Yesterday’s Republican victory in the Massachusetts special election gave the Republicans the power to do something more than just make noise, as they have for the past year. The victory also scared the heck out Democrats.
Health care reform of the Obama, Pelosi, Reid, style now faces even more challenges from within the Democratic Party than it did two days ago; Democrats are scared for their electoral futures.
It is too bad that the Democrats are scared for their own skins and not simply recognizing the health care and economic disaster they were about to unleash on the U.S., but unfortunately that is how our political class operates; both parties. It’s about their self interest and nothing more. Never forget that.
So the question is, what will Republicans do now that they have the momentum? They have the nation’s support and the independent voters have shouted their outrage. Will Republicans try to fix health care? Can Republicans develop and sell a health care fix that utilizes American values to clean up the regulatory and tax mess that is health care; that frees insurers to compete in ways that benefit consumers, that enables most Americans to take care of themselves and to protect themselves during good and bad times? Can they create an environment that allows quality insurance to be available to far more people by getting out the costs and encouraging competition and therefore innovation?
My guess is, no. My guess is that Republicans will chase their social issues while playing political games just as they always have. The Democrats learned nothing from the Bush years and I have little faith the Republicans will learn anything during these Obama years.
The nation may have dodged this terrible attempt to turn our health care system into a giant vote buying scheme but we won’t get a meaningful fix out of all this either.
This is why the United States of America was not supposed to have a political/ruling class.
Update: Republican Senator John McCain just delivered a very good speech (10:34 a.m. – no link available yet) challenging Democrats to go back to the beginning and this time work with Republicans to develop health care reform. Every Republican in Congress should sign on to McCain’s speech. In fact, every Republican should, as a symbolic gesture, deliver the same speech. That would send the nation a message. Republicans??
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I absolutely fail to understand why Americans are so determined to hang on to this “I’m all right, why should I worry about you?” attitude regarding healthcare. Why on earth you believe that insurance companies are remotely interested in your wellbeing is beyond me. Why do you believe that any health care system based on insurance companies could ever work in a country where people are free like they are in the US? Free to make mistakes with their money, free to drop out if they want to, free to start up unsupportable companies, free to get into debt for the sake of a lifestyle. If ever a country needed a fair, government owned healthcare system it’s you guys. And don’t misunderstand me here. That freedom is why I love the USA, and is more important than all the other political posturing and verbal laundering. The rest of the world wants you to stay that free, but you just have to find a better way to look after people who slip off the American Dream.
We don’t want what the Obamatons are selling because it won’t fix anything as now constructed. Cannot be cheaper. And does not cover everyone. These are only a few of the reasons why it’s not a beautiful thing…
I would relish real bipartisan work on the huge issues we are facing. Unfortunately both parties, now as in the past, are spending all their time trying to make the other look bad and fail rather than accomplish anything productive or forward-moving. Even if every Republican in Congress gave McCain’s speech, it would prove nothing. Words are words. What I want to see, from BOTH sides, is action on more than slamming the other party.
I like slamming the other party…When they are wrong…With the left, wrong is always the case…
Robbie:
Why do people who “make mistakes with their money, drop out if they want to, start up unsupportable companies, get into debt for the sake of a lifestyle” have a right to a government healthcare system? These are all stupid things these people did. And you say that all the smart people who don’t make stupid mistakes have to be taxed to cover irresponsible people? That’s not the American Dream, unless you are one of these reprobates. I say this as a person who only makes $17/hr., has made mistakes with my money and gotten into debt for the sake of a lifestyle. I don’t expect everyone else to pay for my mistakes. That being said, our healthcare system could use improvements. I would like them to write a bill that regular people can understand in plain language without all the subsection this and subparagraph that. If the bill is a good bill, senators won’t need to be bribed for them to vote for it.
And how about a separate bill that is just about getting medical care for the uninsured? I’m for that.
And you know what, Nancy – A separate bill to help the uninsured could be done quickly and gain bi-partisan support. But unfortunately all we have in Washington are political animals not leaders.