Publisher's Notebook
Time for national health care?
Publisher Bruce Trogdon
Last week, we talked about the real issue that troubles most everyone in America – health care. I urged the Republicans in Congress to get sensible and come up with a bipartisan plan, not just another political sham.
What actually happened was yet another of their "repeal and replace" Obamacare schemes went down the tubes. Most of the media is sure that this failure will lead to the implosion of the Republican Party.
Personally, I think just the opposite. Failing to pass their own bill is the best thing that ever happened to them. If any one of their crazy, convoluted schemes had passed, I think that is what would have led them to a gigantic defeat at the polls in 2018, just like how the poorly thought out and partisan Obamacare plan led to the demise of the Democrats. Repealing one convoluted scheme with another one makes no sense at all and the voters know it.
Some Republicans in Congress haven't figured that out yet. They are not listening to the voters. This is because most were elected in gerrymandered districts that make it hard for them to lose. The Democrats are just being obstructionists and promising free candy for everyone because most of them also come from gerrymandered districts where it is hard for them to lose.
I blame both Republicans and Democrats in Congress for not doing their jobs and addressing one of the paramount issues in our country today. However, I assign the largest share of the blame on a president that is incapable of communicating a coherent message to the American people.
Ironically, I actually think Trump would be in favor of a real health care fix. He is a businessman and actually strikes me as very pragmatic. That is what a lot of people voted for and thought they were getting. Trump needs to lead on this issue and he just isn't. It is not something you can talk about in a 140-character tweet. It is not something that you can just have a rotating bunch of "spokesmen" talking for him in ridiculous, off-camera press conferences.
Former President Obama was able to sell "Obamacare" to the American people because he was passionate about it and, as he always did, communicated his intentions coherently to the country. While I personally feel that "Obamacare" was a very cynical and bad health care bill that was not bipartisan, at least he was able to sell it to his own party. Trump hasn't even done that. He has no coherent plan so there is nothing to sell.
I get the sense that President Trump wants to move onto the issues that got him elected: improve our tax system, make America competitive, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. Make America Great Again. The people voted for somebody to get these things done. So get off the embarrassing ramblings on Twitter and lead!
The American people knew that something had to be done with health care. They rightly or wrongly gave Obama and the Democrats the benefit of the doubt when he asked them to trust him on the fix. Now, they know something is still wrong and need leaders from both parties to level with them about how to fix it. But who is going to do that? It has to be the president.
Last week, we asked our readers in our Weekly Online Poll their thoughts on the health care dilemma. The leading answer by far was the 41.2 percent who said their desire is for a premium national health care for all. Why shouldn't they? They have been promised that you can get something for nothing by our cynical leaders in both parties.
Add to that the 29.4 percent who voted for "putting an emphasis on protecting pre-existing conditions." Then add the 27.2 percent who favored some sort of Medicaid for everyone and the conclusion is quite obvious. Our readers know that people get sick and need to have access to some kind of health care. Duh.
You can easily get lost in the weeds of this very complicated subject. There are tons of ways to approach a fix. Last week's poll made me wonder how many would vote for a national health care plan if they had to pay higher taxes to pay for it? So this time we are just trying to keep our poll question simple, which is just what we are asking our leaders to do. Use the KISS approach (Keep It Simple Stupid).
"Would you be willing to pay some kind of higher taxes in exchange for some kind of national health care for all?"
Yes or no?
What actually happened was yet another of their "repeal and replace" Obamacare schemes went down the tubes. Most of the media is sure that this failure will lead to the implosion of the Republican Party.
Personally, I think just the opposite. Failing to pass their own bill is the best thing that ever happened to them. If any one of their crazy, convoluted schemes had passed, I think that is what would have led them to a gigantic defeat at the polls in 2018, just like how the poorly thought out and partisan Obamacare plan led to the demise of the Democrats. Repealing one convoluted scheme with another one makes no sense at all and the voters know it.
Some Republicans in Congress haven't figured that out yet. They are not listening to the voters. This is because most were elected in gerrymandered districts that make it hard for them to lose. The Democrats are just being obstructionists and promising free candy for everyone because most of them also come from gerrymandered districts where it is hard for them to lose.
I blame both Republicans and Democrats in Congress for not doing their jobs and addressing one of the paramount issues in our country today. However, I assign the largest share of the blame on a president that is incapable of communicating a coherent message to the American people.
Ironically, I actually think Trump would be in favor of a real health care fix. He is a businessman and actually strikes me as very pragmatic. That is what a lot of people voted for and thought they were getting. Trump needs to lead on this issue and he just isn't. It is not something you can talk about in a 140-character tweet. It is not something that you can just have a rotating bunch of "spokesmen" talking for him in ridiculous, off-camera press conferences.
Former President Obama was able to sell "Obamacare" to the American people because he was passionate about it and, as he always did, communicated his intentions coherently to the country. While I personally feel that "Obamacare" was a very cynical and bad health care bill that was not bipartisan, at least he was able to sell it to his own party. Trump hasn't even done that. He has no coherent plan so there is nothing to sell.
I get the sense that President Trump wants to move onto the issues that got him elected: improve our tax system, make America competitive, rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. Make America Great Again. The people voted for somebody to get these things done. So get off the embarrassing ramblings on Twitter and lead!
The American people knew that something had to be done with health care. They rightly or wrongly gave Obama and the Democrats the benefit of the doubt when he asked them to trust him on the fix. Now, they know something is still wrong and need leaders from both parties to level with them about how to fix it. But who is going to do that? It has to be the president.
Last week, we asked our readers in our Weekly Online Poll their thoughts on the health care dilemma. The leading answer by far was the 41.2 percent who said their desire is for a premium national health care for all. Why shouldn't they? They have been promised that you can get something for nothing by our cynical leaders in both parties.
Add to that the 29.4 percent who voted for "putting an emphasis on protecting pre-existing conditions." Then add the 27.2 percent who favored some sort of Medicaid for everyone and the conclusion is quite obvious. Our readers know that people get sick and need to have access to some kind of health care. Duh.
You can easily get lost in the weeds of this very complicated subject. There are tons of ways to approach a fix. Last week's poll made me wonder how many would vote for a national health care plan if they had to pay higher taxes to pay for it? So this time we are just trying to keep our poll question simple, which is just what we are asking our leaders to do. Use the KISS approach (Keep It Simple Stupid).
"Would you be willing to pay some kind of higher taxes in exchange for some kind of national health care for all?"
Yes or no?