The Health Care Debate May Not Be About Health Care
I do not know what is in the health care bill that was manipulated into passage. I am not sure how many pages it actually is, because I have heard different numbers. It seems as if there are close to three thousand pages and then several hundred other pages that explain something that could not be explained in the three thousand or so pages.
I have heard that in the health care bill there are provisions for changing the student loan program, and other ideas, concessions, and benefits to those who needed extra persuasion to vote for the bill. I heard a lot of arguing, fighting, name calling, and anger. The talk was not one of finding answers. It was one of winning and losing. They talked about winning the vote or losing the vote. They talked about the ramifications of the vote in terms of winning and losing seats in the next elections. They talked about building Obama’s legacy and the historic nature of such a bill.
Like I said, I do not know what is in the bill. I do know that if you want to talk about winning and losing, it is the normal American citizen who lost. Here is my reasoning.
First and foremost, it seems as if those who work in Washington are playing a game, rather than trying to lead. It seems that this game is about power, money, influence, and leaving a legacy. It seems as if this game bends, twists, and changes rules, and is more intent on perceptions than reality. Our leadership seems, to me, to have lost the purpose of leaders, and that is to insure that all the power, influence, and resources they have been entrusted with should be used for the good of the people, not the good of the party or elections or self.
Secondly, it seems as if the bill was rushed through without adequate time to read and digest its meaning. There is no real physical way to read that many pages and weigh the ramifications of what was written in the time span they were given. Certainly, we the people did not have the opportunity to see and evaluate. Even if it were posted for three days, I would not have been able to read and understand and evaluate it because it was too long, and, I am sure, too wordy. It seems foolish, at best, to pretend that you read, comprehended, and evaluated the long-term ramifications of all the bill’s points.
Thirdly, our federal government has proven to be incompetent. They cannot run a post office that works, Medicare is in trouble. Social Security is going broke, and many government workers seem lazy, self-absorbed, and overpaid. There does not seem to be anyone on the federal level who can make a budget work, and almost all of our political leaders seem to be liars. I would never give someone who has proven incompetence more to be incompetent about.
Fourthly, it seems as if the people in DC don’t even try to control the spending. Our President flies an expensive jet everywhere way too often. If he were the president of a company that was in the financial condition of this country, the plane would have been sold. In fact, I do believe that Washington made a big deal about the private jets the auto executives flew to their meeting once upon a time. It seems to me that in this day and age, when we can hold electronic meetings, that a company, like the United States, that is way out of money, should be holding electronic meetings. I do believe that the money saved by keeping our President home would be extremely substantial. I know that is not what is going to happen, because he has to sell his policies because they do not stand up on their own merit. The politically expedient thing to do is to politic, face to face. The President does not want to solve the debt problem or he would live differently. His talk is cheap.
Fifthly, our nation’s leaders seem to reward irresponsibility. They seem to thrive on enablement. They do not love the people or they would work at helping them be responsible. We all know, at least those of us who live with and observe real people not involved in political policy making, that irresponsibility is out of control. For example, the leaders in Washington talk about extending unemployment to alleviate suffering, when many who are on unemployment play the game in order to stay that way. Government health care is better and cheaper than having it on your own, and many need to make sure they make a low enough salary to keep the food stamps. These programs are good and were set up for those who were truly in need to help them transition, but they have been and are abused, and everyone knows it, but they continue to talk about extending benefits as the loving thing to do.
We also talk about extending health coverage to everyone when the top three problems that eat up the medical dollars are medical conditions caused by personal choice. Smoking, obesity, and alcohol make up the top three problems, and nobody has to have this problem that does not want it. When you add sexually transmitted diseases to this, texting while driving, and other foolish behaviors, the medical bills become enormous. In a nation of freedoms I believe people have the right to do these things, but freedom without responsibility does not work. It would have been the right thing for our leaders to say that we are extending coverage to the needy, but not to the irresponsible. Those who need medical care because of smoking, obesity, alcohol, or sexual promiscuity will pay the bill on their own.
Instead, our leaders keep talking about how compassionate they are, and parade people in front of us who need help in order to divert the real issue.
That brings me to my sixth reason, which is that our leaders in Washington do not know the real issue. The real issue is something they cannot talk about, because they have been so into self. The real issue is the abandonment of God. The abortion issue is not one of life or choice; it is one of disobedience to God. If one was sexually abstinent before marriage, and faithful in marriage, we would not have an abortion issue to talk about. Since our leaders ignore God, there are no absolutes, which means that they leave all issues up for debate, and the best debaters win. The ideas of right and wrong have been replaced by the good and bad, and winning and losing is measured by who gets his/her way, instead of who aligns themselves with God and His ways. Even more frightening is the fact that this nation was founded on Biblical principles (only fools or liars believe anything else), and as these foundational bricks are removed it will only be a matter of time before our building collapses.
It seems as if our nation wants the fruit of the tree of righteousness, but not the tree. Somehow we want good marriages, families, and honest people who work hard, but we ignore the very principles that bring about that fruit. Any nation who turns from God, the true God, will pay the price, and I am afraid that the cash register drawer is opening.
As I said before, I do not know what the health care bill is all about. I do know that ideas have consequences, and having a liberal President, Senate and House will yield certain results. We, as a nation, deserve whatever comes, because we elected them, we allowed rhetoric to trump principle, feelings to trump truth, and false hope to trump sound reasoning. I am sad because there is no way to sustain things the way they are. As I grew up, each generation was able to be “better off” than the one that went before. I do not think that will be true for the next generation. I think that my generation was so self- absorbed that we lived the good life on borrowed dollars, and are now hoping we can make it to the end of our lives with minimal impact to us, while not caring for who comes behind us. It is the consequence of reckless self- absorption.
If I had a solution to offer, it would be simple. I would fire everyone in Washington who has contributed to the mess we’re in and hire those who have a fear of God. I would hire people for one term and ask their businesses to hold their jobs for them. I think that if we had normal people who were successful running a hot dog stand and loved God, we would be able to turn this around. If they were there, in Washington, for one term, and would return to their normal job after one term, then they would make decisions knowing they would have to live with the results. I would recruit the reluctant rather than the power hungry. I would pay them the average pay of the people in their district, and give them the same health care that a majority of the people in their district have.
In summary, Washington is a bunch of Godless narcissists who cannot be trusted with the good of the people. So, no matter what they passed or will pass, it will mean trouble. I guess I don’t even need to read that three thousand pages……somehow I feel like I accomplished something.
davewager.com
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