When he was trying to fix our health system LBJ once said that any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes carpenters to build one. Now here we are again, braying and kicking and no progress made. Party politics is to blame, the elected officials having long since lost sight of the ball . . . being responsible to those who voted for them.
The news reported that the machine of this country is the middle class ___ the small business owner, the factory worker, the office clerk ___ and that while their income had risen 20% over the past 10 years health insurance had gone up 133%. Housing costs, food, fuel, and a bunch of other necessities had also risen far more than income. The engine that drives our economy, people like you and me, is sinking.
AARP Editor Jim Toedtman remarked that "for today's legislators, short-term pain for future gain is a non-starter." He gives three reasons:
1. it's election year and all 435 House seats and 33 in the Senate are up for grabs. Everybody is about getting re-elected, not fixing the issues we all face.
2. polital payback; both parties are carrying grudges from when the other one held the majority. All this while US soldiers in Afganistan, Pakistan, and Iraq are giving up their lives; 14 million people need jobs, and 30 million Americans lack adequate health insurance.
3. special interest money; the big spenders are the health insurance industry, trial lawyers, and the food and beverage industry. These guys killed legislation which would have required employer-provided health insurance, limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, and a 3 cent per bottle tax on soft drinks to combat the national obesity crisis. Respectively.
Toedtman's bottom line: it's the house of politics that needs rebuilding. Bring on the carpenters, there's lots to do.
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