When all is said and done

MANIFESTO

As the days of astroturf, chaotic town halls, callous legislators, and disingenuous talk show hosts continue ad infinitum, let us not forget why all of these things are going on in the first place:

If President Barack Obama succeeds in signing a major health care reform bill into law—one that provides a public plan for people currently priced out of the system— ... he will likely deprive the Republican minority in Congress from anything approaching a comeback in the 2010 midterm elections.

However, if health care reform does not pass early in Obama's term, the Democrats will likely face midterm elections amid rising unemployment figures with a record of having passed legislation characterized as "bailouts" for megabanks and large corporations—bills whose benefits to the economy have little impact on the person who has already lost a job. So GOP leaders are focused like a laser beam on stopping health-care reform in its tracks.

Anything else stated about the issue by anyone is mere dross. When all is said and done, Republican legislators don't care about their constituents, but care only about saving their precious jobs.