As anyone who has ever stayed awake during a history lecture could tell you, there is often one seemingly insignificant event that can, and frequently does, shift the tides in both war and politics. For the President’s healthcare overhaul, this happened last Tuesday during Massachusetts special election when Republican candidate Scott Brown upset Democratic Attorney General Martha Coakley, in one of the nation’s most reliably Democratic states.
And while the position Brown ascends to represents only 1% of 33% of the nation’s political power, it has been enough to send shock waves through the entire system, halting the bill Washington has been working on for a year. May God bless our Founding Fathers.
When brown takes office in about two weeks, he will become the Republicans’ 41st seat, thus putting an end to Democrats’ 60-vote partisan. I’m certain Democrats have enjoyed their reign—which has tripled this country’s deficit in one year—but they are soon to discover that their inability to compromise and continuous under-the-table deals have consequences. Namely, 41 Republican votes that can block Democratic action.
Of course, keeping in line with their behavior over the last year, there was talk of trying to push the healthcare bill through in the next two weeks before Brown takes office. But, apparently, the American people’s outcries over slick deals in Washington have finally been heard, for Obama told reporters on Wednesday that “Here’s one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table, the Senate certainly shouldn’t try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated. People in Massachusetts have spoken. He’s got to be part of that process.”
Though there is talk of the House passing the Senate bill as-is and sending it directly to the President’s desk, there is one major issue with elected officials supporting a bill that a large majority of this country has said it does not want. And it is just that—they are elected. With mid-term elections coming up in November of this year, they can hardly ignore the message Massachusetts just sent to the nation. I think Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said it best: “Democrats nationwide should be on notice: Voters are looking for checks-and-balances, and they are prepared to hold the party in power responsible for their reckless spending and out-of-touch agenda in Washington.”
Do not get me wrong, I am of the firm opinion that the healthcare system needs change. However, the way Democrats have been trying to push that change through—by addressing the surface issues rather than tackling what’s behind them, and using bribes to get their votes—is something I am not sorry to see halted.
It will be interesting to see what direction they take during this year—when their jobs are on the line like so many other Americans. Perhaps, now they will focus on the concerns of a public battered by the worst recession in 70 years, rather than the President’s political agenda.