The fight’s not over yet, but the House leadership seems to think the fat lady is warming up.  Hoyer has scheduled votes through the weekend, and I doubt he would have done so if he didn’t think he had them or couldn’t get them.  I’ve also read rampant speculation about the 222-203 vote in favor of the Slaughter Rule where many believe that will also be the vote on the final bill.

If by some chance the Democrats are harried or scared enough to think the Slaughter Rule will cover for them, they should remember this whole process is under a magnifying glass, kind of like an ant on a sunny day.  That, and if they’re presuming the public is stupid enough to buy it, they have their logic backwards.  What would resonate more with us supposedly simple people?

1. The GOP’s assertion that they voted for the Senate bill and it became law, which is easy to understand and for all intents and purposes accurate, or
2. The Democrats’ defense that no, they voted for a self-executing rule on a bill of amendments that really is Constitutional because of previous “historic” examples of other self-executing rules and explanations of arcane committee and Congressional procedures in an attempt to explain they just passed Obamacare by magically willing it into existence without their votes which they actually made and why are all my constituents looking at me that way?  (Yes, it’s a run-on sentence to demonstrate the convolution that’s going to be involved in this)

Maybe some of them should think again.  And voting “present” or failing to vote at all won’t help them even if Obama has made a career of it.  A Democrat will sign this nightmare into law, and all Democrats will be held responsible should the bill pass.  Their only out is to kill the bill, and not duck it.

But say enough arms are twisted, enough bribes are made, enough are deceived into believing reconciliation will happen, and enough think they can escape?  What if, after all of this, in the mere dark moments of a single vote, they pass this bill into law?  Well, then it’s time for some Obamacare contingency planning.

1. I mentioned this possibility earlier, but now Senator Coburn is specifically threatening to filibuster any future appointments of any Congressman voting “yes” on Obamacare who did so because they would receive one after the Obamacare vote cost them their jobs.  As he has 41 Senators to back him up now, Coburn can carry through on that threat, and those of us on his side of the issue will sing his praises for it.  Plus, how many Democrats in an election year want to go on record as having voted for an Obamacare payoff appointment?  My guess is not enough to get around this.
2. Mark Levin of the Landmark Legal Foundation has his suit against the Slaughter Rule passage ready to go.  You can learn more about it there.  If this happens, I’m donating to Levin, and I strongly recommend you do too.  The man is a legal scholar and a pitbull, and if anyone can make this happen, he can.
3. Now, onto one of the primary purposes of this little exercise of a blog:  Finding a means to hold politicians to account in the middle of their terms.  A fellow by the name of Vassar Bushmills at RedState has some thoughts on that in a post that expounds on the concept of the Ben Nelson treatment.
4. And last, but not least, as we all vent our fury on the Democrats:  Some Republicans are also at fault.  The establishment Republicans led their party to self-decimation though the Bush years, leading to Obama and this potential healthcare disaster that has loomed over us for so long.  If we all run off half-cocked and restore them in 2010 without trying to uproot the RINOs first, it’s going to be “new boss, same as the old boss” come January 2011.  As many of the establishment types as possible need to lose primary challenges to prevent this.

It’s not over yet, and we can still win.  It’s not remotely over even if this passes.  But it doesn’t hurt to plan for the worst.