As the president and congressional democrats try to push health care reform despite strong republican and public opposition, several of the President’s other key agenda items are being put on the political back burner.

“It’s a difficult schedule” with many members already “anxious” about health care reform” - Senator Dick Durbin

Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) recently commented that it would be difficult to get health care reform and cap and trade passed this year.  With the President calling for health care reform, cap and trade, and new financial regulation this year, Senator Durbin indicated that it is unclear what the priority is after health care reform.

Part of the issue is that the Democrats are trying to push through legislation with controversial provisions that don’t have broad public support let alone bipartisan support.

Earlier in the year, it seemed possible that cap and trade would be stopped in the Senate, but it now seems that the “hurry up and rush through” tactic is backfiring and may push cap and trade out until next year.

Those in congress that were brave enough to do their jobs this August received an earful of reservations on health care reform and are worried about their political futures with an election coming in 2010.  If they follow the Democrat Party leadership and vote against their constituents, they may find themselves part of the unemployment statistics.

If the congressional leadership would only try to pass legislation that most of the congress and public support, they would be able to accomplish much more.  However, since they continue to push unpopular solutions to problems that everyone agrees needs to be addressed, lets hope these bills continue to stall in congress.

MichelleMalkin.com has a list of which representatives voted against their party.

However, there is hope that this massive tax increase will be defeated in the senate.  Jay Cost at Realclearpolitics.com did a great job of of analyzing which senators are under pressure to defeat the bill.  According to the analysis, there are 15 senate democrats that will be under pressure to vote against the bill as their state voted against it in the house.

The key here is that if your senator is listed as being under moderate or significant pressure to vote against the bill, you need to call or email them now to let them know you do not support this tax increase to solve a problem that doesn’t even exist.  You can find the phone numbers and email addresses of your senators here.  If you lack the courage to call, it is very easy to email your senators.  Contact them now and let them know what you think.