Wax Job

I was discouraged to learn earlier today that Rep. Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, managed to pull in enough of the Blue Dog Democrats to secure committee passage of the worst of the health care bills.  Who knows what kind of promises he made, and whether he will be able to keep those promises without alienating his left-wing base.

All is not lost.  These two paragraphs from the Politico account give me encouragement:

But changes are sure to roil the party again once the bill moves to the House floor and Democratic leaders marry this measure to ones passed by the Education and Labor and Ways and Means committees.

"This is one step in a long and complex legislative process," said Ohio Rep. Zack Space, a Blue Dog who accepted the chairman's deal.

If you listen to talk radio and pay attention to the polls, Americans have grave reservations about the Democrats' grandiose plans to overhaul health care.  It is my hope that during the next several weeks, when the Democrat Blue Dogs are back in their districts, they will be lambasted by angry voters who deliver an ultimatum: Vote against this hideous boondoggle, or you'll be looking for a job come November 2010.

I am reminded of a verse from Weezer's "The Sweater Song" (1994):

If you want to destroy my sweater
Pull this thread as I walk away (as I walk away)
Watch me unravel I'll soon be naked
Lying on the floor, lying on the floor
I've come undone

We can only hope!

One thing I have noticed, reading op/eds, seeing guests on talk shows, and hearing callers on talk radio, is that there are a considerable number of physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals — articulate, intelligent, knowledgeable people — who are appalled at the thought of Obamacare.  They regard it as the ultimate example of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 

It's as if my 2001 Taurus needs a new muffler, so I'm going to put a bunch of high school auto shop hacks to work doing a ring & valve job, replacing the timing chain and head gasket, overhauling the transmission, and giving it a front end alignment for good measure.  By the time they get done, I may wish I still had that loud muffler.