I signed up for email updates from Americans for Prosperity, a group I'm sure many of you are familiar with. I originally did it to keep an eye on them, and see what they have going on around my town of Eugene, Oregon. I love Oregon, and for the most part the larger cities are fairly liberal, but there's a major wing-nut component, too, and I like to see what they have going on.
Phil Kerpen, the policy director for AFP, sent out an email this morning exhorting one and all to pressure their elected representatives on the conference committee to keep health care out of reconciliation:
Reconciliation is a trick, a procedure designed for deficit reduction being misused to jam through a government takeover of health care with only 20 hours of debate, no amendments, and just 50 votes instead of the usual 60. This trick will silence Republicans and centrist Democrats, and allow a radical leftist plan in which government takes away control of health care from patients and doctors, and rations care by denying it to people judged by bureaucrats to be too old or too sick to justify the cost.
This is really what it's all about, isn't it? Phil Kerpen doesn't believe that crap any more than I do, but he sure means to get the poor working-class people on his mailing list riled up. What I always find hilarious is when these douchebags start yelling about "radical leftist" this or "socialist" that. Let me tell you--they should be happy they've got Obama and the current Senate and House to deal with instead of who I want as leadership. I would support the total nationalization of the oil industry, and the use of the profits to fund hemp research. That's why I don't run for public office--I'm too crazy even for Eugene.
I'm without insurance for the first time in years--I got laid off in October and decided I'd keep my home instead of make those COBRA payments. I need both of my knees replaced, and we're not sure how we're going to get it done. I do know that I'd rather be dealing with it in one of those bastions of evil "socialism" like Belgium or France. A well-meaning bureaucrat sounds pretty good compared to my last insurance company.
Anyway-screw AFP. I expect most of you are on this already, but I want encourage you folks living in North Dakota and Florida's second district to stay on these guys about using reconciliation to get this thing done.