Weekend at Bernie's
Could a socialist senator's conscience kill ObamaCare?
Joe Lieberman notwithstanding, ObamaCare is not yet a fait accompli. "A
moderate Democrat whose vote could be crucial said Thursday an attempted Senate
compromise on abortion is unsatisfactory, raising doubts about whether the
chamber can pass President Barack Obama's health care overhaul by Christmas,"
the
Associated Press reports from Washington:
"As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not
sufficient," Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, a key holdout on the health care bill,
said in a statement after first making his concerns known to Majority Leader
Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Nelson said there were positive improvements dealing with teen pregnancy
and adoption, and that he was open to further negotiations. But in a radio
interview earlier in the day with KLIN in Lincoln, Nebraska, Nelson also said
that abortion wasn't his only concern and he didn't see how the Christmas
deadline was achievable.
Bringing ObamaCare to the floor requires an affirmative vote from every
non-Republican in the Senate, which means that Reid and his men will fail in
their efforts unless they persuade Nelson to vote with them. To win over
Lieberman, the Dems were willing to give up government-run insurance in the form
of both the "public option" and the "Medicare buy-in." It seems that abortion is
more dear to them than socialism.
We'd like to take this opportunity to point out that this is an example of
how Roe v. Wade distorts American politics. Decided almost 37 years
ago, that ruling was supposed to have settled the question of abortion once and
for all. Instead, by circumventing the normal political process that produces
compromise and consensus, it exacerbated divisions and ensured that
disagreements over abortion will scuttle efforts to get other things done.
That said, if Roe ends up aborting ObamaCare, we'll be the first to
applaud.
Even if Nelson or pro-abortion Democrats blink, though, there is one other
prospective holdout. As
Don
Surber of Charleston, W.Va.'s Daily Mail notes, Sen. Bernie Sanders of
Vermont, a self-described socialist who caucuses with the Democrats but is not
one of them, told Fox News yesterday that the bill is not socialist enough for
him: "As of this point, I'm not voting for the bill. . . . I'm going to do my
best to make this bill a better bill, a bill that I can vote for, but I've
indicated both to the White House and the Democratic leadership that my vote is
not secure at this point. And here is the reason. When the public option was
withdrawn, because of Lieberman's action, what I worry about is how do you
control escalating health care costs?"
No doubt there are liberal Democrats who generally agree with this, but
Sanders has more freedom to vote his conscience than they do, because he is not
a Democrat and thus does not owe the party his loyalty. True, the Dems tacitly
endorsed Sanders, declining to nominate an opponent when he ran for Senate in
2006. They could run someone against him in 2012. But what would be the point?
Only partisan Democrats and Obama cultists would regard a Sanders "no" as a
betrayal. Unlike, say, Arkansas's Blanche Lincoln, Sanders would not have to
worry about losing support on the left, since his vote would be based on
"progressive" objections. If his vote ended up killing ObamaCare, he might even
get a few votes from grateful conservatives.
So please, Sen. Sanders, stand up for your socialist principles!
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