Folks,
Republicans can destroy the health care reform bill right now; if they will stress this message: By immediately raising taxes, this bill will sink our already struggling economy.
If media-prominent Republicans emphasize that single crystallized point, the political pressure on wavering Democrats in the House to vote no will increase enormously. Factually, the bill legislates massive new taxes on personal incomes and on medical devices & services: all of which go into effect immediately upon the bill’s passage. RAISING TAXES DURING A RECESSION will obviously hurt the economy. (Which is why Democrats have not dared attempt a tax increase despite controlling both chambers of congress.) So as unpopular as this ugly bill already is, it can be made much more so with simple clarion emphasis that: the bill is instant poison to an ailing economy.
The American people already hate what the bill stands for (the rotten substance of the bill) as well as they hate the corrupt process that has produced it. Now it needs to be branded into the national psyche that passage of the bill will straightaway cause personal financial harm to everyone. The ball game will be over if Republicans will simply apply immense pressure to that one crippling point. (They can use the new CBO numbers coming out on the reconciliation/fix-it bill as a fresh predicate to sound the alarm.)
Imagine variations of the following sound bites issued from media-prominent Republicans: “If the Health Care Takeover Bill becomes law, our taxes instantly go up, and it will make one of the worst recessions we’ve ever experienced much worse. Everyone knows you don’t raise taxes during a recession.” Or how about: “There’s something else Democrats aren’t telling you which is that this bill suddenly raises taxes in the middle of a recession. And you can’t do that and expect the economy to recover.”
Note that this is not the same as arguing that the added deficits this bill is certain to generate will be unsustainable in the long run. That’s the “Generational Theft” message which has been lucidly conveyed and has resonated with the American public. So severe concern has been raised… about the future. But the argument that the bill will also do serious harm to TODAY’S jobs and to TODAY’S fragile economy has yet to be forcefully made. – And this is the checkmate move that is needed during the endgame this week.
The Republicans could use you as their speaker. We’ll see what they have to say.....
Same crap, different day....maybe. I don’t have any faith in the GOP’s ability to bring forth Conservative Common Sense.
It is being said all over that the only thing that has stopped this are the American people & they will be the one’s to destroy it