Loading ...By: Rep. Michele Bachmann & Rep. Steve King, Politico
Liberals have long dreamed of putting the government in charge of America’s health insurance industry. Each time they tried, the American people have stood up and rejected a government takeover of health care.
This is different. The stakes are higher and government-run health care advocates are more united than ever before. They believe their political future depends on this bill’s passage.
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel set the tone in November 2008. “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste,” he said. “And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
Emanuel’s directive is the underpinning of the White House’s approach to health care reform. Chicago-style politics continue in Washington as we speak. We are hearing first-hand accounts of how far the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are willing to go to pass any bill they can claim as a national health care act.
Undecided Democrats are being promised campaign perks and lucrative committee assignments. They are being threatened with decreased fund-raising support, primary opponents and the loss of committee chairmanships. President Barack Obama has even lobbied members one-on-one aboard Air Force One.
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