Thomas Sowell: 1 thing's for certain: Politicians can count votes

"Even after Scott Brown came out of nowhere to make a stunning upset election victory, there were still some cute political tricks that could have been pulled to save the health-care bill. But enough Democrats saw the handwriting on the wall that they were not going to risk their own re-election to save this bill Barack Obama has been hell-bent to pass, even when polls showed repeatedly that the public didn't want it.

"President Obama's desire to do something 'historic' by succeeding, where previous presidents had failed, was perfectly consistent for a man consumed with his own ego satisfaction, rather than the welfare of the country or even of his own political party.

"As for the public, it doesn't matter if your congressman answers your letter with a form letter, or doesn't answer at all. What matters is that you let him know what you are for or against and, when enough people do that – whether in letters, in polls or in an election – politicians get the message, because they know their jobs depend on it."