With the Senate Republican unveiling of their version of health care reform, several realities have to become clear to supporters of the President (at least the ones who supported President Obama twice). These realities are:
1) The President has not produced a terrific health care plan where everyone will get the services they want at a lower price.
2) These are Social Darwinist-Survival of the Fittest Health Care Proposals where this is an okay plan if you are young and rich. You are screwed if you are poor or old.
3) This is one of the few pieces of legislation considered in history where the few benefit (the rich) at the expense of the needy.
4) The 13 Senators who crafted this legislation have all received significant campaign contributions from health care/pharmaceutical lobbyists that helped write the bill.
There was a feedback session conducted by Frank Luntz of CBS News the last few days of Trump supporters. The supporters faith in the President was astounding. One even said that the President had done more in his term than President Obama did in eight years. I did not know Trump had done anything like bringing the economy back from the abyss, saving the auto industry, enacting health care reform, investing in clean energy, and killing Osama Bin Laden in his first six months in office.
Frankly, the ignorance of segments of the Presidents supporters is breathtaking. A Saturday Night Live Skit with Alec Baldwin as Trump captures it all. Now there are some groups in any political camp that can not be persuaded. That is a given. However, there should be segments of the population that should realize that while the Democratic Party does have ties with Corporate America, they are not the crony capitalists the Republican Party elites champion. Democrats and Progressives have historically over the last 80 years had the interests of the people at heart first. That has not changed. People who supported Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama and then switched to George W. Bush and Donald Trump should not be suckered because Bush and Trump projected a macho strength and daring than their better qualified and popular vote winning opponents did not. These people should also remember and not continue to reward the obstructionist party that stopped Clinton and Obama programs on health care and infrastructure spending. The Republican Party Leaders do not care about the people and laugh at them behind the scenes when they fall for their message and vote for them.
Progressives and Democrats have an opportunity to reach these people and try to persuade them (especially the ones who voted for Obama and Bill Clinton twice) to come back to the fold. It is not too late and even if the Republicans pass their version of healthcare, Progressives can run on a campaign of repeal and replace with Medicare/Medicaid for all. The time is now.
http://www.newsweek.com/healthcare-republicans-bill-campaign-628110
No comments:
Post a Comment