Headline of the Day - Dems Alone Can't Deliver Obama Health Care Win

The above headline, per our "friends" at the Associated Depressed, is laughable and defies all notions of common sense and simple, basic math. How is it that Obama needs Republicans to vote for this travesty when he has a filibuster proof Senate and a clear majority in the House?

This is all a sham folks. What the Democrats are trying to accomplish is to provide political cover for those Democratic Senators and House members who reside in traditionally Republican districts or states. Pelosi knows full well that 38 or 39 Democrats are going to vote against health care. What the headline, "Dems Alone Can't Deliver Obama Health Care Win" really translates to is the following; how many Democrats can be given political cover by Republicans who are willing to sell out their own party?

The travesty of the Cap and Trade fiasco was the 8 Republicans who allowed 8 additional Democrats to vote no, thus providing cover for them at home. The good news is that those Congressmen learned, loudly and clearly, from the folks in their districts that such behavior will not be tolerated. A simple google search for the Mike Castle (R. DE) town hall video illustrates the anger of the people. I highly doubt that any Republicans will be so stupid on health care "reform". Sadly, the Republicans have let me down before. Harry Reid is faced with the same problems in the Senate. He is liable to get support from the 2 Republican in name only Senators from Maine, but needs more to shield as many as 12 Democratic Senators.

How will this play out? In the end, I think Pelosi will force passage, strictly on party lines, of her government controlled version of health care reform with 38 or 39 Democrats given the OK to vote no. Since as many as 60 seats will be in play in 2010, this will leave at least 20 Democrats extremely vulnerable. The Senate will pass a greatly watered down bill that will NOT include a public option. The real risk is at conference. It is likely that a bill could be quickly written that would satisfy Pelosi's agenda, including a public option, and sent to the White House so quickly that the American people will not have had the time to digest what is actually in the bill. This way, many Dems can still say they voted against the government take over of health care by voting no will secretly applauding its' passage. This is my worse-case scenario but I won't put anything past the current Democratic leadership.

In the end, the AP headline, "Dems Alone Can't Deliver Obama Health Care Win" is factually untrue.