Pin the Tail on the Court
Could it be that Pres. Obama and the Democrat Leadership of the House and Senate are looking for a way pin the loss of Obamacare on the United States Supreme Court? Think about it:
- The American people have overwhelming rejected this legislation
- Speaker Palosi does not have the votes to pass the Senate version of Health Insurance Reform legislation. If she did, there would have been a vote
- All the arm twisting, fist pounding, and cajoling have failed to turn a sufficient number of Democrat members of the House to vote against the will of their constituents
The handwriting is on the wall… with overwhelming majorities in the House and the Senate, as well as the Office of the President, the Democrats have failed to deliver on their far-left version of health insurance reform. The people do not want, nor can we afford, another massive entitlement program. This overwhelming failure has implications far beyond the 2010 elections – and they know it.
In my opinion, the question now facing this President and the Democrat leadership is: Is it possible that there could be a scapegoat somewhere to pin this loss on? It’s damage control time.
First, they tried to blame the Republicans saying they were the “Party of No”, but that didn’t fly did it? After all, they had super-majorities in the House and Senate for the better part of a year and they could not get it done.
Next, they tried to paint the Republicans mean spirited, uninformed, insurance company champions at the Healthcare Sumit in Feb. 2010. But that backfired as Republicans demonstrated time after time their commanding knowledge of the issues and why the Democrat version of the legislation would both fail to meet the goals of true reform and result in an explosion of the national debt.
Let’s see… is there someone else, besides the Republicans, has angered this President and the liberals in both the House and the Senate and could be a potential target of opportunity? Hmmm…
One needs to look no further then the evening of January 27th, 2010. Who was it during the State of the Union Address President Obama chided and the Democrats rose to their feet hooting and hollering in approval of his chastisement? Could it be that the U.S. Supreme Court is the ideal scapegoat for the abysmal failure of this President and Congress to pass their version of health insurance reform?
In my opinion, I think that is exactly what the so called “Slaughter Solution” is all about. Under this rule, the House would vote on a “Rule Change”. This rule change would contain a list proposed amendments to the Health Insurance Reform bill passed by the Senate. Additionally, the Rule Change would stipulate that if the House passes the list of desired amendments, then it deems that the House has also passed the Senate bill itself. In other words, the House can pass the Senate bill without ever having to vote specifically on it.
Already, constitutional law scholars from both the left and the right are lining up in opposition to such a tactic [1] saying that is violates Article 1 Section 7 of the U.S. Constitution; which states in part:
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States
So, why do it? Why take an approach which seems to be doomed from the onset to be ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts. In my view, it’s quite simple and quite cynical. The President and the rest of the Democrats get to blame the U.S. Supreme Court, which would undoubtedly be the final arbiter on the constitutionality of such a tactic. Look at the potential benefits:
- Senator Reid can say, “The Senate did its job and passed a bill”
- Speaker Palosi can say, “The House did its job and passed a bill”
- President Obama can say, “I did my job, I signed the bill into law”
- And they call all point to a conservative court and say in unison, “The Supreme Court has usurped the power of the Executive and Legislative branches of government and has imposed its will on the American people by legislating from the bench. They did what the Republicans could not do.”
As an additional bonus, they can use such a ruling as campaign fodder in the 2010 mid-term elections as well as the 2012 Presidential election as a reason why a less conservative court is needed and the only way to insure that is to elect Democrats. Furthermore, it would not be the first time in recent history that the Democrats have intentionally pulled the U.S. Supreme Court in to cover the loss – anyone remember the 2000 Presidential Election when Al Gore tried to use the courts to circumvent the results of the election. Heck, they got 8 years of political cannon fodder out of that one.
It’s perfect cover for this President and the Democrats in both the House and the Senate. If the Slaughter Solution is used and a constitutional challenge fails, they win. If a constitutional challenge succeeds, they win. Either way they win – and the American People loose.
[1] ‘Slaughter Solution’ could face legal challenge, Fred Barbash, 3/16/2010 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34508.html
howdy. Great post. Saved and will come back again soon. tata