Here’s
why I believe House Republicans are to blame for Congress’s latest failure to
do their job and pass a budget:
As paid,
elected representatives, just voting “no” is not an option. It’s ok for the dirtbag whose sole
participation in our representative democracy is paying taxes. He’s allowed to come home from work, strip
down to his boxers, crack open a Milwaukee’s Best, and watch TV all night in
his recliner, isolated from, and not contributing to the outside world. In fact, if he could
squeeze in the occasional casting of a ballot among his commute and his beer
runs, he’d be more involved than about half the population, and I’d be
impressed, but our paid, elected, “professional” representatives have a
slightly higher expectation of performance.
They can vote “no,” but they have to propose an alternative to that
which they rejected.
So when
it comes to this year’s version of Tea Party-induced debt ceiling hostage
taking, the fault lies entirely with the House Republicans who have caved to
this minority faction by submitting a budget they know won’t pass in an attempt
to gain politically in the next election, mount at least the 42nd
failed attempt at blocking the Affordable Healthcare Act, and who offer up
nothing in the way of real compromise or alternatives. House Republicans have in effect just voted “no”
by shutting down our government and they’ve failed to propose any alternative
plan. Again, acceptable for beer
swilling recliner guy. Unacceptable from
paid elected officials.
You can
say neither party is willing to compromise but the fact is, there’s a plan on
the table. The Affordable Healthcare Act
is not only a compromise years in the making, it originated as a Republican
idea. It was passed by both houses of
Congress and signed into law in 2010.
Regardless of what today’s House Republicans (influenced by a marginal
group) think of it, (now that it’s too late to keep thinking about) they must
either support it, work to improve it, or propose their own version that can be
implemented in place of it. Simply
holding the nation hostage arguing over the routine approval of a debt ceiling
increase isn’t living up to their responsibility. It is the equivalent of holding their breath until
they get their way.
To those
of you who consider the status quo an alternative proposed by House Republicans,
consider this: America’s failed 60-year
experiment in for-profit medicine will bankrupt us – individuals and the
country – faster than the inevitable $1000 barrel of oil. Medical care bankruptcy is a recognized
specialty these days. According to CDC and
U.S. Court data compiled by NerdWallet.com, it’s the number one reason why individuals
file for bankruptcy. http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/health/2013/06/19/nerdwallet-health-study-estimates-56-million-americans-65-struggle-medical-bills-2013/
Economic
experts from varied political backgrounds agree individual bankruptcies are the
least of our worries. According to
Forbes online U.S. healthcare costs rose 4% even during the worst economic downturn
in several generations (2009) to 17.6% of our GDP. This prompted the article to begin with “Health
costs are by far the biggest threat to the nation’s fiscal health in the long
run.” http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0314/health-care-recession-expenditure-bankrupt-america.html
We’re
all prone to ignoring economists, but you can’t ignore this: the U.S. spends twice as much of its GDP on healthcare
as the next closest industrialized country but we’ve got very little to show
for it. Our longevity, chronic disease,
and even infant mortality rates fall short of countries most Americans can’t
find on a map. The average American
family spends $16,000.00 http://www.statisticbrain.com/health-insurance-cost-statistics/
on health insurance per year, but that number
is deceptive. First of all, the average American
typically pays less than half of the total premium, while an employer pays the
rest. Second, there are about 47 million
non-elderly, uninsured Americans, according to U.S. Census data compiled by the
Kaiser Foundation, which means those folks paying that $16,000 per year (and
their employers) for insurance are footing some of the bill for the uninsured
as well. Wait you say, that’s
contradictory. Nope. The under/uninsured
only file for bankruptcy when they can’t pay the part we don’t already
subsidize – talk about socialized medicine!
It comes
down to this: the cost of healthcare in
the U.S. is higher than in any other country on Earth and it continues to
rise. The quality of healthcare in the
U.S. remains embarrassingly lower than in countries who spend less than half
what we do. In other words, our
free-market system is not working.
Unless you mean in terms of pure profit for the giant corporations who lobby
Congress to maintain it. When profit is
what drives the healthcare industry, your health falls elsewhere on the
priority list. What’s worse, many of
these Tea Party folks who inspired our current government shutdown stand to gain
the most from full implementation of the Affordable Care Act. (And once again, ACA began as a Republican
plan that encourages participation in the free market healthcare industry.) According to The Atlantic, “slightly more
Republicans (107) than Democrats (99) represent districts where the uninsured
percentage is above the national average.” More than half of the most conservative
Republicans represent districts who would benefit from ACA. Ideology trumps reality every time. Just as most Americans have no idea what we
actually pay for healthcare, we’re too dumb to recognize any attempt at
reigning those costs in as beneficial enough to outweigh the corporate lobbyist
view.
Regardless,
just voting no and shutting down the entire government, at a cost of around
$500 million per day, ain’t helpin’ the already struggling economy. Just voting no without proposing a real
alternative is not acceptable. Holding
the nation hostage in order to counteract a law you’ve already passed is not
acceptable. Waging political warfare
while millions of Americans go without just to set yourself up as the ideologue
some tiny fraction of the electorate wants to see in the next election is
shameful.
I sincerely
hope we remember this longer than we did the last time Congress shut down our
government because there’s only a few places where just voting no is
acceptable. Let your Representative know
you’ll send him back to the recliner if he doesn’t earn his
(or her) keep by ending this sand-kicking soon.
Luth
Out
Luth
Out
