Who could have predicted this? The White House and Senate Democrats apparently believed they could win two or three Republican votes with the introduction of Sen. Max Baucus' health care "reform" bill that is super-friendly to big insurance and PhRMA. After saying nothing for eight months, the Republicans have launched an assault on the "most obvious provision" of HCR: The individual mandate. Read it, weep and prepare to laugh at the sheer political stupidity of the Democrats.
Democrats are bracing themselves for a new line of conservative attack against a provision in the health care legislation once considered so non-controversial that it was endorsed by several major Republican officials. On Tuesday, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) described the health care legislation being considered by the Senate Finance Committee as a "stunning assault on liberty" due to a provision that would require individuals to buy insurance.
The attacks have confounded Democrats in and out of government, who noted quickly that mandating coverage was, until recently, a relative given when it came to health care reform."It's f--ing ludicrous," said one health care reform activist, who noted that when Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) asked committee members to air their disagreements with an individual mandate during a meeting on May 5, no one chimed in.
The White House and the Senate Democrats seriously believed the Republicans would stop bullying them once they were forced to giving up the public option. Guess it's time to jettison the mandates, too. And this is the three-dimensional, eleven-level grand master chess strategy we keep hearing about? LOLz
