As the Associated Press reports, President Obama is now running a full-court press to try to get House Democrats to pass the Senate version of Obamacare within the next ten days. The president is leaving for Indonesia and Australia on March 18, and he wants the House to pass his proposed $2.5 trillion, 2,700-page overhaul of our nation’s health-care system in time for him to sign it into law before he boards the plane.
The president is also imploring Americans to “Make your voice heard.” Never has he given such sound advice.
The health-care debate has now come down to this: Can one man’s desires prevail over those of 150,000,000 Americans (the difference between the roughly 225 million who oppose Obamacare and the roughly 75 million who support it)? Can one man — through coercion, threats, and payoffs — prove to be more persuasive to individual Democratic members of Congress than the collective voice of their constituents — expressed through calls, letters, rallies, and marches? Can one man convince Democratic members that their vote on Obamacare doesn’t matter (and that they shouldn’t care even if it did), or can their constituents convince them that it DOES matter (and that they better care)?
There are only five minutes left in the game. The legs are heavier, the arms wearier, the arc on the jump-shots flatter. And now it’s just a question of will.
We face an opponent who is fiercely driven by thoughts of personal glory and ideological zeal to make every effort to consolidate and centralize power in Washington under his control. In defense of liberty and fiscal responsibility, we need to match every ounce of our opponent’s perseverance. Let’s leave it all out on the floor.
As Magic Johnson used to say before a game’s final moments – during which its outcome would be decided — “It’s winnin’ time.”