Final Push on Healthcare? Yes and No

No, it will never be over. But we are in the final stages of the current battle. If you are like me, the election of Scott Brown may have lulled you into a false sense of complacency over Obamacare. That was obviously a mistake. Whatever the travails of former Rep Massa (D-ranged), the incident shows the full and fierce engagement of the White House is to get something past. The WSJ even believes that a double cross for House Dems might be in the works, and listening to Massa, you might agree. How's this for an evil plan. Get the House to pass the Senate bill, along with another "reconciliation" bill to fix the perceived problems in the Senate bill. The first bill goes to the White House for signature in the Rose Garden, the "reconciliation" bill dies in the Senate in a horrid, grotesque and disgusting manner. House Dems are screwed, even Senate Dems are screwed, because they also look played. Obama gets health care, but only the taxes kick in initially. Eight months from now? Who knows, maybe everyone has forgotten, the American people have curiously short attention spans.

That makes the current battle an important one to win. The Tea Party enthusiasm is needed now more than ever.

In the longer war, the left will continue to try to push health care in a socialist direction because it is the area of the economy that is already the most socialized. The only way to win this war permanently is to start reforming health care in ways that reduce government involvement. The place to start is medicare. Medicare advantage, where insurers are rewarded for keeping people alive, might be a place to start. I welcome other suggestions to reduce government intervention under medicare while not cutting current coverage.