Who would of thunk it? I agreed with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Here is how this happened and why I am not in a corner chastising myself.
For the past month, I have been trying not to write about the health care issue until we knew what the congressional joint committee’s “final” version looks like and presented to both houses of Congress. It seems silly to argue proposed legislation before we know what it says.
I cannot seem, however, to get away from the discussion. Every corner I turn, every door I open, there is a health care reform confrontation. Last Sunday was no different.
All of the talking head shows, all of the major political commentaries, seemed to focus on two subjects — terrorism in the sky and health care on the ground. The saga of Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab will continue to unfold and become the source of too many new conspiracy theories. Did President Obama plan this attack on Christmas like President Bush planned Sept. 11?
More troubling for the American people is the continuing health care reform debate taking place under Lady Liberty. More like a lack of debate of any kind.
I agree with Newt Gingrich, no one person in Congress can tell you what the 2,409 page and almost one-half million words of “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” say. That is a bit shorter than “War and Peace.” And boring.
I am not capitulating to the “crazy right,” the “disappointed progressives” or the “Bah Humbug caucus” as described by New York Times commentator and “Meet the Press” panelist Paul Krugman. I am just one of those liberals. Yet conservative Gingrich and I agree that the current proposed health care package needs to be scrapped.
The single payer plan is, however, the answer. Newt would not agree. Yes, it would raise taxes, but 100 percent of Americans would have health, vision, dental and other coverage as promised.
During the roundtable discussion on "Meet the Press," Gingrich admitted that the Republicans have done nothing to counter the Democratic health care reform bill other than “yell ‘No’.” He continued that the Republicans have no alternative bill and the Democrats have pushed through a bill that is not reform. I agree.
After reading HR 3590, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve, and listening to the pros, cons and otherwise, it appears that this legislation will do nothing but make insurance companies happier and American wallets emptier. Ninety-five percent of all Americans will have “forced” coverage, but, and please note, we are not told who are and what happens to the unfortunate 5 percent.
On “Meet the Press,” Krugman said this is “a landmark piece of legislation; flawed, annoying, underfunded. There are a lot of things wrong with it. …” Yet he still supports the effort as a “move toward getting rational about health care spending ...” Rational? Is Krugman saying that Americans need to settle for second or third best?
Gingrich pulled no punches. “There is bribery in the Senate … where senators are getting all sorts of special deals” just to get something, anything passed. I agree. Gingrich continued, “This is a bad bill.”
I agree.
Gingrich said something else: “Americans are angry with Congress.”
I agree.
So did New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell.
To paraphrase Friedrich Nietzsche, The most fundamental form of Congressional stupidity is forgetting what we were trying to do in the first place.
That objective, what we were trying to do in the first place, was to achieve true health care coverage for 100 percent of Americans, as promised in the 2008 presidential and congressional campaigns. Today, the Democrats just want a “win.” The Republicans seem to have no idea what they want.
On Dec. 9, General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said at West Point’s Black and Gold Forum that a future America, “will be shaped by the public and private sectors, and — more than ever — by a willingness to act boldly for the good of the country.”
Now, will Congress go boldly where no Congress has gone before?
David Rosman is an award winning editor, writer, professional speaker and college instructor in communications, ethics, business and politics. You can read more of his commentaries at Inkandvoice.wordpress.com. He welcomes your comments at ProfDave1011@netscape.net.