The Patriot Post® · The Republican Endgame

Despite all the Leftist rhetoric about ObamaCare being “the law which must now be funded,” it was wholly rejected by Republicans in the Senate and House, along with many House Democrats. Thus, proposals to defund it, delay it or amend it are exactly in line with what our Founders expected legislators to do in the interest of defending and sustaining Rule of Law.

After 41 previous attempts to delay or amend this behemoth, House Republicans attached a “defund” DemoCare condition to its Continuing Resolution legislation (CR being that “pass the buck” gimmick to fund government without actually passing a budget – which has not been done since George Bush’s last year in office). Using the CR to make their case against nationalized healthcare, effectively elevated Republican objections above the political din – thanks in large measure to the much-maligned efforts of Sen. Ted Cruz – though Cruz should stop his petty attacks against fellow Republicans and keep the focus on Democrats, who are digging their own demise. (There is an old adage: When your adversary is defeating himself, don’t interfere.)

Though Cruz’s high-profile protest elevated the ObamaCare debate, attaching the delay language to the debt ceiling legislation, rather than risking Obama’s veto of the CR and shuttering the government, again, appears the better option. However, there is a rapidly growing consensus, both public and political, that Obama and Democrats might take more of the blame this time around if he vetoes a CR with “delay” instead of “defund.” Some of Obama’s previously-loyal adherents are growing tired of his arrogant and spiteful rhetoric.

Here is the Republican strategy and endgame (yes, there is one, even if GOP “leadership” is trying to catch up with the rank and file): There is a growing grassroots storm brewing in opposition to socialized medicine, now that the reality and consequences of ObamaCare are starting to sink in. The House is using the CR as a vehicle to force Democrat votes on defunding, delaying or amending this job-killing budget-buster. The DemoCare dare is really a strategic long shot effort to delay implementation of the “individual mandate” until after the 2014 election when Republicans believe they will have generated enough political opposition to significantly modify major portions of the law. Indeed, Obama has, for political expediency, already unilaterally (and unconstitutionally) delayed implementation of the employer mandate.

Knowing the House “defund tactic” won’t pass a full vote in the Demo-controlled Senate, once Demo Majority Leader Harry Reid strips out that measure and sends it back to the House, Republicans will likely return a CR with other amendments unrelated to DemoCare. They will follow that with a conditional Debt Ceiling proposal (which we hit sometime between 17 and 22 October) replacing the ObamaCare “defund” demand with “delay.”

Expect both the revised Continuing Resolution and the debt ceiling legislation to include a “wish list” of other amendments, including tax reform, approval of the Keystone pipeline, regulatory and entitlement reforms including means-tested Medicare, and a “chained” Consumer Price Index (CPI). Notably, the House should propose that all members of the House and Senate, and their staffs, will be subject to all provisions of ObamaCare – a measure which has enormous public support.

Should most or all of these measures be rejected by the Senate, and the ObamaCare mandates to go into effect as scheduled, Republicans have still gained enormous momentum ahead of 2014. The net effect of the Republican strategy is that Democrats in the House and Senate will have to vote on a lot of measures, and then defend those votes ahead of the midterm elections. In regard to the measure to “delay” the implementation of ObamaCare, Demo votes against that “compromise” will be judged harshly in states and districts with only modest support for ObamaCare, amid growing grassroots protests against Obama’s socialized medicine scheme.

What will drive those grassroots protests?

Obama, the consummate narcissist, having himself even embraced the name “ObamaCare,” will himself, along with current and future generations of Democrats, suffer a reversal of political fortunes after ObamaCare is implemented. Why? Because every American of every political stripe who has any issue with health care, whether a hangnail or heart transplant, a delay in a doctor’s office or in critical care for a loved one, will tie blame for their discontent like a noose around the necks of Obama and his Democrats, who were solely responsible for forcing this abomination upon the American people. No matter how Fab-Tastic ObamaCare may be for some Demo constituencies, Democrats are going to be the target of every health care complaint.

Even Demo National Committee chair and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz can see that pitfall from her perspective in the House. She is insisting that Democrats “must not treat every minute provision in the law as sacred.” She added that Demos “should be open to suggestions for improving the law.”

If Republicans successfully herd the inevitable consumer dissatisfaction and anger toward Democrats, the electoral awards will be substantial in 2014, 2016 and beyond. Of course, given that establishment Republican have a propensity for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, that’s a big “if.”

As for the upcoming debt ceiling debate, taking a walk down memory lane, I recall that “irresponsible” and “unpatriotic” presidential campaign speech in July of 2008: “The problem is, is that the way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents – No. 43 added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back – $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.”

Fact Check: In the five years since Obama took office, the national debt has increased $6.1 trillion, and now stands at $16.7 trillion. Yes, No. 44 added $6.1 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $16.7 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back – $53,995.17 for every man, woman, and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.