Health Care: Letting Bipartisanship Become the Enemy of Doing What's Right
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31 January 2010
Repeatedly we were told by the Obama administration, when dealing with the issue of health care, not to allow 'the perfect' to become the enemy of 'the good'.
Unfortunately what's happened is 'bipartisanship' has become the enemy of 'doing what's right'. It has become abundantly clear that the path to health care was botched during the first year of the Obama Administration and they continue not to understand the consequences of this path they have chosen.
When Obama was elected and was given Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate, it was like they finally captured lightning in a bottle. Instead of using it, they threw it aside to go off chasing fireflies (bipartisanship).
This hurts because I did vote for the guy and his policies, or what I thought was his system-changing attitude.
Before it's too late (it may already be) Democrats should understand that almost no Republican is interested in helping the administration succeed. Period. By doing so, any Republican who helps Obama pass a health care bill will be helping Obama get re-elected in 2012. No Republican is interested in doing that; consequences be damned.
Whoever is advising the President should get their heads out of the ground and realize that fact.
Specifically on the issue of health care, the administration was too busy trying to avoid the catastrophic mistakes of the Clinton administration. The only problem is that when running away from mistakes made by someone else, it's quite possible to create your own set of catastrophic mistakes.
Shouldn't we all have learned the story of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears by now? Clinton's approach to health care may have been 'too hot', and Obama's approach has definitely been 'too cold' with sitting back and allowing the deeply distrusted Congress to run health care reform.
Who made the asinine decision of allowing the House and the Senate -- both full of people with their own agendas, loyalties and lobbyists -- to take the reigns of bringing health care to the people of this nation? When tasked with something which could put their re-election in jeopardy, they prefer to do nothing by instinct. Screw the 40,000 people who die in this country each year from lack of health care!
The President's decision seems too much like it was advice given to him by some underling who just KNEW Clinton failed because he took control of the health care debate with an iron fist.
It apparently never crossed this person's (or persons') mind that the Congress also sabotaged Clinton's attempts by possibly bringing up their own competing plans; by democratic disunity during that time as well; or by people with egos the size of Texas who didn't want a country-fried newbie telling them what to do.
With that said, chasing bipartisanship on this issue became a ridiculous notion after the first 6 or so months of the Obama presidency. By June - July it was abundantly clear to a number of Liberals and Progressives that the President should have went on with his plan at that time regardless of whether or not a Republican signed onto the project.
Instead, they allowed people like Chuck Grassley -- himself seemingly not at all interested in health care reform -- to delay the process until after the August 2009 recess. And we all know what Republicans planned and executed during that recess.
Nobody would care or remember how a peace of legislation was passed if that legislation helps them, their families, creates jobs, and/or lowers or eliminate their rates/fees.
No sane person would have been screaming "Damn I love the fact that my premiums are ridiculously low and that I can get $4 prescriptions, but shame on Obama for not getting Republicans to vote for the bill!" Or "My wife is alive because we could afford medical insurance, but damn that Obama for not working with the Senate Republicans!"
On the contrary, Obama's plans may be damned because he and the Democratic leadership have tried to work TOO much with the Republicans.
In chasing these fireflies, Democrats have proven that they cannot govern; proven that they don't know how to use power when they get it. This will be the reason why Democrats lose in November, not because the public just didn't understand the health care plan. T
he reason won't be because Democrats have tried too hard to change current system. But rather, they haven't tried at all to change the actual system. They have lingered, and in doing so, have allowed Republicans to misinform just enough people into believing in half-truths or flat-out lies.
Democrats have, again, been stumped by why their house isn't selling and have insisted on redecorating the kitchen and bathrooms, instead of realizing that nobody wants to buy a house which is halfway swallowed by a massive sink hole.
The SINK HOLE (ie the current system) is the problem. Not the fact that the kitchen is the wrong color (ie "we just haven't explained it enough"). Nor the fact that the bathrooms have old fixtures (ie "we haven't adopted enough Republican ideas").
There were people who worked like dogs for Obama's election. If this Administration continues to mistreat, ignore, or relegate those people to an "always-there" special interest group, it will be to tragic.
If this situation doesn't change and Obama continues to listen to... whoever the hell he's listening to about his Progressive base, I can guarantee that I will magically have something else to do... ALL DAY LONG... which will prevent me from making it to the polls on election day to vote for Democrats in 2010 and 2012.
And believe me, I'm not being melodramatic. The only thing politicians understand are consequences. Consequences are life-altering.
At this moment, Democrats are proving to those of us who were so hopeful and so happy on Jan 20 2009 that they cannot govern and may not deserve the power they have coveted under 8 years of the Bush regime. Living under the tyranny of the Bush Republicans have apparently made them so soft that they now bend over without even being asked.
And Harry Reid is probably the most mealy-mouthed, sorriest leader Democrats could have in the Senate at this moment in history. Democratic House and Senate leaders are not Obama. Obama's personal magnatism will not translate into wins across the country for Democrats. Just Martha Coakley.
So while the Obama administration continues to chase those bipartisan fireflies, their lighting in a bottle is threatening to go into hiding for another 15 years.
