You’d think that after endless number of townhalls held by Congresspeople, the President, and political organizations the debate would circle around what would happen if it were enacted, the consequences of the act. Unfortunately, politics doesn’t bend that way.

Distortion and yelling are more common in the current national debate than compromise and clarity. Instead of tackling what is there, dissidents are using What Ifs and I Heard That (insert crazy conspiracy theory here) to further their argument against this proposed change.

One of the shadiest elements of Obamacare is the public option. The idea of a government-run healthcare system scares people–even though influential conservative Bill Kristol admitted to Jon Stewart that they can actually be pretty good at that sort of business.

Some voters and pundits claim it will be mandatory for all Americans to sign up to gov. healthcare; others think the government will have an unfair advantage over the private sector, with its “unlimited resources.” If the government felt like it, they say, they could pour billions upon billions of dollars into their system and outspend other (private) competitors into oblivion. Taxes will rise like a flood at the gate! Well, no, not really.

The current version of the healthcare bill contains caps to how much the government can add to its system’s budget per year (so outspending private companies cannot occur), no mandate (if you got insurance, you can keep it), and the only taxes that will be raised are those on people earning more $350,000 (they got plenty of money to spend on their fancy insurance) and corporations using tax code loopholes (no more Barbados headquarters for you). That is not opinion, interpretation, or fairy tale. It is IN the bill.

It doesn’t matter, however, since the Obama administration is having a hard time sticking to a message. ”It will save the economy/it is essential to our longterm stability/it’s a moral obligation!” This muddles the conversation even more. The Republican party and its sympathizers are having a field day with this debate (coughShoutingMatchcough). They get to hit the healthcare donkey with a bat, unpreoccupied with what their constituents might think. The reasonable majority has no say in this right now, they are forced to back away from the fiery war waged on both sides.

Obama will use next week to go back to square one: Why do we need healthcare reform? According to sources, he plans to use the old Bill Clinton argument that it is a “moral obligation.”

Pick up your bats, GOP, you are being given one more shot at the candy.

You might want to check these out, too:

• Obamacare and its discontents
• Cooking the Sausage
• Is Obama a One Hit Wonder?
• Question Time Comes to America

Tags:   gop · healthcare · obama · the loud minority1 Comment