Mandates for Christmas

Reid: "We are reshaping the nation. That's what we want to do."

...said majority leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada. “With this vote, we’re rejecting a system in which one class of people can afford to stay healthy, while another cannot.’’ Hey, he said it. That's what every Republican has been bitching about since this whole thing started. He actually quantified the Republican argument on the Senate floor.

Minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said that the bill would “long outlive this frantic, snowy weekend in Washington,’’ but he called it a historic mistake.

“If the people who wrote this bill were proud of it, we wouldn’t be voting on it in the dead of night,’’ he said. “The final product is a mess.’’ I can't argue with that statement.

The vote was 60 to 40, with all 58 Democrats and two independents supporting the measure. Republicans stood united against it, and they seemed determined to resist until the last moment possible under the Senate rules, setting the final vote for Christmas Eve night.

With the Senate and House health care bills expected to come crashing together like two drivers in Texas driving in the snow this week, let us take a quick look at the three biggest issues that have yet to be resolved...

* Abortion: Both bills have placed limits on abortion, but surprise, surprise neither side is happy. Abortion rights supporters feel women are being denied access to abortion, while anti-abortion folks are fairly sure that the government will be subsidizing insurance that covers the procedure.

* Taxes: The Senate bill increases the Medicare tax by almost a full percentage point for those earning more than $200,000 (or $250,000 for couples), but many Democrats believe this is a burden on the middle class. Which proves to me that these jokers need to be returned to the private sector and get a real job.

Also - NOTE - that none of any of this even starts until 2014. Most folks don't know that. You're not getting anything until then. It's so that all these back room deals and the current group of crooks won't be around or will conveniently have retired by then. With their full Congressional pension and Congressional Health Plan.

* The public option: The House bill includes a government-run plan, but the Senate bill—in an effort to bribe gain more support from moderate Democrats—sticks with privately-run national plans, one of which must be nonprofit and supervised by a federal office. Though some senators, such as Al Franken, still want the public option, more and more seem willing to compromise. Especially since Harry Reid has been standing in the Senate chamber with his wallet out. Scratch that - YOUR wallet out.

The funny part is that, as I predicted back in March, no one is happy with this hodgepodge of a corpse thing they're presenting as a bill. It's so corrupt, so vile, and so many people have compromised everything they wanted - no one is happy. The left has been betrayed: the Single Payer was DOA, but it worked on them pretty well on November 2. The right only looks obstructionist, but they're simply doing the potty dance until they get their turn again at the trough.

I agree with Howard Dean, strike the whole thing - start from scratch. If you're going to do it, do it right. Not this. Live or die with your values and your integrity of the party and- oh, that's not working out too well? I guess just keep whittling it down to the point of irrelevance then. Like you've been doing.