On passage of healthcare reform

There are very few things you can be certain of in this life other than death, taxes, and the GOP’s strident opposition to health care reform. How opposed are they? So opposed, that, for instance, in states like South Carolina, a state which made Forbes Magazine’s list of the ten unhealthiest states, both U. S. Senators are in the forefront of the bid to stop the reform effort in its tracks.

Consider that in South Carolina, 34% of its citizens lack health insurance. 44% of its citizens are obese. 38 out of every 100,000 people will die from cardiovascular disease. Only 17% of its children aged 19-35 months will be immunized. Cancer deaths claim 38 out of every 100,000 people. Things are so bad that had had their Governor, Mark Sanford, moved to Argentina to live with his paramour, he would have added two years to his life expectancy.

Well, we might also take our own Republican U. S. Senators and Congressmen to task for their failure to support any sort of healthcare reform. They know, for instance that a lot of Kentuckians lack access to healthcare, unless you deem the annual visits to Pike County by the Remote Area Medical clinic to be adequate access. This annual event takes place over one weekend a year, and is always very crowded.

This event always reminds me of the film Caddyshack where the Bushwood Country Club allowed their caddies unfettered access to the swimming pool one day each year, from 2:00 pm to 2:15 pm.

So why is the GOP walking in lockstep in their opposition to healthcare? That is the great puzzle of our time. They have said, though, that the bill that is about to be signed into law by President Obama, is overreaching, and represents an intrusion on our lives by the government.

But if you have a serious medical condition, and your insurance finds a way to drop your coverage, as is frequently the case, is a law that would keep this from happening an intrusion by the government?

They have also said that they have a better plan to fix healthcare, but this always brings up an uncomfortable query from anyone who hears this response: You had the numbers in Congress from 2001-2007, and you say you were aware of the problems with healthcare. So why didn’t you do something about it when you could?

Some Republicans say that the GOP didn’t lose power because it didn’t address healthcare; it overspent. And to reform healthcare is to overspend. Except that to do nothing will cost considerably more than the bill they decry.

I personally think the GOP has painted itself in a corner. They put everything on stopping the Democrats from accomplishing their prime objective, and they have failed. Had they succeeded, they hoped to reclaim Congress this year, and the Presidency in 2012. Now they must go to the electorate and explain, for instance, why they were opposed to dropping the pre-existing exclusion clause from health insurance, or plugging the donut hole in Medicare, Part D, and this is a stretch for anyone, even seasoned campaigners.

But if this becomes a loss for the GOP, it is a win for everyone else, especially the 47 million Americans without health insurance.