Blue Dogs Don't Understand: If the final bill doesn't work, they'll lose their seat anyway.

[smoochpooch]

Here's the deal: this will be a Democratic bill and, just like the stimulus, no Rethugs are going to vote for it. We will own this thing. Whatever the final bill looks like, it must lower costs, be available and affordable for all Americans, and cover all illnesses including pre-existing conditions. The Blue Dogs have spent their time watering the legislation down so much that it is hard to imagine that the final bill will do any of those things. Of course, this is the intent of the corporate overlords and campaign contributors of the Blue Dogs.

But when those '10 and '12 elections roll around, what do the Blue Dogs think is going to happen? Rethugs will remind everyone what was promised and what was actually delivered. Voters will simply see the (D) next to their name and think, "Well, the Dems said costs would go down but they didn't. They said I would have a choice, but I had to keep the same shitty insurance I had before. The Dems health care reform didn't change a thing, might as well give the GOP a try." This is especially likely in those Blue Dog districts where voters are torn between Dems and Rethugs anyway. To voters, Blue Dogs will just be libruls.

Conversely, if the bill actually has teeth, if it contains a public option that lowers cost to consumers, if consumers have an opportunity to choose such an option, IF PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY BETTER OFF than they were before, every Dem. will get re-elected. When programs improve people's lives, they tend to stop griping about the cost. My grandparents voted Democratic for 70 years because of the New Deal. Can you imagine? If this thing works on that kind of scale, we could control Congress for decades. And yes, Blue Dogs would keep their seats too.

Every single Democrat is going to have to answer for this legislation in the next election cycles. If it works, Dems win. If it doesn't work, we lose seats. So everyone who has a (D) next to their name, including Blue Dogs, better do everything in their power to ensure it works.

[still_one]

1. That was the same logic many Democrats made when they voted for the IWR and the

Patriot Act. They still lost in 2004

After the last 10 Years you would think they would have learned

[babylonsister]

2. They supposedly know what they're doing. So convenient

they're off for a month.

But trust me: they understand what they're doing.

[MrModerate]

3. They're not worried. With the insurance and pharma money in their pockets . . .

They'll be able to outspend any primary or general election challenger in their pissant little districts by a couple of orders of magnitude. The current political gospel is that more advertising dollars trumps every other factor. They have every expectation of returning to Congress forever as long as the gravy continues to flow from their owners.

Gotta love how campaign funding works in the US. Not to mention that every vote in Utah is worth 20 in California. And media buys in Utah are so cheap they're just about free. That's democracy for you!

Or maybe a unicameral legislature based on population would be better. Any takers?

[Jennicut]

4. I don't think they care if the loose an election, they will have cushy

lobbyist jobs waiting or something else from some huge corporation.