Not that this is surprise, but Republicans aren’t supporting total repeal of the health care legislation that will (by design) ultimately morph into a single payer government health care system, giving them more direct control over our lives than ever. The public overwhelmingly supports repeal, providing Republicans a clear issue to run and win huge on this November, yet they (with some notable exceptions) can’t muster the courage to do it:
Hours after the House passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) made good on a promise and introduced a short bill that would repeal the whole thing. The goal, she explained, was to get every Republican to co-sponsor it.
About one month later, neither Bachmann’s bill nor companion bills in the House and Senate have won majority support from their peers. Only 52 House Republicans have co-sponsored Bachmann’s repeal bill, H.R. 4903, and only 62 House Republicans have co-sponsored Rep. Steve King’s (Iowa) repeal bill, H.R. 4972. Most of the same people have co-sponsored both. Only 20 Republican senators have co-sponsored Sen. Jim DeMint’s (S.C.) repeal bill, S. 3152. That worries some Republicans who want to run hard on repeal in November.
“What I run into,” King told me recently, “is that you ask Republicans to support 100 percent full repeal, but there are a number of them that aren’t committed to full repeal. They have an equivocation that they would leave a piece there, a piece there, a piece there. If Republicans cannot unanimously come together and support 100 percent repeal of Obamacare and then start to rebuild, then we will not win this victory, because we’ll be divided by the Democrats and fighting on Obama’s turf.”
One has to wonder why Republicans don’t unite on a clear electoral (and moral) winner. I don’t have a good answer, but I do know it’s this type of non-leadership that got them voted out in massive numbers in 2006 and 2008.
I know it seems like the American people can’t do any more to demonstrate how much we oppose this bill, and now that it’s law, Republicans seem content to stop fighting it. We can’t let that happen. Somehow, we must pressure them even more to stand up and stop corrupt politicians from stealing liberty from the American soul. They must understand that if they don’t pledge a full repeal of this legislation, and then fulfill that pledge (I know, that’s asking a lot of politicians), we will replace them with representatives who will, regardless of which party they belong to.
The public overwhelmingly supports repeal, providing Republicans a clear issue to run and win huge on this November, yet they (with some notable exceptions) can’t muster the courage to do it:
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Well, bright Republicans eschew the “clear issue” not because of their cowardice, but because most can read. The public does NOT support repeal as you say. Instead, the latest USA Today poll (3/23/2010) finds that most Americans support HCR. USA Today says, “By 49%-40% those surveyed say it was “a good thing” rather than a bad one that Congress passed the bill. Half describe their reaction in positive terms, as “enthusiastic” or “pleased,” while about four in 10 describe it in negative ways, as “disappointed” or “angry.”
The largest single group, 48%, calls the bill “a good first step” that should be followed by more action on health care. An additional 4% also have a favorable view, saying the bill makes the most important changes needed in the nation’s health care system.”
Even the CNN Poll which most of the anti-HCR cite in support of their position finds the same numbers. “The initial top-line shows only 39% of registered voters favoring the bill, to 59% opposing it. However a follow-up question finds that 43% oppose it on the grounds that it is too liberal, while 13% oppose it on the grounds that it is not liberal enough. So another way of looking at the data is that 43% oppose it for being too liberal, 39% favor it, and 13% oppose it for not being liberal enough, with another 3% who oppose it for some indeterminate reasons.”
So one has to wonder where your assertion of overwhelming support for repeal comes from. Likely, it comes from the same locale where most Republican operatives/consultants like yourself get your “facts.” They are typically supplied by the ever-open and gesticulating orifices of the false foursome of Limbaugh, Fox News, Hannity, or that “genius,” Glenn Beck.
Come clean now there Jamie Radtke, you’re about as nonpartisan as a “W” bumper sticker and your true colors (or lack thereof) is decidedly right-wing. Astro-turf, indeed. Do you get a check from the RNC for this?
Sorry I didn’t include this in the original post (I should have), but here’s the evidence: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/healthcare/march_2010/health_care_law?loc=interstitialskip. You can read more about this on my most recent post.
You can read my reply to Jamie on that same thread.
Gee, Jamie, both my replies disclosing your faux impartiality and outright deception got censored. I think you’ve proven to me all I need to know about your organization and your character. Feigned integrity and lack of principle are poor standards. They always catch up with you. Republicans forget that from time to time.
Your comments are posted Mespo. They are getting caught up in our spam filter. We get tons of spam comments and sometimes the filter isn’t always full proof. My response to your comments are in the other thread.