Posted by
Patrick Henry on Saturday, March 27, 2010 9:51:14 AM
Conservatives in America are angry today because socialist Democrats, in direct
defiance of public opinion used every dirty, dishonest and unethical trick in the
book to pass socialized medicine into law. The measure of conservative success in
ousting from power those responsible for the travesty, and ultimately overturning the
fruits of their mischief, will be the way in which that anger is channeled.
Protests, demonstrations and e-mail campaigns are fine. Indeed, they are needed
expressions of public outrage and serve to vent the simmering anger spawned by
the ruthless abuse of power. But changing the status quo will take far more than
that. What will be required is a tough, disciplined and yes, equally ruthless
campaign to destroy the last vestiges of Democratic credibility and to remind the
American people daily of the lies they have been told.
American voters have short memories. In ramming through healthcare reform now,
Democrats are banking on the probability that the anger will have cooled and voters
will have forgotten their betrayal by November. This "memory lapse," they believe,
will enable them to hold onto the reins of power and perhaps even build new momentum
leading up to the presidential contest in 2012. If Republicans are to turn the tables,
they simply cannot afford to let that happen.
Democrats claim they will save $500B in Medicare waste and fraud. Judicious use
of the public information act can force disclosure of what they actually save, which
will undoubtedly be far less and can be measured beginning immediately. They claim
that the Medicare cuts won't hurt seniors. This puts them between the proverbial "rock"
and "hard place." Either they must pass the "doctor fix," which will add at least $250B
to the actual price tag of Obamacare, or they won't, and doctors will begin dumping or
failing to accept new Medicare and Medicaid patients. Seniors who can't get a doctor
because of what Democrats have done will make very compelling testimonials in
properly placed TV ads.
Democrats have conned the public about the true cost of Obamacare by feeding the
Congressional Budget Office deflated estimates of costs and inflated estimates of
revenue. Since both are public information, they should be tracked an plastered all
over the headlines of every major news outlet in the country. Let's face it. Every
government program in history has cost more than estimated, and one based on such
accounting sophistry as this will do so quickly and alarmingly.
Obama crows about what's in the bill. Republicans need to be talking about what's
not. For example, there are no serious cost controls. The originally stated purpose
of reform was to hold down costs. Not only does the bill fail to do so, it actually
portends a situation in which premiums will go up 10-13% even by Democrats' own
estimates. Dems claim that they have insured 94% of Americans, but they've done
no such thing. Their constitutionall questionable mandate for all citizens to be
insured does not mean that all will buy insurance. By making the fine for not buying
it less than the cost of insurance itself, and providing inadequate enforcement teeth
they have virtually guaranteed that the "young immortals" and the welfare crowd
that would rather buy booze and cigarettes will wait until they get sick, orjust not buy
it at all and continue going tp the emergency room. This will simply drive insurance
companies out of business and overall costs up, which will in turn come out of taxpayers'
pockets.
Then there's the matter of the dishonorable tactics used to pass the bill. Voters should
not be allowed to forget Gator Aid, the Louisiana Purchase or the sweetheart union
deal on the Cadillac insurance tax. Nor should they forget the dubious use of the
reconciliation tactic, the threat of "deem and pass," the executive order bribe or the
political strongarming used to marshal votes for a bill many legislators hated almost
(but not quite) as much as their constituents. But people will forget unless conservatives
consistently and graphically remind them.
As we have been repeatedly reminded, all politics is local. Those who advocated
and voted for the most hated bill ever to pass congress must be hunted down and
electorally targeted in their own districts, forced to wear and defend the disaster
they have wrought. They can only milk the "we helped people with pre-existing
conditions" sop for so long. Most voters don't have "pre-existing conditions," and
conservatives don't want to see those who do deprived of coverage anymore than
socialist Democrats do.
Finally, and most important of all, for every negative criticism leveled against
socialist Democrats and their ideas, conservatives must not only be able to explain
the flaws in those ideas but also to lift up sensible, plausible alternative ideas.
Negative momentum can carry a candidate or a party only so far. They have to
offer something better if they want to earn America's trust. For every minute spent
talking strategy and form, conservatives need to spend two talking substance and
content. If not what Democrats have passed, then what?
Conservatives must be realistic in their appraisal of circumstances, realilzing that
the liberal media is aligned against them and with the socialist Democrats. They
must therefore maximize the use of alternative and social media to get the message
out, and galvanize the grassroots by sending hundreds and even thousands of foot
soldiers into the cities, towns, villages and neighborhoods of America talking not
only about the road to ruin mapped out by socilaist Democrats, but the better way
rooted in the Constitution. This brief tutorial is by no means complete. It is a bare
minimum of what conservatives must do to blunt the socialist onslaught and remove
its devotees from office. And make no mistake, it IS a load. Like my old college
coach used to say just before the big game, "Ain't nobody gonna GIVE you nothin'."