Stupak’s Sell Out In Quotes: Even Liberals Admit The Executive Order Is Meaningless

One of the things that happened yesterday when the health care bill was passed was that the pro-life Democrat was proven to be almost as much of a mythical creature as the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and:  the:  Loch Ness Monster.

The Stupak block spent weeks of steadfastly opposing the Senate bill because they freely admitted that the Senate bill, for the first time ever, funded abortion with your tax dollars. They tried numerous different ways to get around this including an attempt to attach a “sidecar” to the Senate bill. Despite the fact that arcane maneuver would have been extremely difficult to pull off, the pro-choice caucus flipped out over the possibility in numbers large enough to cause Pelosi to veto the move.

Then, after all of that wrangling, the Stupak block, on the final day, traded their votes for an absolutely meaningless executive order from Barack Obama. Not only can an executive order be rescinded at any time, it can’t overrule existing law. So, the whole idea that anyone could support a bill that allows:  federal:  funds to be used for tax dollars and then expect an executive order to “fix” it is farcical from the start.

If you have any doubts about that, note the fact that the executive order didn’t cost the Dems a single pro-abortion vote. Moreover, look at these quotes from the left-side of the blogosphere. They’re openly acknowledging that this is nothing more than : a figleaf designed to give Stupak and his supporters cover to betray their pro-life principles.

What’s particularly galling here is that the executive order reiterates the Senate bill, which Stupak could have accepted weeks ago. — Mcjoan, Daily Kos

The Stupak negotiations have been vaguely farcical from the beginning, as the bill is already very restrictive on abortion. But the upside of the farce is that the deal they’ve reached isn’t particularly objectionable: Barack Obama will sign an executive order stating, essentially, that the law will follow the law. — Ezra Klein

What Pres. Obama did was offer Stupak cover to make it seem he kept to his principles while voting for health care to keep heat off him at home. Call it political quid pro quo. — Taylor Marsh

If the executive order looks anything like what Lopez has, Stupak would have to make a major compromise in order to accept it. …At no point in this entire saga has Stupak appeared willing to compromise on that point. (Critics say such a provision would eventually lead to all insurers dropping abortion coverage.) But if the final language of the executive order mirrors the Lopez document, Stupak will not have gotten what he wants. Nothing in the document suggests that it would meet that demand. — Mother Jones

shorter obama: so all you want is a piece of paper affirming the law thats already on the books? um, ok. SIGN. — Oliver Willis

It’s really hard to interpret this as anything other than Stupak caving in order to end up on the side of supporting health reform. There’s nothing wrong with that–Stupak has long been a supporter of reforming the health care system–but it’s difficult to see why he dragged this out for months if he was going to settle for the Senate language in the end. — Swampland

This is the biggest sell-out for a meaningless piece of paper since Neville Chamberlain waved around his signed agreement from Hitler and declared that it meant “peace in our time.”

PS: If you’re wondering what the lives of innocent children are worth to Bart Stupak, there’s an answer to that question in a March 19 press release on his website:

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Congressman Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) announced three airports in northern Michigan have received grants totaling $726,409 for airport maintenance and improvements. The funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration.

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