Jane Norton, Pat Toomey, Mike Castle, Rob Portman, Mark Kirk, and Rob Simmons are all watching Harry Reid's push for Obamacare with great interest and mixed emotions.
Each of these declared candidates for the United States Senate --frontrunners for the GOP nomination in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Ohio, Illinois and Connecticut respectively-- are aware of the backlash building against Democrats across the country as the Obama-Pelosi-Reid lurch to the left first alarms and then outrages millions of Americans. They know their candidacies pick up strength with every day's news of another jump to the left by D.C. Democrats. But they also know the country's economy is suffering even as their political prospects improve because of the manifest incompetence and ideological extremism of the Democrats.
(You can contribute to Norton here, Toomey here, Castle here, Portman here, Kirk here and Simmons here.)
While we don't know how the final vote will go on Obamacare or even remotely what a final bill will look like, we know for certain that every version slashes Medicare benefits and forces large premium hikes for seniors living on fixed incomes from reduced portfolios and stagnant social security payments.
We know for certain that every version of Obamacare is layered with tax hikes, both direct and indirect.
We know for certain that doctors will be quitting or retiring by the tens of thousands if any version of Obamacare passes.
And we know that every version of the public plan that lives on despite across the board opposition will put the country on the glide path to Canada-style single payer medicine.
Republican candidates like those named above as well as whomever emerges as the frontrunner in Arkansas to face Democrat Blanche Lincoln, in Indiana to face Democrat Evan Bayh, in California to face Democrat Barbara Boxer and in Nevada to face Harry Reid himself will all be campaigning on the votes made in the next few weeks, especially the vote to bring Reid's bill on to the floor and open debate. Continued... |