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MAN IN THE MIDDLE OPINION: The Voters of Massachusetts Got It Right
The election of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown to the senate seat previously held by the late Senator Ted Kennedy, signals another seismic shift in the political agenda of our country. To paraphrase E. Everett, Scott Brown’s win “sounds his imperial clarion along the whole line of battle.” Brown’s victory united Republicans, Independents and disenfranchised Democrats who have grown frustrated and disenchanted with the “no-change” politics of the Messiah Barrack Obama. Last night, a distinct and united American voice said “No more” to Mr. Obama’s political monolith. Once Mr. Brown takes office, the Democrats will no longer control the 60 votes in the Senate needed to overcome filibusters. This will hopefully be the death knell of Obamacare and put the brakes on the rampant White House spending spree.
As the Dems come to grips with the fact that their party ideology and the Obama agenda have pushed them far off center, party officials with have to acknowledge too, that their chosen candidate, Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general and the prohibitive favorite to win, ran a campaign based on arrogance and divine providence, as opposed to one of earnest concern for the growing unemployment rate and our unchecked national deficit. Add to the list of negatives the low approval rating of Massachusetts Governor and Barrack friend Deval Patrick (who was conspicuously absent from this campaign and last Sunday’s Obama/Coakly rally) the perennial blue state of Massachusetts is beginning to see GOP Red.
This morning the White House puppet pundits and Obama apologists blamed Coakley’s demise on the nation’s dissatisfaction with Obamacare. Repeatedly they ignored the fact that Massachusetts already has a near-universal health coverage program and would receive little benefit from the national agenda. Last night, the citizens of Massachusetts sent the nation a message as they have borne witness to the massive folly of universal health care, and that message is, “it does not work.” Coverage without cost controls at the source, namely hospitals, doctors, drug manufacturers, can only worsen our national economic picture. For the state’s policymakers, rapidly rising health-care costs are the central problem with the plan. Since 2006, the cost of the state’s insurance program has increased by 42 percent, or almost $600 million. According to an analysis by the Rand Corporation, “in the absence of policy change, health care spending in Massachusetts is projected to nearly double to $123 billion in 2020, increasing 8 percent faster than the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).” Meanwhile, the cost of insurance premiums in the state is the highest in the nation, and double-digit rate hikes are expected again in 2010.
It is no coincidence Governor Patrick has raised taxes, even though he promised the exact opposite. Sound familiar? Mr. Obama has often cited Massachusetts as an example of what national health care can be. However, in what is becoming a disturbing trend in White House politics, Team Obama steadfastly refuses to acknowledge, and in some cases suppresses information about the real costs involved in funding such a misguided program. Our nation needs a comprehensive health care program for all Americans, but clearly this hodge-podge, backroom, special interest, no transparency deal Mr. Obama is trying to serve up is not the solution.
Ultimately, last night’s contest demonstrated a very real dissatisfaction with Mr. Obama’s hypocrisy and an egotistical agenda that serves only his legacy as opposed to the best interest of our country. This alone killed the Coakley campaign, and is a clear indication of the damage the President has inflicted on his own party. With Mr. Obama’s poll numbers falling fast, many Democrats fear the Washington power game will shift back to the GOP in the next series of mid-term elections.
