Why is this all happening?
Why is there going to be massive health care "reform" and a big old new immigration extravaganza behind it?
The Republicans have wielded power or "veto power" in either Congress or the White House since 1980. Their political mantra has been, and still is "the best government is that which does least". They have sold the message so well that in actuality, they caused the government to do NOTHING.
They did nothing, and would still prefer to do NOTHING about our disgraceful health care system. I don't love every aspect of the current proposals, but I despise the notion that a responsible government would do NOTHING, with costs spiraling out of control and a significant percentage of our citizens lacking basic health coverage. What was the Republican plan to address these issues? The plan was to do NOTHING, and the plan was executed.
It's still the plan, and it may still work. Now that change is at hand, the entire propaganda machine is mobilized to stop the change. Never, EVER is there an actual workable counter-proposal, which reveals the basic problem......the view that the government should do NOTHING, and somehow let things get worked out in some "Darwinian (or creator-oriented)" way.
NOTHING was a bad and evil strategy. And now, the Republicans have probably lost their ability to negotiate and improve the details. It's a ramrod job.
Y'all asked for it.
Tomorrow - Y'all REALLY asked for it on immigration, and you're going to get it.
2 comments:
Sometimes doing nothing is better than bankrupting the country. Under the present system when 40-45% of the population pay no tax, it is a very bad thing. And health care reform without attempting to reign in bogus malpractractice suits is no health care reform. And health care reform without addressing the illegal alien issue is also no health care reform. And what effect will the proposed health care reform have when employers will be taxed at between 5 and 8% when they don't comply? What effect will it have on the unemployment rate?
So in principle, although I agree with the idea of universal health coverage, I object to the fact that it was not given to a bi-partisan committee similar to the social security task force that was
established by President Reagan in the 80's.
By trying to transform a system that is equal to 16% of our GNP without bringing in Doctors, and yes Republicans is not my idea of bi-partisan. Whether you like them or not, they constitute about 50% of the population.
We as a country will never be able to move forward if we continue to have a bunker style mentality. To label one side as all good and one side as all bad just makes the country more polarized.
One of the points I am trying to make is that the inability to do anything in a collaborative, bi-partisan way, is detrimental to us all. And I do not blame only Republicans for this. If anything, the Democrats are even more guilty. I have written about this consistently, and have frequently taken Democrats and "liberals" to task for their myopic world view.
Adressing a few of your points specifically:
I am equally troubled about the vast amount of tax avoidance and non-paying. I have advocated a cash-less society with all transactions documented, and I have advocated making "working of the books" or "paying off the books" a felony.
I have called the need for med mal reform a "pimple" on the body of the healthcare problem, but perhaps its larger, a boil perhaps. I don't think most suits are bogus, and I don't even think the med mal carriers think that. Most med mal suits, and settlements result from malpractice. Are there leeches and runaway juries? Yes, but this is not the root of health costs. I actually favor caps on awards.
As far as illegal immigrants, I have called this the 800 pound gorilla in the entire debate, and I believe the Democrats fully intend to "legalize" 12 million people and mandate them into the system. I will blog about this some more.
Actually, in my view, the Republican mis-handling of the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill by the Republicans, may go down as one of the worst political blunders in history. The bill was an attempt at a bi-partisan solution, President Bush supported it, and a bill with teeth could have been negotiated. Instead, the Republicans killed it before it could be debated, and the Democrats (many of whom could not have supported it because it was too strict on immigrants) never even had to debate on it. Now we will have a one-sided bill, and that will be a shame.
I am also concerned about a 5 - 8% tax on employers. This will be an economic killer, and will lead to big time unemployment problems. Politically, it will make the thing untenable, but this may only occur after it happens....another shame.
I am glad we are discussing this in a non-polarizing fashion.
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