Hunting for Healthcare Reform

A lobbyist friend described the Democrat’s performance on healthcare reform by equating it to a joke he’d heard. The joke goes like this: a hunter sees a bear and shoots to kill. He misses the bear, who becomes enraged. The bear chases down the hunter, bends him over a tree limb and takes liberties then goes on his way. The hunter tracks the bear again and takes another shot, missing. The bear again attacks the hunter, bending him over a tree for another go then departs again. One more time the hunter tracks the bear and fires, again missing. The bear charges the hunter and pins him to the ground. Snarling, the bear says, “You’re missing on purpose!”

This seems to be the mindset of Democrats when it comes to healthcare reform. They don’t really want it but take the shot anyway despite knowing what’s in store for their failure. There was no will in the Senate to pass a bill that satisfied both the White House and U.S. House Democrats and the threat of a Republican filibuster was convenient. If the Senate Democrats truly wanted a bill on healthcare reform they would have called the Republican bluff on a filibuster. Having had 60 Senators in the Democratic caucus Majority Leader Reid could have forced Republicans to take to the Senate floor and speak continuously to delay the vote, rather than taking the Republicans at their word that an indefinite delay was desired.

This is not to say that Red Elephant thinks the healthcare reform bill was good legislation. Senate Democrat's efforts indicate no desire to pass the legislation. Where there's will there's a way, and if the Senate Democrats had the will they could have made the bill happen before the Massachusetts special election that lost them their 60 seat majority. If there’s any doubt, simple ask oneself, does a bear evacuate in the words?