How often did we hear it? "Republicans are using the threat of terrorism to engage in the politics of fear." They often likened it to the red scare of the 50's. The big difference, of course, was we REALLY were hit on 9/11. The threat was real. You want politics of fear, check this out: President Obama says the federal government will go bankrupt without health care reform.

Consider this passage from ABC's story:

“If we don't pass it, here's the guarantee….your premiums will go up, your employers are going to load up more costs on you,” he said. “Potentially they're going to drop your coverage, because they just can't afford an increase of 25 percent, 30 percent in terms of the costs of providing health care to employees each and every year. “

The president said that the costs of Medicare and Medicaid are on an “unsustainable” trajectory and if there is no action taken to bring them down, “the federal government will go bankrupt.”

What actions to bring down the "unsustainable" costs of Medicare and Medicaid, wouldn't add further costs to the federal government? Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable because they're government provided health care, so the solution is broader government provided health care? But the level of fear being used here reveals just how desperate they are to pass something, anything, believing it's better than passing nothing. I'm of the school of thought that democrats suffered from Hillarycare not because they failed to pass it because they tried to. I believe it's a lesson democrats have mis-learned to their peril and, more importantly, to the country's peril