Republicans like to win, and they are not exactly immune to crossing all sorts of moral lines to get there.
During this long health care reform debate, we've had claims that the bill will kill old people, will take away medicare, comparisons to Nazi concentration camps, expensive television campaigns calling it socialist legislation, and - now - even fraudulent internal political strategy memos.
But, that's not the biggest lie of all.
The biggest lie of all is this: The Republicans claim they support the idea of health care reform. They say they just want it to be less about government bureaucracy (sometimes). Sometimes they say they think it's more important to reduce the deficit. Sometimes they even say they think it just needs more malpractice lawsuit reform.
But it's not true. None of it has ever been true. This is - perhaps - the most intellectually dishonest political play of all. The Republican party does not believe that government should be involved in health care at all. In fact, they believe that government has no business involved in this health care business at all.
They don't believe it's a right. And they never have. The Republican party opposed Social Security. And Medicare. And child health care laws. And the parental leave act. In fact, the vast majority of the Republican party has stood opposed to every piece of health care legislation since before FDR.
This is our biggest weapon in the mid term elections. For when this passes - and it will pass - while the GOP is running ads about the supposed undemocratic nature of how this is passed, and spreading some new lies about how this is going to raise taxes, kill people, spread disease - or whatever they choose to make up, it is up to us to be out there telling the American people the truth.
If the Republican party had control, there would be no government health care programs, no insurance regulation, and no health care reform. If it wasn't for Democrats, none of this legislation would have happened. None of it ever would. And, while the bill is far from perfect, it is also far from anything the Republican party would ever have the government do on health care - which is nothing. No universal coverage, no control on costs, no easier access, no protection from pre-existing coverages. Nothing.