I’m not sure that behavior is irrational. If they can attach people to the teats of government faster than they drive people into opposition to their plans at the ballot box, they win.
I’m not sure sure they think this will keep them in power forever. They are obsessed with achieving a socialist victory at any cost, no matter what the fallout, even for their party. They believe they will never ever have a chance like today to pass socialized medicine and they are Communists at heart and want to pass it. Also, I can’t imagine socialized medicine being a winner over time. It can eventually be overturned before it ever goes into effect in 2013 with a GOP Congress and a GOP President.