The Public Be Damned - or, Not

Ideas such as this are understandably seductive:

The government will enact reforms that offer everybody unimpeded access to health care at affordable personal cost, will not increase public debt, and will not result in higher taxes.

This statement leaves out some vital information that most people know – but prefer to ignore. Let’s include that information:

Our government, led by corrupt or greedy politicians who accept campaign contributions from corrupt or greedy health care organizations (i.e., pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, legal and medical lobbyists, etc) will actually force these very organizations to reform their businesses in ways they refuse to do on their own. These reforms will work to the public's advantage rather than to the advantage of the corrupt or greedy politicians or to the advantage of the corrupt or greedy organizations who contributed all that campaign money to the politicians. After the reforms are in place, their financing will - astonishingly - be found inadequate, despite all the “savings” that were invented to limit taxes to pay for the reforms. Too late now to do anything about it but borrow huge sums, increase the public debt, and impose more taxes. Another government boondoggle is born.

If you have marveled at how brazenly Congress ignores the peoples’ voice in the evolving “debate” over health care – beginning with the arrogant, closed-mindedness that became clear during the “town hall” meetings in August – think about the preceding paragraph.

What Congress is doing is just not all that marvelous. It’s only politics as usual.
And, as usual, the public be damned . . . unless . . . unless we make a LOT of noise.

If what Congress is doing worries you, then you are already in the majority of Americans. Think seriously about doing more to tell your Senators what YOU think. If there is enough noise outside their windows they may look to see what the public really thinks before voting on the Senate Bill.