It is time for the conservative Republicans to stop beating their collective heads against the wall and do something constructive about the Affordable Care Act. There are several facts that can no longer be ignored. First is that as long as Obama is President, and the Senate is in the hands of the Democrats, this law will not be repealed. Despite all the petulance of the most conservative wing of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, they cannot do the impossible.
Readers of this Blog will recognize that it generally represents a conservative approach to many issues, and herein, there will be such an approach represented. Our government has always functioned best with compromise. Nothing gets done without it. In this approach, those who believe strongly cannot, and will not triumph completely. In order to get some of their preferences, they must give up others. This is not giving in, it is governing!
The Affordable Care act is not perfect, but it has many features that are good for the people of this country. It also has other provisions that are harmful, to business, to innovation, and to some of the people. What needs to be done is to stop fruitless, blanket opposition to the entire act, and to begin the process of making improvements in this act so that it will function better than if no changes are made.
Historically, when the Medicare act was passed, it also met stiff opposition. Over the years there have been many changes made to make it function better and today, it is the bulwark of care for our seniors. It is time to move forward with acceptance and revisions to remove or improve those sections of the act that we have already realized are not will written. Had our legislature done their job before it was passed, by reading it in its entirety, and amending it before it was passed, then we might not be in this position today. Unfortunately, Nancy Pelosi did not believe that and pushed the bill through the House of Representative, using that infamous statement; ”We have to pass it first, then we can read it and find out what is in it.” This stupid statement has led us to the juncture we are in now, and it is time to go beyond the present idiocy and become a legislature that acts to help the American People, instead of a legislature that stomps their feet, digs in, and does nothing of value. We have already seen the effect of this inability to compromise in the passage of the Sequester with which we are living. This could have been accomplished better with COMPROMISE, but our wonderful pouting children in Washington have forgotten how to do that. Compromise brings improvement. Standing firm brings nothing of value. Instead of supporting legislators that are stubborn, we need to support legislators that are statesmen, those who share our positions, yet are aware of the need to compromise to get as many of our views passed into law. That is what we send them to Washington to do. That’s right, we send them to Washington to DO SOMETHING, not to pout and do nothing when they do not get their way.
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