Healthcare, worthy of the row that we have?

Republicans said they knew they would not win the defeat of now Justice Sonia Sotomayor but they wanted it to be a “teaching moment.” I suppose that means that they wanted to get their issues and opinions out during the conformation process. We all should know that Justices serve for an indefinite term and frequently vote their heart and mind and not the views they were confirmed to support. It is amazing how that works….usually for the good. We will see how her decisions go. She was nominated to replace a justice thought to be a liberal influence and thus the Devil’s appointee to the mind of Republican/Conservatives (are there any Republican/Liberals?). It may be seen that she will decide on behalf of the law and the constitution with a little cultural insight thrown in.

There is precedent for cultural influence on the Court. Take any issue of cultural passion and follow it thru the centuries. Slavery and women’s right’s to vote and work to name just two, are decisions pronounced and later reversed according to popular beliefs. I can’t see any remedy for that but we cannot panic over a decision by Ms Sotomayor seemingly with cultural bias.

On to healthcare: That issue has become a firestorm with flames fanned by conservatives who are trying to defeat a Democratic congress and president and not to discuss the issues and work out a workable and livable plan for healthcare reform. The firestorm, created by the Republicans, is claimed by them as a sign that the people are behind them. It is SOOOOO transparent! To parody the Fox News slogan: “Fair and Balanced” is what was wanted, unfair and unbalanced is what we got. President Obama wanted Dems and Reps to get together and come up with a good plan. The president said what his parameters would be but then turned it over to Congress to come up with a plan like that or another plan they thought was better. Congress turned into a cage of animals feuding and marking their own territory. They raged and shouted, accomplishing nothing. Republicans, all thru the campaign were nasty and plotting. John McCain was not, but his campaign workers were. Now the administration is continuing to fight to overcome the wrath and venom of Conservatives who want nothing more than the defeat and humiliation of the President of the United States. It is a tragedy!

THIS should be a teaching moment. There should be non-partisan discussions of how we make a good plan. Conservatives seem to only want reform of regulations on the insurance industry. It seems that they want the insurance industry (the fox) to be involved in the reform process (in the hen house). The Democrats understand that a more radical surgery on the system is needed – BADLY. The most radical thing proposed is the “Public Option” that will be a government funded and regulated option if the Private and Commercial Options (what we have now) do not supply the needs of the poor or the dissatisfied of the population. The Conservatives are furious over the cost of the plan on top of the current stimulus plans. However, instead of working on a plan to manage the debt or create an option to cover the uninsured or underinsured Americans without raising the national debt they choose to promote a shouting match purporting to represent the majority of Americans. An oft quoted proverb: “Vox populi, vox Dei” does not mean it is best. If you follow the roots of that proverb it comes from Isa 66:6. It is criticizing the acceptance of the voice (noise) of the people versus the other voices mentioned. Sometimes we have to consider that the people may not have been exposed to all the information and have not been educated concerning all the issues and ramifications of things. Their priorities are their wallets and purses, alone. They want police, public works and teachers but don’t want to pay for them. Politicians work on their re-elections at the cost of the people’s needs. There needs to be “stewards” in America: statesmen who will be upright, of good character and full of charisma, to lead the people to a better America. So far we have bad tempered children who fight amongst themselves and create chaos and broken systems and then blame someone else for the ills of the nation. It has got to change! THIS is the teaching moment, NOT Justice Sotomayor!

My family hasn’t had insurance for 10 years. My diabetes has advanced and I am now disabled. With insurance I probably would still be working. My wife, without insurance had a stroke and was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. She is also disabled, but until a fall last year was working a few hours a week. She is now recovering from that fall and surgery on her shoulder. With insurance she most likely would not have had that stroke and would have had her diabetes under control. We have suffered from great debt trying to take care of ourselves. We need help because we are unable to help ourselves. How many others are uninsured or underinsured who need help from somewhere? What are those of us to do?

Medicare finally covers me and my wife because of our “disability status” so we are not yet suffering from our current needs. Who knows if that will change? Medicare is an inadequate and corrupt system I am told…..so FIX it! The system purports to cover a group of a multitude of senior citizens and disabled people. It should be extended to cover all of the needy. The Veterans Administration is also a government run system and it runs pretty well….make it BETTER! The U.S. Military has doctors and hospitals who serve all in domestic as well as far flung places, and does it pretty well I understand. Figure out how we can use the techniques and methods to get civilians the same kind of care. These are the issues that need to be discussed and voted upon. Sure the funding is a horrible roadblock. So work on what to do about it, not draw lines in the sand to make negotiation difficult or impossible. We have got to talk civilly and effectively on a bi-partisan level.

So far we are not doing that and it is polarizing the people as well as the Congress to the point of a stand still or ending up with a debacle of at least inadequate or worse situation than we have. What say we quit feuding or being political as we are and reform our healthcare system to something that will work and that we can pay for. Everyone should be taken care of, be able to afford it and access it. The government should be able to afford it and keep tabs on it so that it works. I KNOW we have smart people in Washington SOMEWHERE! If not I know a few reporters, anchormen, and commentators who are a lot smarter than people I have heard talking who hold office!