions. The Democratic National Committee is
aggressively distributing talking
points. According to an account in the New York Times, Democrats will
soon have a campaign-style
war room for making their case. It's almost as if the the Democrats
want this fight now.
Of course, they may not have a choice. Republicans have made repeal a
top priority, so the fight is
going to take place whether or not Democrats want it. But I think it
also reflects a changing dynamic,
as well. According to Greg Sargent, who was among the first to spot the
shift, House Democrats in
particular are aware of the opportunity they missed last year, while
the party and most of its leaders
were trying so hard to save endangered incumbents. They think they're
in a stronger position now,
since people are starting to see the law's benefits and repeal will
mean changing an increasingly
favorable status quo.
The Democrats find themselves in a good position here,
which makes me think they somehow fell into it by accident.
The GOP has no chance to repeal this law, at least for another 24 months,
so all they're doing is riling up their base - (let's hope nobody else gets shot.)
But when the GOP says they want to repeal it, all we gotta say is,
"So, you're for raising the debt?"
But when the GOP says they want to repeal it, all we gotta say is,
"So, you're for taking health care away from poor toddlers?"
But when the GOP says they want to repeal it, all we gotta say is,
"So, you're for raising taxes on the middle class?"
They got nothin' so winning this battle should be easy.
On the other hand, they ALWAYS got nothing, so how do we ever lose?