Can we talk? Can we listen? Can we absorb, think about it?

The political debate in this country continues to heat up and I have no doubt it will get worse as Congress moves closer to reforming health care. These are huge issues and Americans are simply not going to come to agreement on health care because the stakes are too high and the divide is too wide.

I think it is time for this nation, and my blog, to work on the future of the political discourse in this nation. We need to find a way to end the yelling and begin listening.

Can we talk? Can we listen? Can we absorb, think about it?

One of the goals of my blog is listed as Principle 9, of the Ten Principles of Mind Your Own Damn Business Politics; “Those that disagree with your views are not necessarily bad. They might have good ideas. Listen.”

The debates over reforming health care and the financial system our enormous; these may be the biggest issues the country has faced since the Civil War. There are people on both sides of the debate that would tear the nation apart rather than give an inch. I think that the people on both sides of these debates need to step back and examine these issues from multiple angles.

To opponents of health care and finance reform I ask, “Do you really believe the health care system we have now, where you can lose your insurance for multiple reasons and costs are skyrocketing, is the best we can do for ourselves? And as for the financial system, do you really want to keep the same rules and regulations in place that allowed – in fact encouraged – the behaviors that led to last year’s meltdown?

To supporters of health care and finance reform my question is bigger: Have you forgotten that less than a year ago President George W. Bush represented all that is evil to you? Do you really want to give the government still wider powers when you know that someday the party of Bush will return to power? Do you really think government control of health care and the finance system, pulled from 19th century economic models, will bring prosperity?

Folks, we need to quit the shouting and hyper-ventilating. Instead we need to listen, absorb, think about it, THEN discuss and (rationally) debate before We the People take this nation on course from which there is no return.

Tagged as: bush, congress, debate, Democrat, discourse, economic crisis, economy, Finance, finance reform, Health care, health care reform, health insurance, insurance, obama, Obamacare, rational, Republican, senate finance committe, snowe, town hall, universal health care, universal healthcare