Healthcare & Incumbent politics — an economic disaster!
Posted on 24. Dec, 2009 by scott in general musings
I have waited to write this until the Senate democrats made their final vote on their own health care reform. Not American health care reform. Democrat health care reform.
It passed early this morning. The vote? 60-39. No republicans voted for the plan. Every single Democrat voted for it.
Jeeze Louise! When will the partisan politics end? When will the mantra of ‘what is good for the country’ replace the partisan one of ‘what is good for my re-election?’
I wish I could tell you the details of the democrats plans (the one that passed the House and the one that passed the Senate). But I can’t. Because I don’t have the time to read four or five thousand pages. And you know what? That goes for most of our Senators and Congressmen either (they have only read the parts they drafted).
Are the two bills that must now be merged before final passage any good? Who really knows.
But this much is clear. There was no real effort on the part of democrats to engage republicans so that the bills would be widely acceptable. Further, there was no real effort by the republicans to seek such engagement and get strategies important to them in the bills.
Consequently these bills (as drafted) do nothing to limit frivolous medical lawsuits, nothing to effectively lower the cost of medications (Americans pay twice as much as other countries in some cases), do little to stop the incredible growth of health care costs, do little to extend coverage to all Americans (about 25 million people are left out in the cold), do little to limit the extravagant benefits Congress has, and leave many other questions unanswered as well.
These draft bills are NOT what President Obama promised. They are partisan and offensive to most knowledgeable Americans.
Why does onlyNebraska get added medicare costs payed by the government (at the expense of citizens of all other states)? As a bonus thrown in to get Nebraska’s vote, that’s why!
And there are other unfair and ‘porkified’ benefits thrown in as well simply to get votes that otherwise would not be there.
I don’t know what the final bill will look like and I am not really interested in the details yet.
It is enough to know that this bill was cobbled together by democrats so that democrats will get re-elected. Another case of incumbent politics. It is enough to know that this bill was cobbled together without any republican help so that those republicans could oppose, oppose and oppose — to help them get re-elected.
How does Congress work? Whatever it takes to get re-elected and NOT what it takes to make America a better place for our 300 million citizens.
Harry Reid should be ashamed. Nancy Pelosi should be ashamed. President Obama should be ashamed. The democrats should be ashamed and the republicans too!
It seems that costs of the final bill will be much higher than the benefits. This bill alone (when finally written and passed) could add billions of $$ to our already impossibly high deficit. It has no hope of being anything but an economic disaster.
The problem is that it will take years to prove itself one way or the other. By then it will be forgotten by the voters and new issues will arise that force the majority party to act selfishly to get re-elected. The minority party will act just as selfishly to fight anything new . . . not because it is the right thing to do but because acting selfishly will help get them re-elected.
This partisan approach to running our government must end.
America is NOT the place for life long, professional politicians. The only way to make this happen is with term limits. America is no place for entitled political leaders. America is no place for decisions to be made based on re-election probabilities. The only way to make this happen is with term limits.
America should be the country where normal citizens take four or eight years off of their regular life to serve the country as best they can and then return to earning a living the old fashioned way (and with no life-long benefits or retirement for their limited service).
Term limits!
But, incumbents will NEVER vote for term limits. So we must. Do NOT vote for any incumbents anymore. No more than one term for anyone. When politicians at EVERY level get the message and vote in laws regarding term limits then we can start voting our conscience again.
Until then? No more ridiculous one party bills.
Good-bye incumbents!!
Ignore this message at your own peril.
thanks to flickr’s joe beone for the photo
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