Can Democratic Anti-Choice Fanatic Bart Stupak Kill Health Care Reform? He Plans To Try

Earlier this afternoon we looked at some of the obstacles to passage of meaningful health care reform, primarily obstacles from Big Business in the form of an entrenched culture of corruption between many members of the Senate and with the Executive Branch. But not all the opposition is about dollars and cents. The Insurance lobbyists and their Republican cronies are counting on the Blue Dogs, of course-- and greasing the way with massive infusions of cash not just to corrupt Republicans like John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Ed Royce, and Spencer Bachus-- the 5 leaders of the anti-health care onslaught-- but with hefty bribes to corrupt Democrats like John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Melissa Bean (D-IL), Earl Pomeroy (Blue Dog-ND), and Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA). But Republicans have assured the Insurance Lobby that they have another ace up their sleeves: the anti-choice Democrats.

It isn't easy to get a membership list of the House Pro-Life Caucus (especially not the Democrats), but if you are thinking that all Republicans are anti-choice and all Democrats are pro-choice, you are very wrong. Dede Scozzafava, battling for her political life against anti-choice extremists like Sarah Palin, Mike Pence, Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann in NY-23 right at the moment, is hardly the only pro-choice Republican. Mike Castle (R-DE, the GOP's candidate for the open Delaware Senate seat), Mark Kirk (R-IL, the GOP's candidate for the open Illinois Senate seat), Judy Biggert (R-IL), Charlie Dent (R-PA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), Greg Walden (R-OR), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Kay Granger (R-TX), and Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) are all openly pro-choice Republican members of the House. And there are between three and four dozen anti-choice Democrats, although only around 20 hard core anti-choice absolutists.

Over the weekend there was a lot of talk about how the anti-choice Dems, led by Michigan reactionary Bart Stupak, would team up with the Republicans to scuttle health care reform in the name of preventing poor women from getting abortions. It varies by the issue how many Democrats are willing to out themselves as anti-choice by crossing the aisle and voting against women with the GOP. Last year only 16 voted against stem-cell research. Not many people take Stupak overly seriously-- he's a demented religionist fanatic who lives in the infamous C Street House as a member of the neo-fascist (almost totally Republican) Family-- but he brags that he can deliver 40 anti-choice Democrats to the "cause." Although Democrats who normally vote with the GOP on substantive matters, Blue Dogs like Bobby Bright, Dan Boren, Parker Griffith and Travis Childers, are against health care reform and against choice, many of the anti-choice Democrats, like Marcy Kaptur, John Boccieri and Steve Driehaus, are not Blue Dogs and are in favor of health care reform. Nevertheless CNSNews reported on Friday-- more out of faith than fact-- that Stupak has 40 Democrats to vote to kill health care reform. The original 19 Democrats (not 40 Democrats) who signed onto Stupak's threatening anti-choice letter to Pelosi were: Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK); Bart Stupak (D-MI); Colin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN); Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA); Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS); Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN); Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC) Solomon Ortiz (D-TX); Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC); Jerry Costello (D-IL); Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS); James Oberstar (D-MN); Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL); Steve Driehaus (D-OH); Marcy Kaptur (D-OH); Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA); John Murtha (D-PA); Paul Kanjorski (D-PA); and Kathleen Dahlkemper (Blue Dog-PA).

Under Stupak’s plan, the approximately 40 Democrats in his camp would join with all House Republicans in voting to defeat the special House “rule” that would set the terms for debating and amending the health-care bill on the House floor when it is brought up for a final vote. If a majority of the House does not first vote to approve this rule, the health-care bill itself cannot be brought to the floor.

“We will try to-- we, there’s about 40 likeminded Democrats like myself-- we’ll try to take down the rule,” Stupak told CNSNews.com. “If all 40 of us vote in a bloc against the rule-- because we think the Republicans will join us-- we can defeat the rule. The magic number is 218. If we can have 218 votes against the rule, we win.”

"We?" Certainly not the people of the U.S. or folks on either side of the Mackinac Bridge. Maybe he means the shady fascist group he belongs to on C Street.