You Can Lead the House to Slaughter, But You Can't Make Them Think

The political tension and suspense is building on Capitol Hill as Democratic leaders try to find ways to bribe, blackmail or bully enough House Democrats into casting their votes for Obamacare. If they fail to muster enough votes, House Democratic leaders are considering a short-circuiting of the required voting process through procedural trickery that could force a Constitutional crisis (or not).

We've been looking at health care reform for over a year, but all Congress has come up with is the underhanded theft of a sixth of the economy, supplanting it with yet another unfunded bureaucracy that will follow Social Security and Medicare into insolvency and potentially trigger national bankruptcy.

If I were to speak to Representatives today who was still trying to decide how to vote on this pending legislation, I'd ask them to answer the following questions for themselves:

• Will imposing more bureaucracy improve patient customer service and satisfaction?
• Will imposing more bureaucracy be more likely to increase or decrease the quality of care?
• How much will the imposition of this new bureaucracy slow the research and development of new treatments and cures?
• What is the probability that this new bureaucracy would provide services less expensively and more efficiently than the private sector?
• Can you assure us that you completely understand the implications of taking over one-sixth of the nation's economy?

It is very hard to believe that any Congressperson could truthfully conclude that forcing Obamacare upon Americans would result in better customer service, better care, and the continued drive to find new cures in a cost-effective manner, without posing a significant threat the nations' economic future.

They therefore have to conclude that this is horribly flawed legislation, and it most be voted against if the best interests of their constituents are really what Representatives have in mind.

The only question now is whether House Democrats will show integrity and stand up to their cynical leaders, or if they will instead cave to an ideological agenda that compromises the trust of their constituents.

I fear the later, but would love to find myself surprised by a rare display of spine.