Hopefully, passing health care will be a fundamental change for America.

It’s far from a perfect bill, but the main reason it does have problems is that The Party of No waged a “scorched earth” battle to stop it. Rather than accepting the mandate that the voters delivered when Obama and the Senate and the House were delivered over to the Democrats in 2008, The Party of No decided that they knew best regardless of what the voters said. They also decided that wrecking the country was better than losing power. If they couldn’t stop health care, then at least they could force Democrats to weaken the bill (basically bribing weak links on their own side) and put a few things in it that aren’t in the interests of America in order to get it passed. It was always an option for The Party of No to say, “OK … we’ll work together with you to get a bill passed that meets at least some of our beliefs … but NO-O-O-O-O-O !!!” It is “The Party of No” after all.

At some point, you have to just say, “Enough is Enough!” and get on with the business of America. Congratulations for having the strength and determination to get it done.

But now I discover that The Party of No just can’t get enough of “No”. It must be like a drug to them. Actually losing has unleashed a flood of “No”.

One of the best collections of “The big lie” technique that they have been using is on Gary Trudeau’s “Doonesbury” page. (Doonesbury is always worth a read. You can find it here.) I thought it would be worthwhile to review that entire collection and demonstrate what “The big lie” technique is all about.

Representative Don Shadegg:
“Will destroy freedom.”

Representative Paul Ryan:
“A fiscal Frankenstein.”

Kimberley Strassel:
“Dirty deals, open threats, broken promises, and disregard for democracy.”

Karl Rove:
“Will bankrupt the country.”

Newt Gingrich:
“Worthy of Hugo Chavez, not America.”

Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart:
“A decisive step in the weakening of the United States.”

Senator Jim DeMint:
“Will impose unconstitutional mandates on every American.”

Cal Thomas:
“We’re headed straight off a cliff.”

Where do they get this stuff!!!

Let’s dispense with the “democracy” question first. This was passed in accordance with the rules Congress has established for itself by a majority of the representatives of the people. According to the latest Gallup poll, the public is divided straight down the middle (45% to 48%). Its the same with the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll (46% to 45%). What the public really doesn’t like is this constant bickering about it. Only 17% approved of the job lawmakers are doing. Half said they would vote out every member of Congress, including their own representative.

Hmmmmm …. Maybe some good will come of The Party of No’s obstructionism after all.

But the “bankrupt the nation / fiscal Frankenstein” argument is absolutely a lie. As President Obama and the Congressional Budget Office have both made clear, “we can’t afford not to do this”. I have documented the monsterous cost of medical care in the US in my blogs The Best Health Care System in the World? and The Sorry Performance of the U.S. Health Care System, I quote undeniable evidence that America is going broke because we need health care reform so badly. It’s worth keeping these simple facts in mind:

• We are THE ONLY industrialized country that lacks a national health care system.
• Health care costs MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH as the next highest cost country.

Are all of these other countries bankrupt, enslaved, and over the edge of the cliff? What’s different about us? It’s worth thinking about.

The main thing all this has served to tell me is just how much we need to complete the revolution started in 2008.