Hard-Nosed Partisan Politics

by Joel Hendon⁽¹⁷⁹⁾ Red Star

It is strange, and sad, that our nation has become so selfish, so full of hate, that there can no longer be room for compromise. I can recall the time when our elected leaders actually tried, and succeeded, in working out differences and passing sensible laws that all could live with, maybe not always just what everyone wanted but nevertheless, acceptable.

There was a time when it was just about considered treason to call the president of the United States vulgar or extremely derogatory names. Reasonable discussions, pro and con were permissible but certainly not the harsh names now assigned to our presidents by the opposition.

The present healthcare bill controversy is a perfect example. Liberal politicians have a philosophy which is far different to that of the conservatives. That is understood, or should be. So why do the parties not at least make an honest effort to compromise. The Democrats have named the Republicans, "the NO party" simply because they are dead set against the extreme leftist bills that come up. The conservatives draw up their version of what the bill should be like and there is no consideration given, no compromises regardless of how small. Each party says it is their way or nothing.

I have not talked with any one, not one, who does not think it wise to have some kind of health care reform. Yet, the vast majority of the voting public do not want a government takeover of our health system, where they can say whether or not you can be treated and for how long or who will do your treating. I doubt any one person has yet read the entire 1,018 pages. I have read a number of them although not nearly all, and I am vehemently against it in it's present form.

For the most part, our healthcare system in it's present form, is a good one. Now that said, I acknowledge that there are short falls in it and they should be taken care of. All reasonable effort should be put to reducing the cost of healthcare in general. Some form of plan needs to be instituted to give coverage to those with pre-existing problems. Certainly, there are defects in other places that need repair. I knew of a young couple, unmarried, when the girl became pregnant, she applied for, and received, Medicaid, which paid every cent of her prenatal care, her hospitalization, doctors, baby's care and everything else, while the young man held a decent paying position with a large company. They were married shortly before the baby was born, yet I doubt it was reported to Medicaid.

Very strict control over Medicare and Medicaid in their present form, would no doubt save millions. But to give the Secretary of Health the right to refuse treatment, limit funds at his personal bidding, is unacceptable. The present laws are in place and workable, if proper scrutiny is given. The funding is a problem but could be resolved if congress were not so afraid of the funds for their next candidacy.

As to our present 43 million who are uninsured. The illegal aliens who have paid nothing into our government need to be returned to their countries rather than be given better health care than most of the populace has. The millions of healthy young people who choose to not purchase insurance, should be warned, that their health care will not be subsidized by the government if they encounter a catastrophic injury or health problem. It is irresponsible for those who can afford insurance, not to carry it.

Until our politicians are willing to give as well as take, there will constantly be gridlock and we will continue to be inundated with worthless legislation. The past six months has proven how worthless certain individual's ideas can be. They are now trying to convince the public that our economy has bottomed out and is improving. I assure you that those many thousands who have lost their jobs and the thousands who are joining them each month, do not see where things are getting better. And as the enormous taxes begin to be levied, everyone will see that we are not yet bottomed out.

The administration's proposed plan is to reduce Medicare and Medicaid payments by $313 billions of dollars, this amounts to almost one-third of the estimated cost of the reform plan. This sounds irresponsible to me, and should for anyone who is elderly, has elderly family members or, are within 15 years or so of retirement age.

Hillary Clinton, at the beginning of President Clinton's first term, tried to push through an enormous health care reform bill which many felt would have bankrupted the nation. It was frowned upon so much that the then majority Democratic congress, lost their majority to the Republicans in both houses. If this outrageous bill is not modified to far less expense and far less drastic control by the government, I feel sure the same scenario is going to be faced in next year's congressional election.

Many of the Democratic legislators are betting their careers on this monstrosity. But some of the new ones who won narrowly on Obama's coattail, are not so sure about that.

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Article submitted Friday, August 07, 2009 & read 117 times.

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» left by Nancy Daniels (2 years 186 days ago.)

Excellent article, Joel. You said it; and, you said it well. The issue goes beyond healthcare. We just discovered page 58 which authorizes the government to go into our bank accounts if the treatment we need is considered too expensive. The government will have the power to take funds from our accounts to cover the additional costs. I am horrified at that! That isn't even socialism. It is 1970's Russia!

Nancy

» left by Joel Hendon (2 years 186 days ago.)

Thanks Nancy, you are correct. The bill has many subtleties in it that can go more ways than one. There are far too many phrases in it that end up saying "as determined by the Secretary of Health" or some similar reference. An opening for intervention on certain proposals that sound good on the surface, yet leaves room for the Secretary to approve or disapprove it.

I hope the moderates and conservatives make sure that the language is plain and in the people's favor.

Thanks for reading and commenting.

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