In a shocking upset, the Democrats have lost the 60 seat Senate voting block needed to usher the health care legislation into law. The Democratic state of Massachusetts has elected a Republican whose campaign issues were focused on defeating the current health care reform first and foremost, not trying the 9/11 terrorists on our soil and also on decreasing taxes. It is clear that voters in Massachusetts, at least, want to make sure that the health care bills are not passed. President Obama attempted to blame Bush for the upset when he said the vote was lost, “not just because of what's happened in the last year or two years, but what's happened the last eight years.” Of course, that can only be claimed if you think the voters are irrational morons who would elect a Republican Senator to reflect their disappointment in a former Republican president, which I guess is what our president thinks of the Massachusetts voters.
What does this mean for the current attempt at health care reform? Obviously, many people are against the passage of the bills in their current form. In addition to the voters in Massachusetts and the TEA partiers, nearly all Republicans are in opposition; not even all of the Democratic Senators and Representatives can agree on the bills. The Democrats will have to get creative in order to get these bills passed without losing much of their political capital. If they are seen as trying to pull wool over the eyes of the Republicans or the American citizens in any attempt to sneak the bills through the voting process they may lose all credibility before the looming 2010 elections. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are said to be working on a list of changes to the bills that could be passed separately in an attempt to jump start health care reform.
How has the health care legislation gotten to this point? What was the death knoll for this attempt at reform? It was the failure of the Obama administration to be open and transparent in all their dealings. They hid the specifics of the legislation in over a thousand pages of legalese. They have held meetings closed to both Republicans and C-Span (and therefore the American public). They tried to silence the voice of the people at Town Hall meetings by accusing them of all sorts of slanderous intentions.
What reforms are needed to ensure passage? A huge issue for many opponents is the funding for abortions, some are against health insurance being mandated, and some are offended by the special privileges and exemptions that some special parties have been granted. Others are concerned about the financial side, with issues like tax increases and the growing deficit on their minds.
Should health care reform be the source of such focus for this administration? Is our current system so terrible that such divisive reform efforts should be pushed through? Everyone agrees that the current health care system needs work but it is still a far cry from unbearable. With the continuing recession more focus should be shifted from health care reform to job creation and building up the economy instead of attempting to stimulate it.
Has anyone considered throwing out the current legislation? What about adding to the garbage bucket the pages of regulations that are currently on the books for insurance companies? What proof have we that more regulation is better than less? If Congress eliminated the heavy-handed regulations that keep smaller companies from being able to compete with the big, bad insurance companies (that nearly everyone has a problem with) then the free market would solve the insurance problem itself as everyone would choose the companies that best meet their needs. Proof of this concept are the innovative health insurance substitutes that exist, like Samaritan's Ministries and Medi-share.
Democracies are not set up to handle quick or colossal changes; that is what monarchies and dictatorships specialize in. Perhaps Congress should just create the environment for a better solution to our health care system to be invented and nurtured and, with time, an enterprising spirit will find a fantastic solution and, thanks to capitalism, that spirit will be properly thanked by becoming very wealthy indeed.
