Sen. Jim Demint’s op-ed at RedState is today’s must reading. Here’s the important part of Sen. Demint’s op-ed:

Yesterday, Democrat leaders announced they may soon bring Harry Reid’s new health care bill to the Senate floor in an effort to grant the President’s wish for a government takeover of our nation’s health care by Christmas. This is in spite of the fact that 99 senators have never seen Reid’s new bill that was written in secret. Reid even hinted he may rush to a vote before the bill’s been public for 72 hours, as even Democrats have demanded.

To begin debate on this new version of Obamacare, Reid will play a shell game. He needs 60 senators to “vote to proceed” to an unrelated piece of legislation, and once he clears that hurdle he will strike that bill’s text and insert his new health care bill. But don’t be fooled by senators that will say they oppose a government takeover but just wanted to allow debate on health care, they are not being honest.

The simple fact is this: Any senator that votes to proceed to the Reid-Obama bill is voting for a government takeover of health care.

Why? Because, President Obama and Harry Reid cannot pass a government takeover without clearing 60 vote procedural hurdles in the Senate — but they also know that vulnerable Democrats likely cannot win reelection if they vote for this unpopular bill. So they want all Democrats to stick together on the vote to proceed, then some Democrats will vote against final passage of the bill and claim they tried to stop it.

Senators who say they just want to allow for debate are trying to deceive their voters while giving President Obama the crucial votes he needs to pass a government takeover of health care.

One thing that motivates TEA Party activists, whether they’re conservatives or independents, is when DC politicians try playing ‘too-clever-by-half’ tricks. This certainly qualifies as a ‘too-clever-by-half’ trick. The result is the same. The only way to stop this bill is to prevent the bill from getting debated.

It’s time that we told our senators that their vote for any part of this bill or their voting to let debate start on this bill is the end of their political career. This isn’t just a vote on an appropriations bill or a tax increase. It’s a bill that will destroy the health care and health insurance industries.

Other than a vote for sending troops to war, this is the most important vote any of these senators will ever cast.

If Ben Nelson tries justifying voting to let the bill to proceed, then our question to him must ask how letting the bill proceed will help American health care shoppers.

This bill won’t lower insurance premiums without a federal subsidy. Those subsidies will require tax increases to prevent the deficit from getting worse than it already is. Government control will increase, meaning doctors won’t have the choices that they currently have.

That’s before we start talking about the $300,000,000,000 doctor fix that they’re hoping to ram through in the dark of night.

The Democrats’ bill isn’t about improving the health care system. It’s about controlling lives. Any senator voting to let the bill proceed is voting to let the federal government control your life. That isn’t the ‘too-clever-by-half’ spin.

It’s just the truth. Hold them accountable.

Technorati: Filibuster, Health Care, Senate, Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Harry Reid, Democrats, Election 2010

Cross-posted at California Conservative