While Senator Harry Reid’s health care bill cleared an initial hurdle over the weekend with the vote to proceed with debate, there is a tough road ahead – and a great deal of compromise needed for passage of a final bill.
The thought of more compromise apparently causes Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) profound dismay.
The New York Post reports on Senator Brown’s response to the positions taken by moderate Democratic senators:
All the complaining by centrists prompted Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), one of the Senate's more liberal members, to vent: "I don't want four Democratic senators dictating to the other 56 of us and to the rest of the country -- when the public option has this much support -- that [a public option is] not going to be in it."
But he predicted the quartet of vocal critics would fall in line. "I don't think they want to be on the wrong side of history," he said.
Talk about a totally shameless display of arrogance.
Who is Senator Sherrod Brown to presume he speaks for the future?
Guess what, Senator? Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, and Blanche Lincoln represent the citizens of their respective states.
More to the point, their positions are in line with American public opinion.
Rasmussen Reports shows that “just 38% of voters now favor the health care plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats.”
We have a representative democracy and that is how the system operates. If Senator Brown is unable to persuade several moderate Senators of his own party to go along with a certain piece of legislation, then perhaps a little moderation and compromise is in order.
Besides, the federal government seizing control of 1/6 of the US economy should never be easy.
If Senator Brown wants to cut billions from Medicare, impose onerous financial mandates on young Americans, significantly increase the national debt, and relegate all Americans to a lower-quality medical system, then let him say so.
And let history judge him.
Meanwhile, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) made this statement on the House floor prior to the passage of Nancy Pelosi’s health care bill.
Watch it. Then ask yourself whose vision of the future is more appealing to you – Senator Brown’s or Rep. Paul Ryan’s.
