© Patrick Semansky - Pool via CNPThe Senate held its first hearing on the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court.
The Democrats, one after another, claimed that confirming Barrett would result in ObamaCare being overturned when the court takes it up Nov. 10, with Americans dying as a result.
It's plainly false: Several conservative justices clearly don't buy the arguments made for striking down the law in this case. And Barrett, based on her overall philosophy, is likely to agree with them.
Plus, Republicans are universally in favor of keeping protections for those with pre-existing conditions and have vowed to put it into law if ObamaCare does get overturned.
Yet Sen. Corey "Spartacus" Booker (D-NJ) still insisted Republicans are out "to ensure tens of millions of people lose their health care." Veep-nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) claimed that "135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions" would lose their health care. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): "Health-care coverage for millions of Americans is at stake." Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hi.): The lives of Americans with pre-existing conditions "are what's at stake."
All of it shameless posturing, utterly contrary to fact — and they all know it.
Harris also called it "reckless" to hold the hearing during the pandemic, as if Congress weren't holding many hearings these days. And Chairman Lindsey Graham pointed out at the start that the committee was following Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
It was all cover for the gripe Democrats don't dare make publicly: that Barrett won't be an activist justice seeking to read liberals' wish lists into the Constitution. As she said Monday, our "courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. The policy decisions and value judgments of government must be made by the political branches elected by and accountable to the people."
And that's not good enough for Democrats who know how unpopular so many of their political dreams are.
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