The Health Care Debacle

You've seen the headlines about the election to fill the late Ted Kennedy's seat in the Senate. Massachusetts has elected a Republican for the first time since 1972. The GOP is declaring that the Health Care Initiative is now "dead" and liberal Democrats are circling their wagons to protect the "core" of the initiative.

If these core items are so important then why haven't they been passed already. Why have the Democrats been pushing all or nothing for the last year. If a majority of Congress can agree on insurance regulation reform, why not pass legislation that accomplishes that specific issue. If you have enough votes to pass legislation that helps make health care more affordable, then do it. If you don't have enough votes to pass a government option, move on. Why has Congress waited a year and accomplished nothing.

1990 pages. That's how big the Pelosi health care proposal has become. 1990 pages! Let's put this into perspective. Leo Tolstoy's book War and Peace has 1400 pages. Have you ever read War and Peace? Those of us who have know that 1400 pages takes serious time (and commitment) to get through. The health care proposal has 500 more pages in its present form and there's no plot.

Polls showing that a majority of Americans want Congress to focus on other issues has not deterred the Democrats from pushing forward on health care. President Obama's approval ratings are sinking on a daily basis yet he pushes on. On year ago the Democrats had it all. Public opinion, the Presidency and a majority in Congress. They've squandered their chance and the Republicans couldn't have written a better script for a comeback.