For a party that was deemed nearly extinct just a few months ago, Republicans look good in next year’s elections.  They’re ahead in the polls, and Democrats seem hell-bent on political suicide by adoption of Federalized health care over massive public opposition.  

But Dems don’t usually go down this easily.  Do they have a “secret strategy”?  Yes, and the GOP must develop its own counter-plan, a new “Prescription for America”, as an antidote to the Democrat-prescribed government takeover.

Let’s assume the worst happens -- Congress passes, and Obama signs, the socialized medicine bill of “Noose’n Nan” Pelosi and “Hangin’ Harry” Reid, which dooms seniors and makes jail-bait out of penurious Yuppies.

Jubilant Democrats will celebrate “victory in a fifty-year fight” and invest in casket-making firms to hedge against hyper-inflation induced by their spending spree.  Of course, some party faithful who voted for the hated legislation may be defeated in 2010, but cabinet or diplomatic posts can be opened, or other sinecures found, for them.  

Cannibalization of their own will pay off in the long run, Donk Wonks believe, once the health of the entire U.S. population is under Federal government control.  Sure, they’ll give up a few Congressional seats now, but be in their glory later when voter blocs must come to them for health care.  They'll have life-or-death control.  Politicians, presumably Republicans, who oppose the new health care dictat will be swept aside.   A fifty-year Democratic reign will ensue.

Dems are right, voters will turn on lawmakers who try to cut Federal health care benefits.  But they’re forgetting one thing -- Medicare is an existing program.  And Democrats are the ones cutting it.  The last time they did this, they got their clock cleaned.

In 1988, the Democratic House, led by Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL),  passed the “Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act” by 328 to 72.  Apparently part of the party’s fifty-year plot, the measure promised to expand coverage and benefits -- but it was financed by a surcharge on seniors’ existing Medicare benefits.  

Like the current health atrocity, the bill was backed by the AARP, a longtime de-facto front-group for Democrats.  But word of the onerous cost gradually spread.  A year later, Rostenkowski had to flee from a crowd of angry, sign-waving seniors banging on his stopped car.  Some 16 months after passage, the law was repealed by a vote of 360 to 66.  Maybe because he was disillusioned, Rosty let his ethics lapse, and wound up in prison.  Wouldn’t it be justice if “Hangin’ Harry” and “Noose’n Nan” were involuntarily retired and jailed for refusing to buy health insurance, before their handiwork got repealed?

Today, with seniors not only aware of the “death panel” proposals but demanding advance text publication on the internet, their retribution will be stronger and swifter.  They’ll be joined by their kids, many of whom have opted not to buy expensive health insurance but are learning they’ll be forced to under Obamacare.  Since they’re healthy, their payments will subsidize insurance for others who aren’t.  Maybe illegal aliens?    

Younger Americans are also discovering, if they don’t shell-out thousands for health insurance, or pay a big penalty, they can be jailed.  So much for more “choice”.   Bottom line: voter retaliation next year is apt to be far stronger than delusional Dems envision.  The way is open for the GOP to take over the House, defeat many Democratic Senators seeking re-election (including Reid), and repeal Obamacare.  But since the tide has turned on a national issue, Republicans need a national victory plan -- something like former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s “Contract With America” -- to take full advantage.

Political observers may recall that Newt’s Contract was promulgated just six weeks before the 1994 Congressional election, the first mid-termer of President Bill Clinton’s Administration.  Signed by all but two Republican House members and all of the party's non-incumbent Congressional candidates, it pledged votes on ten issues with broad popular support, including welfare reform, term limits, tougher crime laws, and a balanced budget law.  In the November elections, the GOP gained 54 seats and took control of the House for the first time since 1954.  (Their forty-year plan?)

Regrettably, translating the pledged reforms into actual law proved difficult, especially with a Democratic president in office.  Eventually, frustrated Republicans lost their unity, and with it, control of Congress.  The lesson: for 2010, draft a smaller, more attainable plan that’s more likely to be enacted into law.

While defeating the President’s 2,000-page socialized medicine scheme is presently the most urgent need, opinion polls show the issues of most concern to voters are jobs, the economy, excessive Federal spending, and the national debt.  Accordingly, the new contract should concentrate on these subjects -- plus repeal of Obamacare and other massive Democratic budget-busters like “Cap/Tax & Trade”, if enacted.

There’s plenty of time to see how much damage the Democrats do with their “ram-it-through” majority before diagnosing the GOP cure.  At this stage, a “Prescription For America” focusing on job growth, individual liberty, capitalism, and strong national defense seems a likely remedy for the Democrats’ “destroy America to save it” agenda.