A primary
difference between Republicans and Democrats is integrity. The Republicans have it, and the Democrats do not.
Yet, the Republican
controlled House of Representatives, could not bring their signature healthcare
legislation, The American Health Care Act, aka Ryancare, to a vote yesterday
(March 24, 2017), because they lacked the number of votes to pass it. Some say
it was an embarrassment for the Party. Some say it was lack of leadership. Some
say it was that Republicans really didn’t want to repeal Obamacare. It was none
of these. It was tergiversation that failed to address the reasons why the
voters gave Republicans a historic landslide victory in the 2016 Election.
It
was the American Middle Class who put Donald J. Trump in the White House and Republicans
in charge of both houses of Congress. Moreover, beginning in January 2017, Republicans control two-thirds of the state legislative chambers, an
all-time high. The GOP controls both legislative chambers in 32 states, another
all-time high; the same is true for Democrats in just 13 states. Republicans
will hold 33 governorships for the first time in 94 years. And, 25 states have a Republican 'trifecta' with control of the executive
branch and both legislative chambers.[1]
Only the delusional would believe that the 2016 Election results are something other
than a mandate for change. The Election was a total repudiation of the Obama /
Clinton political agenda, and by extension, the Democratic Party, for the past
eight years. It sent many messages, but the sine
qua non of the election was to
restore the viability of Middle Class Americans, which had been utterly ruined
by the last 24 years of Progressive Democrats and RINO Republicans.
Americans
voted to have Obamacare repealed in its entirety. They did not vote to have the
same “pig” in another dress. In other words, “you can put lipstick on a pig,
but it’s still a pig!”
Obama
Care was never about providing “affordable healthcare.” It had two purposes:
one, to destroy the current healthcare system in the United States, and replace
it with a single payer / single provider system such as Canada and Great
Britain, et al; and two, to further Obama’s Rawlsian pursuit of social justice,
by destroying Middle Class America, by transferring their wealth to those who
do not contribute to our society.
Ryancare was never about the healthcare reform promised.
It was mala fide.
It was, in a word, insulting. Americans expected real change, but what was
proposed in Ryancare was capitulation to Special Interests such as Insurance
Companies, Pharmaceutical Companies, HealthCare Companies, et al.
Health care reform is not hard if you put the American people
before the Special Interests. Here’s what needs to be done:
1. Obama Care must be
repealed in its entirety!
2. Protect the middle class.
3. Immediately allow
competition for health insurance across state
lines, which will lower premiums and deductibles.
4. Immediately remove “benefit
mandates,” which will lower premiums and
deductibles.
5. Immediately allow any
adult to purchase the policy and coverage
of their choice, which will lower premiums and deductibles.
6. Protect “preexisting
conditions” for only those who were previously covered for the condition under a
previous insurance policy. These people
should not be denied the health insurance
of their choice. Hence, portability! But note, people who have put off having insurance until they contract an illness, will not qualify for coverage for a “preexisting
condition,” and will have to pay what the
market will bear.
7. No subsidies! No direct
payments to insurance companies.
8. All insurers must offer
policies for catastrophic insurance.
What ever maybe the future political intentions of speaker Ryan
and Republicans in Congress, they will not get there by supporting Special
Interests at the expense of the people who elected them.
[1] Source: the Atlantic, “How the GOP's Sweep in the States Will Shape
America's Schools,” by Laura McKenna, November 21, 2016.
