Friday, November 6, 2009

Health Care Bill Passes Through House. Politics Still SUCK

As I've previously stated, I am all for revamping a broken (make that disaster) of a health care system. So, while I am pleased by the results, the results show how broken the political system is AND how much it SUCKS.

First, take a look at the votes. 218 votes were needed and a "whopping" 220 were received.



But that is not why the system SUCKS. The vote was close... fine. BUT, the divide between parties on an issue of this importance is. How can Democrats (across the board) be so for the idea and Republicans (across the board) be so against? And how is it remotely possible that only one Republican can think this is a good idea?

Actually, it looks like that Republican may not even have voted for the bill because it was a good idea. Shocker... the vote by Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana may help him get reelected. Per Salon's pre-vote article:
Cao is in a unique position, because he's a first-term congressman who represents a heavily Democratic district. As a result, he'll have a hard time getting reelected as it is, and though the GOP base would undoubtedly rise up against him, Cao can use a little bipartisan credibility with the Democrats in his district. The only reason he was able to win election in the first place is because he was running against Rep. William Jefferson, who was under indictment on federal corruption charges at the time of the vote.
And that... is another reason why politics SUCK.
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13 comments:

  1. Buford LeeNovember 7, 2009 at 8:33 PM

    You SUCK, man.

    Big time.

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  2. JakeNovember 7, 2009 at 8:36 PM

    Thank you sir

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  3. AnonymousNovember 7, 2009 at 9:01 PM

    Jake, thanks for all the great work you do. And I agree, politics blow =/

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  4. dblwyoNovember 8, 2009 at 4:11 AM

    Yes, indeed but jaw, jaw beats war, war as Winnie put it. Not only is what's your alternative what's our responsibility. We get the partisan politics we ask for. Congress sucks but that special school our Congressman gets for us is another thing.
    "Not least of the challenges is the competition among interest groups to influence public decisions in their own interest, the maneuverings of partisan political groups and, the fuel feeding the frenzies, the belief that complex problems have simple magic answers. The accompanying cartoon pretty well captures the sense of things, as political cartoonists represent it. You'll notice of course that each chose to pivot around the recently released "Wild Things" movie which at its heart is about discovering your own inner demons and learning to deal with them. Until folks in general are willing to face up to their own Wild Things change will be challenged."
    http://llinlithgow.com/PtW/2009/11/change_is_hard_policy_politics.html

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  5. AnonymousNovember 8, 2009 at 7:55 AM

    Agreed. And thank you for the excellent information on this site.

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  6. AnonymousNovember 8, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    From politico.com:

    "Of the 34 no votes [by Democrats], 27 are members who represent seats carried by McCain—including all 11 Democratic members who hail from districts where McCain won 60 percent or more of the vote. Four of the remaining seven are freshmen Democrats sitting in seats that were Republican-held until 2008."

    The number 34 was the number learning "no" yesterday, slightly different from the actual vote.

    The kinder way to view this vote would be to say that both Democrats and Republicans both voted according to their honest beliefs about what would be best for the country, but a few set aside their personal views in favor of the views of their constituents. What's so wrong about that?

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  7. JakeNovember 8, 2009 at 12:15 PM

    The problem is that health care has turned into a political issue when (in my opinion) it should have nothing to do with politics.

    In this case, if reform was brought up by Republicans, why do I have a feeling that the vote would still be lopsided, but in 100% the other direction.

    Anything this important (in agreement with the reform or not it IS important) should not be so cut and dry by party line.

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  8. EconomicDisconnectNovember 8, 2009 at 1:47 PM

    Jake,
    "Anything this important (in agreement with the reform or not it IS important) should not be so cut and dry by party line."

    This is the real problem as you state. It has progressed to the point now that if the Democrats wanted to pass a bill saying "The Sun goes down at night" 100% of the Republicans would vote against it, and vice versa. You get the government you deserve and boy do we have that indeed.

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  9. AnonymousNovember 8, 2009 at 2:55 PM

    Jake:

    Of course health care is political. Any time you want to spend billions of some taxpayer's dollars on something for some probable non-taxpayer (that's who we're "helping" here) then you're damn right there is going to be politics involved. You want politics taken out of it? Private health care. No tie to your employer. LESS regulation, not more.

    No republican voted for it because just like the stimulus wasn't about stimulus, the health care bill isn't about health care. They are both MASSIVE gov't power grabs wrapped in a crisis wrapped in a lie.

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  10. JakeNovember 8, 2009 at 4:31 PM

    if it is as political as you say it is, then it should be divided not by party, but within parties as well. that is my whole point.

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  11. AnonymousNovember 8, 2009 at 7:38 PM

    if it is as political as you say it is, then it should be divided not by party, but within parties as well. that is my whole point.

    How the heck do you figure that? The GOP at least in theory is for SMALLER government, LESS regulation. The DNC is the antithesis. Only RINOS from liberal states are republican and could conceivably go along with this monstrosity of a bill. It's anathema to everything the party stands for, and not just by a little bit! There are things to be "joint" on but scrapping the current system for its imperfections for a socialized medical system like Europe isn't it. For one thing, the very reason for it (lowering costs) it an absolute lie. It does not lower costs, and won't lower costs. So start with a position of honesty if you want to have Boehner meet you in the middle.

    As I said, it's not about health care anyway, it's about the gov't extending its tentacles. That's why you are confused. You appear to believe it's about health care.

    (BTW, it would be nice if the preview aspect of this comment site were actually usable. It goes to a 404 message and you can't see your comment in any case.)

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  12. JakeNovember 8, 2009 at 8:19 PM

    i never said this wasn't the way it is. and i never said the system could be changed. i just said this is why politics SUCK

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  13. www.pointsandfigures.comNovember 9, 2009 at 8:22 PM

    I think the reason the vote was so lopsided is that the way the bill is structured is really an affront to anyone who believes free market capitalism is the way to solve the problem.

    This is an entitlement program, creeping socialism. It will grow, be inefficient, cost more than expected etc, just like every government program.

    There are ways to do this without having loads of government intervention.

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