Repeatedly we were told by the Obama administration, when dealing with the issue of health care, not to allow 'the perfect' to become the enemy of 'the good'.
Unfortunately what's happened is 'bipartisanship' has become the enemy of 'doing what's right'. It has become abundantly clear that the path to health care was botched during the first year of the Obama Administration and they continue not to understand the consequences of this path they have chosen.
When Obama was elected and was given Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate, it was like they finally captured lightning in a bottle. Instead of using it, they threw it aside to go off chasing fireflies (bipartisanship).
This hurts because I did vote for the guy and his policies, or what I thought was his system-changing attitude.
Before it's too late (it may already be) Democrats should understand that almost no Republican is interested in helping the administration succeed. Period. By doing so, any Republican who helps Obama pass a health care bill will be helping Obama get re-elected in 2012. No Republican is interested in doing that; consequences be damned.
Whoever is advising the President should get their heads out of the ground and realize that fact.
Specifically on the issue of health care, the administration was too busy trying to avoid the catastrophic mistakes of the Clinton administration. The only problem is that when running away from mistakes made by someone else, it's quite possible to create your own set of catastrophic mistakes.
Shouldn't we all have learned the story of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears by now? Clinton's approach to health care may have been 'too hot', and Obama's approach has definitely been 'too cold' with sitting back and allowing the deeply distrusted Congress to run health care reform.
Who made the asinine decision of allowing the House and the Senate -- both full of people with their own agendas, loyalties and lobbyists -- to take the reigns of bringing health care to the people of this nation? When tasked with something which could put their re-election in jeopardy, they prefer to do nothing by instinct. Screw the 40,000 people who die in this country each year from lack of health care!
The President's decision seems too much like it was advice given to him by some underling who just KNEW Clinton failed because he took control of the health care debate with an iron fist.
It apparently never crossed this person's (or persons') mind that the Congress also sabotaged Clinton's attempts by possibly bringing up their own competing plans; by democratic disunity during that time as well; or by people with egos the size of Texas who didn't want a country-fried newbie telling them what to do.
With that said, chasing bipartisanship on this issue became a ridiculous notion after the first 6 or so months of the Obama presidency. By June - July it was abundantly clear to a number of Liberals and Progressives that the President should have went on with his plan at that time regardless of whether or not a Republican signed onto the project.
Instead, they allowed people like Chuck Grassley -- himself seemingly not at all interested in health care reform -- to delay the process until after the August 2009 recess. And we all know what Republicans planned and executed during that recess.
Nobody would care or remember how a peace of legislation was passed if that legislation helps them, their families, creates jobs, and/or lowers or eliminate their rates/fees.
No sane person would have been screaming "Damn I love the fact that my premiums are ridiculously low and that I can get $4 prescriptions, but shame on Obama for not getting Republicans to vote for the bill!" Or "My wife is alive because we could afford medical insurance, but damn that Obama for not working with the Senate Republicans!"
On the contrary, Obama's plans may be damned because he and the Democratic leadership have tried to work TOO much with the Republicans.
In chasing these fireflies, Democrats have proven that they cannot govern; proven that they don't know how to use power when they get it. This will be the reason why Democrats lose in November, not because the public just didn't understand the health care plan. T
he reason won't be because Democrats have tried too hard to change current system. But rather, they haven't tried at all to change the actual system. They have lingered, and in doing so, have allowed Republicans to misinform just enough people into believing in half-truths or flat-out lies.
Democrats have, again, been stumped by why their house isn't selling and have insisted on redecorating the kitchen and bathrooms, instead of realizing that nobody wants to buy a house which is halfway swallowed by a massive sink hole.
The SINK HOLE (ie the current system) is the problem. Not the fact that the kitchen is the wrong color (ie "we just haven't explained it enough"). Nor the fact that the bathrooms have old fixtures (ie "we haven't adopted enough Republican ideas").
There were people who worked like dogs for Obama's election. If this Administration continues to mistreat, ignore, or relegate those people to an "always-there" special interest group, it will be to tragic.
If this situation doesn't change and Obama continues to listen to... whoever the hell he's listening to about his Progressive base, I can guarantee that I will magically have something else to do... ALL DAY LONG... which will prevent me from making it to the polls on election day to vote for Democrats in 2010 and 2012.
And believe me, I'm not being melodramatic. The only thing politicians understand are consequences. Consequences are life-altering.
At this moment, Democrats are proving to those of us who were so hopeful and so happy on Jan 20 2009 that they cannot govern and may not deserve the power they have coveted under 8 years of the Bush regime. Living under the tyranny of the Bush Republicans have apparently made them so soft that they now bend over without even being asked.
And Harry Reid is probably the most mealy-mouthed, sorriest leader Democrats could have in the Senate at this moment in history. Democratic House and Senate leaders are not Obama. Obama's personal magnatism will not translate into wins across the country for Democrats. Just Martha Coakley.
So while the Obama administration continues to chase those bipartisan fireflies, their lighting in a bottle is threatening to go into hiding for another 15 years.
