First, the challenges from states like Idaho and Virginia hold a possible chance of derailing the bill on a statewide basis. Second and most importantly, I would point back to the budget trick that the Democrats used to make the bill budget neutral to the CBO. They tax for all of the first ten years but don't start the program's so called benefits for 4 years. Do some arithmetic and you'll find that two elections happen between now and 2014. If the GOP gets their act together you could see a Republican House, Senate, and Presidency in 2013. This is where the Democrats process this year will come back to bite them. If the Democrats pass their bill with reconciliation, the GOP can surely repeal it with reconciliation as well, right? All the GOP would need is a simple majority in each chamber and a Republican President to end the bill before it even begins.
But, as I tweeted on Sunday, the most important words in the next two elections are "Repeal and Replace". It's not enough to be like the failed GOP Presidential candidate Alf Landon in 1936 and run strictly a repeal campaign. The GOP must reform the reform. There are precious few things in this bill that are decent. The Republicans should acknowledge and keep them. They should also campaign on new changes that don't keep the ever despised "status quo". We've got good ideas on healthcare. We need to put them into affect and take this issue away from liberal Democrat thinkers.
My message tonight is to not get to down about the setback tonight, because it's only that. The final battle is never over. Milton Friedman said the battle for freedom must be won over and over again. Now it's this generation's turn to stand for healthcare freedom in the face of a legislative loss. Don't quit, don't mourn, just keep fighting for freedom for the next four years. The country depends on it.
