Posted on 11/13/2013 8:12:49 PM PST by upchuck
This Friday, November 15, may be a major turning point for the Obama Presidency.
On Friday there will be a key vote on Chairman Fred Upton's bill, the Keep You Health Plan Act. It’s beginning to look as though a large number of House Democrats are going to break with the President and vote for the Upton bill.
Ominously for the President, the House Democrat rebellion is matched by an even more visible desertion among Senate Democrats.
When Senator Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat, lost her ten-point advantage for reelection since the Obamacare website failed, she had a clear signal from constituents to distance herself from the law. Every Democratic senator up for reelection is feeling similar pressure to vote for something that proves they want to "fix" Obamacare. Even Senator Dick Durbin, the second ranking Democrat, has now come out for doing something to help people keep their insurance as the President (and many members of Congress) promised.
Democrats not up for reelection are also beginning to break with the President. It’s not all that surprising when Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia breaks with his party on the health care law. He is personally very conservative and represents a state that is strongly opposed to President Obama.
It is, however, a very big deal when Senator Diane Feinstein announces she is cosponsoring Senator Mary Landrieu’s bill to change Obamacare. Senator Landrieu is up for reelection, and Louisiana can be a tough state for liberal Democrats. Senator Feinstein is not up for reelection and California is a solidly Democratic state.
When someone as senior, safe, serious, and respected as Senator Feinstein (the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee) starts to split with President Obama over the major policy initiative of his presidency, something significant is underway.
Of course, elected officials in the end have a survival instinct for listening to the folks back home.
Six weeks into the law’s disastrous launch, support for both the program and the President are crumbling. The website problems have been compounded by more and more destructive details emerging about the reality of Obamacare.
Stories of marriage penalties/divorce incentives of up to $10,000 a couple, of people facing massive increases in their premiums, of millions losing their insurance policies, of cancer patients being cut off from their specialists, have all compounded to undermine support for Obamacare.
Recent polls show collapsing support and rising opposition to Obamacare. Only 39 percent approve of the law, while 55 percent oppose, according to the most recent Quinnipiac University poll. An overwhelming majority, 73 percent, support delaying the individual mandate past March 31, something the Democrats have so far refused to consider. Only 19 percent of Americans think the law will make their healthcare better a year from now, while 43 percent think it will make it worse.
The President’s personal credibility has crumbled under the constant reminder that he lied again and again about people keeping their insurance policy if they liked it. His job approval has dropped to 39 percent in the Quinnipiac poll.
Belief in his honesty, too, has fallen ten points since the website collapsed and Americans began to learn he lied to them about keeping their plans. In the same poll, 52 percent said he is not honest and trustworthy.
The generic ballot for Congress is tracking the same pattern of Democratic Party collapse.
On October 1 the Democrats had a nine point lead. Today they are tied.
And Democrats are beginning to conclude the Obamacare problems are going to get bigger, and the public reaction more intense.
Watch the vote on the Upton bill Friday and you will begin to sense the depth of the panic.
If only 20 or so Democrats vote with Upton, there is nothing happening.
If more than 40 Democrats vote with Upton, there is a real crack in the Obama machine.
If over 80 Democrats vote with Upton, there is a stampede away from the President by many of his most loyal supporters.
And Democrats are beginning to conclude the Obamacare problems are going to get bigger, and the public reaction more intense.
They’re going to tell Obama to go screw himself. Or let Reggie do it.
Glad that NEWT has finally found his voice.
BTW, if Obama’s Socialized Health Insurance Tax, (OSHIT), has little or no chance of financial success in 5 years, then why do Federal politicians in “both” political parties try to fix or replace instead of ABOLISH Obamacare?
If only 20 or so Democrats vote with Upton, there is nothing happening.
If more than 40 Democrats vote with Upton, there is a real crack in the Obama machine.
If over 80 Democrats vote with Upton, there is a stampede away from the President by many of his most loyal supporters.
I'll be watching.
Newt ought to be smarter than that.
The Upton bill will be co opted by Harry Reid..insert Landrieu bill..return to House.
They just joined the Circular Firing Squad once again!!!
See Eric Ericjsson..”It’s a Trap” at Red State!
The Upton bill needs to pass barely in the House and be rejected party line by Sem Senate and/or vetoed. At this point, complete collapse is all that will save us. Bandaids will just make the problem worse.
Please sum it all up for me.
No...it will undermine Obamacare more than you think.
The bill will open up these markets...not only for those who were dumped...but even for people who DIDN'T lose their insurance. That means that millions can buy these policies which do NOT have Obamacare mandates! They will be cheaper than the exchanges for that reason.
Things are really getting interesting.
Please sum it all up for me.
Disregard...I get it. Thanks.
RedState says the Upton bill is a trap:
EXCERPT:
IT’s A Trap!
Republicans are walking into a trap and they don’t even realize it.
They are about to consider, in the House of Representatives, legislation by Congressman Upton that would allow people to keep their insurance plans.
There’s a problem though. It is widely acknowledged that Congressman Upton’s legislation is more messaging than substance. His legislation does not have anything in it that can force insurance companies, in the topsy-turvy world of Obamacare, to keep insurance plans going.
But there is a plan than does. Senator Mary Landrieu has written legislation in the United States Senate that the Democrats love. It mandates insurance companies have to keep people on their present insurance. The GOP is supposedly against mandates and against government forcing private businesses and individuals into contracts they don’t want.
Here’s what is going to happen.
The House, with the help of a good number of Democrats, will pass the Upton plan and send it to the Senate. Harry Reid will substitute the Landrieu plan and send it back to the House. The House will be forced to either vote for the Landrieu plan or be characterized as siding with insurance companies against people.
In one fell swoop, the Democrats will have the GOP on record saving Mary Landrieu’s re-election in Louisiana by casting her as the one who saved Americans’ health care plans, and also getting on record as really being in favor of fixing Obamacare with the use of mandates.
In truth, Obamacare is not fixable. The only solution is to fully repeal it. The Republicans should not be helping Democrats with their re-election plans, which is all the are doing with Upton/Landrieu.
The GOP is walking right into the trap.
Read the post above mine… it is a ll there in RED, White and Blue!
Eric Ericksonn’s post from Red State
Wonderful.
We need an Admiral Akbar graphic.
We will have single payer by 2015.
Never underestimate the “reach-across-the-aisle” crowd’s ability to ruin a situation. These clymers should resign immediately.
Damn!
That about covers it. It’s a sucker’s errand. Even if every Democrat in the House votes for it, Dingy Reid will gut it and put things in it to help Democrats. The bill will pass, the Democrats will get the credit, and the stupid party looks astonishingly stupid again.
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