Time
is
of the
Essence as Obama Calls for 'Up-or-Down' Vote on Health Care
Restructuring
Well, here we go. According to the New York Times, vis a vis health
care "reform," "On Wednesday, after 12 months of legislative
hearings, town hall meetings, speeches, polls and debates, Mr. Obama
made clear he expects Democrats to line up behind him, no matter how
skittish they feel about their re-election prospects in the fall."
Talk about a jam-packed sentence! Let's unpack a few of the
implications.
President Barack Obama shakes hands with Registered Nurse Julie Babich
after delivering remarks on healthcare reform.
For your typical politician, the most important presidential admonition
is if you have to take one [lose] for the team [Obama], so be it.
Nothing –not the vocal resistance of massive numbers of people or
polling data that shows the public is dead-set against the current
iteration of health care "reform"--will be allowed to get in the way of
plans to offer a financial bonanza to the abortion industry while
engineering a massive restructuring of 1/6 of the entire economy.
In his speech today to a group of medical professional, the Times
reports that President Obama "avoided using the word 'reconciliation,'
the name for the parliamentary tactic that Democrats must now use to
avoid a Republican filibuster of the bill. But senior advisers to the
president made clear that is his plan."
For those of whose heads swim at the many alternative ways
"reconciliation" can play out, what does it boil down to? (1)That even
though many Americans see "reconciliation" as legislative legerdemain
to circumvent the normal legislative process, the pro-abortion
congressional Democratic leadership is willing to take the risk. (2)
That the well will be poisoned for whatever hope there remains for
"bipartisanship."
Having said that, however, it remains true--as NRLC has pointed out
many times--that no bill (or bills) can reach the president's desk
without first receiving majority approval in the House. With or without
a reconciliation "sidecar," the Senate-passed health bill, with its
multiple major abortion-related problems, cannot pass the House so long
as Rep. Bart Stupak and his allies stand their ground.
Just one other quick point. The abortion issue is absolutely pivotal,
largely because of the expertise and hard work of National Right to
Life. "Of the remaining issues with the potential to bring down the
entire health overhaul effort, the one that lawmakers fear most is
abortion," as NPR's Julie Rovner said yesterday.
Why is NRLC working so hard? Because "By the conclusion of the amending
process in the Senate, H.R. 3590 was the most expansive pro-abortion
piece of legislation ever to reach the floor of either house of
Congress for a vote, since Roe v. Wade," according to NRLC Legislative
Director Douglas Johnson. "The Senate bill would allow direct federal
funding of abortion on demand through Community Health Centers, would
institute federal subsidies for private health plans that cover
abortion on demand, including some federally administered plans, and
would authorize federal mandates that could require even non-subsidized
private plans to cover elective abortion."
The pace is rapidly picking up. Please go regularly to
http://nrlactioncenter.com. There you can be kept up to date about the
latest twists and turns and be shown how you can contact your member of
the House and your two U.S. Senators.
Time is of the essence: It appears that Speaker Pelosi will make every
effort to ram the legislation through the House before the end of March.
Contact: Dave Andrusko
Source:
NRLC
Publish
Date:
March
4,
2010
Link
to
this
article.
Send
this
article
to
a friend.
The IFRL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in
Illinois. A non-profit organization, that serves as the state
coordinating body for local pro-life chapters representing thousands of
Illinois citizens working to restore respect for all human life in our
society. The IFRL is composed of people of different political
persuasions, various faiths and diverse economic, social and ethnic
backgrounds. Since 1973 the Illinois Federation for Right to Life has
been working to end abortion and restore legal protection to those members of the
human family who are threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. Diverse though we are, we hold one common belief - that
every human being has an inalienable right to life that is precious and must be protected. IFRL is
dedicated to restoring the right to life to the unborn, and protection
for the disabled and the elderly. Click here to learn more about the IFRL.