Obama Hosts Summit, Republicans Offer Alternatives
Clear your schedule or set your DVR for February 25th must see TV– as President Obama and both republicans and democrats are coming together for a bi-partisan debate of healthcare issues and solutions in an open arena to be broadcasted on CSPAN. Will this be productive? Or will it be political posturing? For sure, it will be at least as interesting as most reality TV but with real-life implications we should all care about. As usual, the pundits have lots of conflicting commentary about motivations and potential outcomes, but what is clear is that 63% of Americans want Congress to roll up their sleeves and keep working to solve the healthcare conundrum according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll out this week. As much as many Republicans have fought the democrat’s health reform bills, they quickly accepted the President’s invitation and are promoting alternative ideas including the so-called “small-bill” that out lines seven changes on one page (granted it’s bullet points , not legislation) promising to reform the industry, cover an additional 10 million uninsured, and all for a cool $180 billion versus the $2.5 trillion price-tag associated with the democratic proposals. Is it possible that both sides realize that this issue has economic, moral, and public health implications and needs to be addressed? Is it possible that we agree on that? With some common ground, maybe they can land on at least the beginnings of reform. I’ll be watching. I hope you will too.
Republicans want want failure, they want things like the insurance companies to continue to rake in billions and to keep the unwealthy at a disadvantage. The infrastructures portion was what we needed to get us going in advancing our country to come into the present but the old conservatives who want to go back to the “simpler times” (ie. slavery, and racial discrimination via lower education). Our country and everyday people need help due to bad financial policy and they are just not getting it. Who is getting it? Big business. God bless America.
Wall Street reform is going to fail for the same reason that health care reform was eviscerated. An obstructionist Republican Party that is voting as a bloc in order to cause the failure of the Obama presidency. Nothing that Obama supports is going to pass.
Republicans want want failure, they want things like the insurance companies to continue to rake in billions and to keep the unwealthy at a disadvantage. The infrastructures portion was what we needed to get us going in advancing our country to come into the present but the old conservatives who want to go back to the “simpler times” (ie. slavery, and racial discrimination via lower education). Our country and everyday people need help due to bad financial policy and they are just not getting it. Who is getting it? Big business. God bless America.
The problem with this country is BOTH the Democrats and Republicans. Anyone who seriously thinks that one side isn’t corrupt or slaves to Corporate America hasn’t done an adequate job of paying attention. To the Republicans: The GW administration will go down in History as one of the worst administrations. They eroded your constitutional rights, expanded the power of the wealthy elite, invaded countries under false pretenses, destroyed diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, and spent money like it was going out of style. To the Democrats: Obama is a dud. He promised much and has turned out to be another corporate lackey. He made deals with big pharma to ensure you could not get your medication cheaper elsewhere, he flip flopped on military tribunals, he refuses to fix health care properly through nationalization or single payer, he populates his inner circle with more Wall Street insiders, he spends money on bailouts and useless stimulus packages.