The hopes and dreams of conservatives around the nation came to fruition, at least partially, on Monday as President Obama’s healthcare bill finally found resistance from the judicial branch. With another lawsuit backed by twenty states hitting the docket, Obamacare is no longer looking unstoppable. It will ultimately be heading to the Supreme Court where conservative appointees outnumber liberals by a slim 5-4 margin.
Does this mean that we can expect to see Obamacare on the trash heap of failed legislation in the near future?
I believe it does. The political groundswell that has been growing in the conservative ranks has Democrats running for the bipartisan cooperation, they abandoned when Obama came into office.
If Obama’s reach across the aisle last week to strike a deal with Republicans on tax cuts is any indication, the next two years could be very interesting indeed. Obama now seems to understand what is at stake: he is fighting not only for political capital and his (failed) platform, but also for his legacy. If his presidency ended today, he would be remembered for failing to live up to his outlandish campaign promises, while burdening us, the American taxpayers, with trillions of dollars of debt, faster and greater than all presidents before him….combined!
Many conservatives are doing one of two things right now: gloating about the possible repeal of Obamacare or calling Obama weak for reaching across the aisle. I will do neither; instead I’m concerned about what this means for the next two years.
With Obama’s platform seemingly crumbling beneath his feet, America is highly vulnerable to rash action by a potentially desperate man. If rolling out Democratic champion Bill Clinton doesn’t signal desperation, I don’t know what does. Don’t misunderstand me: I commend Obama for doing the right thing by cutting a deal with Republicans on extending the tax cuts. Liberals’ inability to do that very thing cost them dearly at the polls in last month’s elections and more importantly cost American taxpayers millions in wasted time.
Like I said, I’m concerned about what comes next. Obama simply doesn’t have the political experience to weather the massive bruising that he has taken in the last six months. After the LBJ and Nixon scandals and fiascos, we had Jimmy Carter, who was supposed to bring “change” to the country in a way no president had ever done. He planned to create universal healthcare, pull troops out of foreign conflicts, and rebuild a staggering economy. Sound familiar? Instead, Carter created a massive deficit, perhaps the most detrimental foreign policy in American history, and was unable to deliver health care reform. When Obama came into office, he was already being billed as a savior, a messiah. Two years from now, he may only be remembered for mobilizing an army of angry conservatives.
My advice to Obama is this: listen to we the people. Mr. President, when you were elected, you were not given free reign to install your agenda wholesale. However, an election is merely a proving ground for further discussion. Right now Americans care about one thing: the economy. Create jobs and your legacy may be preserved. I consider myself to be reasonably open-minded, but I’m not empty-minded. I will support Obama as the president but I will not support him when he does something contrary to what I believe to be right. I will support him because he may be the only person with the power to unite our nation. I will support him because I’m not in the business of rooting against America. When the time comes, I will likely vote against him because I do not believe he represents the best we have to offer. But until then, join with me in saying a prayer for our President. He is facing great opportunity and great risk with America’s future lying in the balance.
Big Government
