Health care a distant second to jobs

Republicans like to refer to the U.S. House of Representatives as the “people’s house.” Ever since the election in November, they have been on a mission to conduct what they say is the No. 1 priority of the people – repealing health insurance reform.

There is only one problem with that. It’s not true.

According to every legitimate poll, including the recent CBS News/New York Times survey, unemployment (still over 9 percent and much higher in some parts of the country) continues to be the top concern of the majority of Americans. Joblessness is causing cities, towns and local governments to decay. Buildings are still boarded up. Foreclosure signs continue to litter many neighborhoods. Yet, the new House of Representatives, led by John Boehner of Ohio, charged ahead last week and voted to repeal the recent health-care reform package, labeled “Obamacare” by radio talk show hosts, as well as Boehner himself, who should be above this sort of parochial nonsense.

It is appalling that the House has chosen to make this symbolic repeal vote its first major piece of business, particularly when millions of folks are still out of work. And to be fair, I have also stated in this blog that President Obama was wrong in highlighting health care while unemployment was seemingly on the back burner during his first several months in office. Only now has Obama, with his upcoming State of the Union address, seemed to have shifted his full attention to jobs.

Little has changed in American politics in recent months. Republicans won big in November for one reason and one reason only: They were not the party in power while unemployment hovered around 10 percent. Somehow they took what American voters told them (fix unemployment) and twisted it into some sort of mandate to attack everything Obama, including needed financial and health-care reforms.

Trying to tie unemployment rates to health care legislation, as Republicans are now doing, is not only contrary to every objective economic study, but it is also proven to be incorrect by recent history.

We didn’t have insurance reforms when we got into this economic mess three years ago. We didn’t even have the law for the first part of the Obama presidency. So repealing the act and expecting jobs to miraculously reappear is not only wrong, it’s ignoring the need for feasible economic solutions.

Where are the studies showing that repealing health reform will reduce unemployment? Probably in the same file that suggests the wealthy create jobs with the extra money they get back from Uncle Sam. Instead of making these broad and often outdated assumptions, Republicans (and GOP-slanted media outlets) should produce facts based on objective research. Show me sound data that says for every $50,000 a billionaire saves on taxes, that money is used to hire someone. Until then, I have a hard time accepting these trickle-down theories, particularly when the income gap between the wealthiest Americans and the middle class continues to widen.

Going back to a system that allows insurance companies to gouge customers, or worse, lets people needlessly die, is not going to put America back to work in jobs that pay livable wages. Losing one’s house because they got sick isn’t going to improve the real estate market. The mood of the country isn’t going to get better by funding unjust wars or continuing to ship jobs overseas.

Congress needs to do better, act with more dignity and intelligence, while attending to the real-life issues that continue to confront our nation. Getting sucked into a Palin/Limbaugh universe is a recipe for further economic and personal disaster. Jobs not only propel the economy, but they also fuel individual self esteem and tighten the moral fabric of this country.

It is time for politicians to turn off Fox News and pay attention to what real journalists and pollsters are reporting. The margin of error for most scientific polls is 5 percentage points or fewer. With health care well behind jobs in most polls in the last two years, there should be no excuses to not make the economy the No. 1 priority in Washington, state houses and the media. The people have spoken. Will Mr. Boehner and others listen, or will they continue to misinterpret the message from the 2010 elections?

Health-care bill is a done deal, let's move on

Everyone knew there would be a lot of talk about the new health-care reform bill this morning. What's infuriating is that politicians still don't seem to understand that the economy is the No. 1 concern of most Americans. Our leaders in Washington are still focusing on health-care reform. Unbelievable. Republicans want to repeal it. Democrats want to enhance it. And the battle, which should have ended with last night's vote, continues on as job losses mount, roads crumble, wars rage on and the debt rises.

Generally, I support health-insurance reform, though I must admit that supporting anything that Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, backs is difficult for me. It was tough listening to her babble during her victory speech late last night. At times, she seemed downright incoherent.

We need to move on. Health-care reform is a done deal. A lot of what is in the bill will be good for most Americans whether they realize it or not. They should stop listening to "entertainers" like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh -- two guys who are trying to protect their vast wealth -- and start paying attention to what really led to last night's historic vote.

The health insurance companies dug their own graves by exploiting Americans for decades. Greed and arrogance eventually caught up with the big insurers. They probably never imagined the party would end. But it has. And they only have themselves to blame. There should be a lesson in this for all corporations that lose their way. Few people want socialism, but measured governmental regulations seem to be necessary more often than not.

Both political parties would serve America well to shake hands and get on with more important business. If bad feelings linger from the health-care debate, and if the media can't also move on to other subjects of critical importance, we will surely be in far more trouble in the not-so-distant future. It's time for our leaders to start acting like adults and true patriots. Let's put the same energy that went into health-care reform into rebuilding our economy.

Obama lights up the Patriot Center at GMU

President Obama just finished giving a speech about health-insurance reform at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., just 20 miles from where I live. Whether you agree with Obama or not on this or any issue, you have to admit the guy can deliver a speech.

What struck me about Obama's speech and broad support at GMU's Patriot Center today was that he was speaking to folks who, for the most part, have health-care insurance. Yet, these people nonetheless support efforts to help other citizens who are less fortunate. They don't take the position that just because they can afford insurance others shouldn't have access to medical care. They don't take self-reliance values so far that they are incapable of lending a hand.

