By Dave Andrusko

Lots to read today. Part Two is a brilliant examination of the rationing components of ObamaCare. Part Three is an Alert which lays out the basics of what happened yesterday in the House of Representatives. Part Four is a statement from the Christian Medical Association. Please send me your comments at daveandrusko@gmail.com.  And don't forget to visit our newest information source www.nationalrighttolifenews.org.

Last night the House of Representatives' lamentably voted 219 to 212 in favor of ObamaCare. The outcome--including the underhanded manner in which it happened and the names of all those who voted in favor--is seared into our memories.

The regrettable basics are straightforward. All 219 votes in favor were cast by Democrats. Of the opposing (pro-life) votes, 178 were cast by Republicans and 34 by Democrats.

You have to hand it--sort of--to President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. They could not have dragged this lemon of a bill over the finish line if they were not as wedded to their anti-life views as we are married to finding life-affirming solutions for both mother and child.

A few weeks ago it looked like this abortion of a bill was stalled. When other Democrats looked at the massive opposition and asked why they should throw themselves under the bus, Pelosi, in particular, never wavered. (It helps brace your spine when, like Pelosi, you represent a congressional district that will never vote you out.)

Their tactics were a witch's brew of deception, misdirection, out-and-out lies, enforced by political muscle. But blithefully free of conscience, this did not even give them reason to pause. Collectively, they did what they needed to do to win and never looked back.

Now it's up to Americans who disagree with commandeering control over one-sixth of the American economy, and in the process multiplying the number of dead babies, to prove that Obama/Reid/Pelosi ought to have been more careful what they asked for.

Let me offer a few quotes to put what follows in context.

"The executive order promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce what the law says.'
     -- National Right to Life, March 21.

"President Obama is set to begin an immediate public relations blitz aimed at turning around Americans' opinion of the health-care bill."
     -- From "Obama plans blitz to boost public opinion of health-care effort" in this morning's Washington Post.

"Yes, With Trepidation"
     -- Headline of a Friday Washington Post editorial endorsing House passage of a massive health care restructuring bill strongly opposed by the National Right to Right.

"The final numbers for Congress before passing the health care proposal showed that just 11% believe the legislature is doing a good or an excellent job."
    -- Rasmussen Reports, March 22

What do these four representative quotes tell us?

First, the genius of ObamaCare proponents was to understand that if they could not coerce wavering Democrats into line, they had to find a quasi-plausible cover story. It was like watching somebody go up into the attic, open up a trunk and pull one shirt/pants/dress after another. Eventually, they found rhetorical garments that fit the need of hesitant Democrats who felt exposed.

The last fig leaf was the worst: that Obama would sign an executive order after the bill was law "affirming prohibitions in current law and in the health legislation against taxpayer money going to abortions," as the Associated Press described it. In announcing the agreement Sunday, which brought several pivotal votes over to the "yes" column, Rep. Bart Stupak offered a very unfortunate and completely inaccurate assessment: "Make no doubt about it," he said. "There will be no public funds for abortion."

As if an executive order could trump statutory law….As if Obama, joined at the hip to the Abortion Establishment, would stand over like sentinel, watching how the law played out to ensure that public funds AREN'T used for abortion. Such an assurance was/is as misguided as it was/is wrong

Second, Obama will be on the hustings, we are told, persuading the people that ObamaCare is the greatest thing since sliced bread, probably better. As further protection we've been told that the American public supposedly has the attention span of a gnat. By the time November rolls around, the public will be concerned with something else.

Of course if you are Democrat who has voted for a massively expensive, intrusive health care castle built on sand, you have to believe, or at least hope, this is true. It is--unfortunately for them--180 degrees off. If anything, the debate will grow fiercer, as we will see over the next month.

Third, publications such as the Washington Post and the New York Times ran interference for Obama/Reid/Pelosi.

But not only did they block below the knees, they were repeatedly guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct.

It's bad enough that the Democratic leadership threaten to run primary challengers against reluctant Democrats or to make sure their financial contribution dry up. But what's worse is the conduct of so many established media outlets.

Opponents of ObamaCare were attacked so fiercely it almost gave demagoguery a bad name. Their arguments were either dismissed using guilt by association (you can always find somebody who will say or do something stupid), caricatured, or treated as if was beneath their dignity even to respond. But even if you were half-awake when you read last Friday's Post editorial, you couldn't miss that the writer was likely trying to talk himself/herself into believing what they were writing.

"Yes, with trepidation" was the headline. "Yes, even though 90% of the evidence in this editorial demands a 'no'" would have been much more accurate.

Finally, the prestige of Congress, never high to begin with, has tanked. There's an old joke that "Law and sausage are two things you do not want to see being made." In fact, if Democracy is going to flourish, we must see how laws are made.

And in the case of ObamaCare, not only was the Republican Party kept from seeing what was going on until the final hours, so was the American public. Over the next few weeks the details of what was hidden away in this 2,000+page monstrosity will gradually see the light of day. It will not be a pretty sight.

Keep coming back to TN&V over the next weeks; to our new outlet www.nationalrighttolifenews.org; to http://nrlactioncenter.com; to http://nrlactioncenter.com and to National Right to Life News. We will keep you constantly updated.

Let me conclude with what you already know: The fight has only begun. This will not stand. If you agree, write me at daveandrusko@gmail.com.