The Anti-Ted Kennedy Pushback Begins

And we're already seeing the GOP plan on exploiting Ted Kennedy's death to stop health care reform in action.

While Americans should honor the legacy of the Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Republicans won't allow healthcare reform to proceed in the late senator's honor, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said Wednesday.

"Certainly people honor Sen. Ted Kennedy for all of his work," Hensarling, a top House Republican, said during an appearance on CNBC. "But at the end of the day, this is a democracy, and I think the voice of the people have been heard quite loudly in the month of August."

Putting Kennedy's name on the legislation is a reasonable tribute. But the Republicans are choosing to view Kennedy's death as a reason to delay or kill reform. If any bill passes, you see, it's only because the Democrats are crudely using Kennedy's death for political purposes. Therefore, no health care reform bill can be allowed to pass.

Should one actually get through, it's only because Kennedy died, not because America wants it. The GOP wants America to hate Ted Kennedy, hate this bill, and hate the Democrats.

Talk about using a death for political purposes. The GOP wants to use Kennedy's passing as prima facie evidence that no health care reform should be allowed to pass.