While you might not agree with the health-care bill that is being politically debated like no other issue I've seen in my lifetime, you have to respect folks who could easily turn their backs on the needy but don't. I hear too many overly judgmental people in my daily life who think everyone who has fallen from grace somehow did something to deserve being without health care, a job or a home.

I am glad that we have a president who can passionately articulate his views about helping others as he did at GMU today. I rather his beliefs be debated than his basic intelligence or compassion be in doubt. I see some problems with this bill, but I don't see the sky falling if it passes. I refuse to get into the parochial argument of whether or not Obama is maliciously trying to ruin the country.

One way or another, the debate needs to come to an end soon. America is dangerously divided. Other serious problems need to be addressed. If the bill passes, I hope conservatives won't try to do some of the crazy things that have been suggested on talk radio -- like impeaching Congress. If it doesn't pass, I hope the left can move on to other matters and revisit health-care reform later on.

Maybe we need a new "ism"

As the health insurance reform debate comes to a climax this week, you've probably heard the word "socialism" used a lot by conservatives who want to kill the bill. This is meant to scare people into thinking that we are about to lose all of our freedoms and liberties.

Let's get real. Without a reasonable measure of government intervention, and some relinquishing of freedoms, we wouldn't have a country. We'd have no military. Planes would be crashing in our skies on a daily basis. Cars would be spewing deadly emissions into the air and drinking water would be polluted by companies dumping toxic waste into rivers. Highways wouldn't be built and the guy sitting in the cubicle next to you would be blowing cigarette smoke in your face all day long. There would be no space program because there would be no taxes to pay for it. Fewer kids would go to college and there would be no public schools. There would be no laws against murder, rape or stealing or any police to enforce whatever "wild-west" laws might exist. Street drugs would be pouring in from Mexico and folks would be screaming "fire" in crowded movie theaters just for kicks. White-collar crime would be off the charts. Discrimination would be the norm. If your bank failed, your money would not be insured. Get the picture?

Most "isms" don't provide the ultimate answer to a better society. And most "isms" aren't that radically different than others. It's really a matter of degree and who is getting screwed the most under whatever governmental system exists. Frankly, I would rather see the insurance companies taken to the woodshed than have Americans needlessly dying of curable diseases. I don't know what "ism" that belief falls under, but whatever it is, sign me up.

I understand the perception that the government (federal, state or local) doesn't run many things very well. Motor vehicle departments are a mess. The Internal Revenue Service is the poster child for inefficiency. Some cities can't even get the streets plowed after a snowstorm. But to deny millions of people affordable medical care is heartless in a society that as a whole is relatively generous. To watch premiums rise 30 percent annually while insurance companies rack in record profits is absurd even for a country that prides itself on capitalism.

I don't know if what conservatives call "Obama-care" is going to solve more than it damages, but I am reasonably certain that the spirit of the effort is just. I don't see what alternatives conservatives are offering that would prevent people from needlessly suffering and dying. Instead of screaming "socialism," it would be better if conservatives came up with a more understandable, feasible plan of their own -- one that is fiscally responsible but also helps return some sense of fairness to a health-care system that seems to shut out more people each year.

I am willing to let the government lean on greedy insurance companies and perhaps offer less expensive health-care alternatives. We don't have absolute freedom and self-reliance anyway. Never have and never will. Nor do we practice a pure form of capitalism. The government is involved in most things in our society, from checking our food to delivering our mail. Why so many folks are drawing the line in the sand over health care is somewhat surprising, particularly when you consider how many Americans have lost their jobs and insurance since the start of the recession.

Keeping it simple escapes us

Healthcare reform has been a noble fight. But it also underscores why this country is so divided and increasingly dysfunctional. It illustrates why whenever you get a large group of people together (in this case Congress) to try to fix something that's broken, you often end up with an even worse result. I saw this same phenomenon while working for a large company.

The longer the fight and the more revisions to the various proposals are dragged out, the more we are moving away from true reform and the closer we are getting to actually creating new financial hardships for millions of people.

In the world of design, simple is often considered best. If designed well, it's more elegant and functional to keep things clean rather than to create clutter. Some mental-health therapists advise folks with anxiety issues to reduce the clutter in their lives. Yet, in most large organizations, including the federal government, simple is never an option. Just look at the tax laws to see a prime example of what happens when the concept of simplicity is abandoned.

At the same time, there is a group of folks in America who would like to do nothing about reforming healthcare. They believe in every man, woman and child for themselves. If people fall through the cracks, so be it. And these hardliners call that liberty. They are usually the same folks who think people should be allowed to smoke in public places and drive at whatever speed they want.

With these opposing forces constantly clashing, it is difficult to create or revise laws to improve our country. Too little government intervention leads to corporate corruption and epic levels of greed. Too much poking around by the feds infringes on the constitution and the reason why this country was formed.

So what's the answer?

I honestly don't know anymore.

Dean says kill health-reform bill

I rarely agree with Howard Dean about anything, but his opinion piece in The Washington Post makes some sense. It's astonishing that the opinion is coming from a hardcore Democrat. The current health-care reform bill doesn't seem to accomplish what was originally intended and it might be best to start over, says Dean. Read Dean's column.