SLAMMING IT THROUGH – AT 10:33 A.M. ET:  In defiance of public opinion, and uniform GOP opposition, the president appears determined to slam his health "reform" bill through Congress, as Bloomberg reports:

March 1 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, taking charge of health-care legislation, is facing resistance from lawmakers in his own Democratic Party over the prospect of pushing the bill through Congress.

Obama plans to announce a way forward this week on the biggest overhaul of the U.S. health system in 45 years in a bid to break an impasse on the bill. Some House Democrats are uneasy over the likely use of a procedure called reconciliation that would sidestep Republican opposition by requiring only a simple majority vote in the Senate.

“It looks like we’re trying to cram something through,” said Representative Baron Hill, an Indiana Democrat who voted for the original House bill.

Hill said he might not back a measure if it goes through reconciliation, which is intended for budget matters. A “sizeable number” of the 54 fiscally conservative Democrats who call themselves Blue Dogs are also concerned, said South Dakota Representative Stephanie Herseth Sandlin.

The Dems are looking at November, when the entire House and a third of the Senate will be up for reelection.  Continued employment prospects do not look good for a number of them.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who yesterday said “time is up” for Congress to pass the legislation, can ill afford to lose votes. The first House bill passed 220-215 in November, and Democrats have lost at least three “yes” votes since then. Other party lawmakers are objecting to the substance of a new plan Obama released on Feb. 22.

COMMENT:  It's hard to remember a time when a president, and his Congressional leadership, worked so hard to push through a measure that was so unpopular with the public.  This represents a triumph of ideology over common sense, a government knows best mentality.  It's hard to see who benefits.  The public apparently thinks that it will not benefit.

March 1, 2010