A Drama With Too Many Acts: The Health Care Reform Summit

The suspense and intrigue are palpable as the curtain rises on today’s health care reform summit. In many ways, this is a drama in too many acts with the life and health of Americans hanging in the balance. Here is how the drama unfolds:

Act 1: President Obama announces the February 25 health care reform summit featuring rolling cameras.

Act 2: President Obama releases a health care reform plan as a starting point. His bill expands abortion beyond the unacceptable Senate bill. It also includes rationing for senior citizens and limits the ability of all Americans to buy health care with their own money.

Act 3: Posturing, posturing, posturing by everyone.

Act 4: Key Democrats float the “reconciliation” balloon. President, Speaker and Senate leader say reconciliation is on the table. Is it a threat or a promise?

Act 5: House leaders announce that Speaker Pelosi doesn’t have the votes in the House for the Senate bill whose passage in the House is the first step in using the reconciliation process. The math adds up. She started with 220 votes. Two votes have retired, one vote is deceased, and one vote is the lone Republican who supported Obamacare in the House but will not support the Senate bill because it is pro-abortion. Take away another 10-12 Dems who voted for Obamacare because the Stupak Amendment was adopted but will not vote for the Senate bill because it is abortion-laden. That leaves Ms. Pelosi about 15 votes shy of what she needs.

Act 6: Enter the hero of the play, Rep. Bart Stupak, off stage, who says the President’s bill is unacceptable because it includes public funding of abortion.

Act 7: Enter pro-abortion House Democrats, also off stage, who vow they will not vote for Obamacare if the Stupak language is included.

Act 8: Just before the curtain rises, the White House tantalizes viewers by leaking that another scaled-down bill is lurking in the shadows. Will it contain abortion coverage and funding? Probably. Rationing? Probably.

Act 9: The entire cast enters the stage, scripts in hand, prepped for cameras which are already rolling. The curtain rises on this mega-drama. Lights, camera, action.

Stay tuned for the conclusion of this drama which has life or death consequences for all of us.

Barbara Lyons