Healthcare v. Afghanistan

Rich Lowry has a nice piece hoping that the Senate delays the healthcare bill long enough to kill it....

This essential wisdom of the Founders is now the Democrats’ enemy. They want to rush because they know their legislation won’t bear long, careful scrutiny; because they know the public will soon demand that they focus on things of more pressing concern (the economy); and because they know it would be folly to keep debating the bill in an election year. So they want to pass major social legislation on basically a party-line vote and forge ahead even though almost every poll shows more people opposing than supporting it. It’s hard to think of major, defining legislation that has ever passed this way.

Liberals recall how long they have talked about national health insurance: No rush here, it’s the work of decades. But this plan has, relatively speaking, been sprung on the American public. Barack Obama did not campaign on huge tax increases to pay for health-care reform, or large Medicare cuts, or premium increases, or even the individual mandate. He talked of health-care reform in the most anodyne way.

If Obamacare is so necessary and wise, there’s no true need to hurry. If it fails to pass the Senate, Democrats should campaign on it around the country. They should keep talking of its wonders, and build up public support for it, turning around the polls. They should enhance their majority in the House and the Senate, bringing new Obamacare Democrats to Washington. That’s how you build toward passing historic legislation in a system such as ours naturally resistant to large-scale change.

Democrats don’t want to do that because, in their heart of hearts, they know they can’t do that. They want to jam it through instead. Here’s hoping the Senate does its proper work and — slowly, frustratingly — assigns the health-care bill to the grave.

Lowry is essentially correct that the Senate's historical role has been that of killjoy/check on bad legislation. The piece of trash that Pelosi just forced down the throat of the House probably can't move the Senate with anywhere near as much speed. But speed is what the Democrats want, because each passing day brings us closer to the 2010 elections, and if this becomes an election issue, they have a significant problem, especially if the unemployment picture hasn't changed. Recall that Obama and Pelosi sought to have Congress pass health-care reform prior to the August recess -- according to Harry Reid, they might not get Senate approval now until January, and that's before the bill ends up being revised in conference.

But it's worth noting that Obama sought to have this bill passed in July... and yet he still can't make a decision on Afghanistan. People are having problems with our current healthcare system, and some of those problems may be quite serious... but our troops are suffering and dying over there, and you don't need Congress to pass a boll to do something about it. Make a decision, Mr. President. You can't vote present on this one.