Books will probably be written about last Sunday’s House vote on the Democratic Health Care Bill. Since none will be written by me a few relevant thoughts will have to suffice, the most obvious being that winning is generally better than losing. The Dems came out of the 1994 mid terms after having lost previously on this very issue, with less than satisfactory results. I doubt they will do worse this fall. I any case I’m certain that in the long run both the party and the nation will benefit, although not as much as I had hoped.
As a lifelong Democrat I have seethed every time my party turns the other cheek. The stakes were so high this time that they had no alternative to fighting fire with fire. The seven vote margin made the contest seem closer than it was. It’s reasonable to assume that once a head count had been taken there was nothing to be lost by releasing a few votes in critical Congressional districts. Before the 2006 midterms Nancy Pelosi’s name was often mentioned with great scorn regarding the prospects of the House with her as Speaker as a Republican talking point. By me she’s been doing just fine.
The dark side of the affair is the behavior of some of the bill’s more rabid opponents. There is no place in a civilized society for spitting and using racial and homophobic epithets on members of Congress. Some may have missed the TV clip showing a Parkinson’s disease victim, an uninvited guest, sitting in a wheelchair at a tea bag rally to protest the protest. One member of the group taunted him by saying that this was not a charity event and there would be no handouts. Others derisively threw dollar bills at him. I prefer to think that this cruelty is not representative of most Americans, most Republicans or even most tea baggers.
While there is an obvious racial component to this hatred I see its foundation as a being economic. The insurance people, with a major financial interest in the status quo, stayed in the background while financing the protests of less affluent types, many if not most having nothing remunerative to do because they’re supported by Stalinist government sponsored programs like Social Security, Medicare and the VA. They’re getting by so, perish the thought, lending a hand to the ten percent uninsured who otherwise might die, go bankrupt or lose their homes, might make a piddling dent in the quality of their lives.
This selfishness is supported by ignorance, some of it feigned, of the fact that most of the unfortunates have been on the public dole for some time. Who do they think pays for the derelict dragged into an emergency room? Anyone who sees a hospital bill should check the price of an aspirin, an overcharge paid by insurance companies. Who do we think pays them? All this should be made evident by clear thinking, something not nourished by anger of which there is no shortage in the tea party. Those in the insurance community know this. They simply hire the Paul Reveres and try to make them even angrier, hence dumber.
America has become a stage in the fight over health care coverage between haves and have nots and it’s no contest. The former have a nine to one advantage, most of the money and are aware of the minuscule conflict of interests. The anticipated results of Sundays vote won’t end the struggle and while the result is something less than a good health care coverage system, it is at least be a step in the right direction.
As a lifelong Democrat I have seethed every time my party turns the other cheek. The stakes were so high this time that they had no alternative to fighting fire with fire. The seven vote margin made the contest seem closer than it was. It’s reasonable to assume that once a head count had been taken there was nothing to be lost by releasing a few votes in critical Congressional districts. Before the 2006 midterms Nancy Pelosi’s name was often mentioned with great scorn regarding the prospects of the House with her as Speaker as a Republican talking point. By me she’s been doing just fine.
The dark side of the affair is the behavior of some of the bill’s more rabid opponents. There is no place in a civilized society for spitting and using racial and homophobic epithets on members of Congress. Some may have missed the TV clip showing a Parkinson’s disease victim, an uninvited guest, sitting in a wheelchair at a tea bag rally to protest the protest. One member of the group taunted him by saying that this was not a charity event and there would be no handouts. Others derisively threw dollar bills at him. I prefer to think that this cruelty is not representative of most Americans, most Republicans or even most tea baggers.
While there is an obvious racial component to this hatred I see its foundation as a being economic. The insurance people, with a major financial interest in the status quo, stayed in the background while financing the protests of less affluent types, many if not most having nothing remunerative to do because they’re supported by Stalinist government sponsored programs like Social Security, Medicare and the VA. They’re getting by so, perish the thought, lending a hand to the ten percent uninsured who otherwise might die, go bankrupt or lose their homes, might make a piddling dent in the quality of their lives.
This selfishness is supported by ignorance, some of it feigned, of the fact that most of the unfortunates have been on the public dole for some time. Who do they think pays for the derelict dragged into an emergency room? Anyone who sees a hospital bill should check the price of an aspirin, an overcharge paid by insurance companies. Who do we think pays them? All this should be made evident by clear thinking, something not nourished by anger of which there is no shortage in the tea party. Those in the insurance community know this. They simply hire the Paul Reveres and try to make them even angrier, hence dumber.
America has become a stage in the fight over health care coverage between haves and have nots and it’s no contest. The former have a nine to one advantage, most of the money and are aware of the minuscule conflict of interests. The anticipated results of Sundays vote won’t end the struggle and while the result is something less than a good health care coverage system, it is at least be a step in the right direction.
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