Remember the show Godzilla? I enjoyed watching the re-runs on TV and just really getting into the whole campiness of it all. The Godzilla character went through several variations over the years to remain relevant to those cult-like fans who kept up with the series.
At some point, they started have this “mega-battles” between Godzilla and some other character. One of the more memorable battles was against a character called Megatron. The fights between those two were epic and classic.
This ongoing fight between President Obama (and by extension, the Democrats) and conservatives about the future of healthcare reminds me of Godzilla vs Megatron. Now, I’m not saying who represents which character, but they are two very powerful entities going toe-to-toe to determine the future of healthcare in America.
President Obama had early momentum on his side: newly elected president, a Democratic congress and a ton of goodwill (or “political capital” as they like to say in D.C.). But, because he didn’t steer the initiative through the land mines of the political process, opponents were able to mount a counter-attack and label the initiative with any negative label they could create; and it worked.
Soon, every image shown on television was of regular citizens hopping mad about the “government takeover of healthcare”, “death panels,” “socialist programs,” and so on. Yes, the bill passed, but it was heavily gutted from the soaring, revolutionary plan that was first presented to the American public.
After much back and forth between the two sides, the battle continues. Since Democrats lost the house in the mid-term elections, conservatives have made healthcare public enemy #1 and are hell-bent on destroying it by any means necessary. The mid-terms were like a shot straight to the solar plexus; it forced the President to wake up and take stock of how far off course the ship had strayed.
So, in his second State of the Union address (which was pretty blah, by the way) he offered an olive branch to conservatives regarding healthcare. He agreed to actually consider legislation that would rein in malpractice lawsuits, a key pillar of the skimpy healthcare alternative plan that the GOP released early in the healthcare debate (which has not been really updated or given more detail, since the original).
There are estimates that say if malpractice insurance lawsuits were fully implemented, it would only affect 2% of the total healthcare spend. Maybe.
Big whoop. Two percent? That’s not even enough to affect anything. That is the classic “fly on the elephant’s ass” analogy. So, what’s behind it?
My theory is that President Obama, in his desire to move to the middle, is trying to outflank conservatives and opponents to healthcare by easily giving up an item of contention that has almost no noticeable effect on the overall structure of healthcare and how it would be delivered. Essentially, he called their bluff.
Now, the ball is in conservatives court. If they continue to attempt to undermine and gut healthcare legislation, they run the real risk of alienating more of the american public and creating a backlash (again?) and eroding the significant gains acquired so far.
My take on this is that conservatives have painted themselves into a very tough corner. They’ve harped (and harped) about healthcare legislation driving up the federal deficit and the debt burden we would be leaving future generations. Yet, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has announced that if healthcare legislation is repealed, it will drive up the deficit to higher amounts than if it is allowed to proceed.
Much like the Borg characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, conservatives have delivered sound bites in perfect form about reducing the federal deficit, cutting spending and so on. But, if they proceed with their plan to starve healthcare legislation to death, a “prime directive” will be violated. How will conservatives respond? They delivered a huge shot to the President and his agenda much like Godzilla or Megatron would hit each other, but the President responded with a more nuanced counterblow. This rest of this year should yield some very interesting developments – from both sides.
At some point, they started have this “mega-battles” between Godzilla and some other character. One of the more memorable battles was against a character called Megatron. The fights between those two were epic and classic.
This ongoing fight between President Obama (and by extension, the Democrats) and conservatives about the future of healthcare reminds me of Godzilla vs Megatron. Now, I’m not saying who represents which character, but they are two very powerful entities going toe-to-toe to determine the future of healthcare in America.
President Obama had early momentum on his side: newly elected president, a Democratic congress and a ton of goodwill (or “political capital” as they like to say in D.C.). But, because he didn’t steer the initiative through the land mines of the political process, opponents were able to mount a counter-attack and label the initiative with any negative label they could create; and it worked.
Soon, every image shown on television was of regular citizens hopping mad about the “government takeover of healthcare”, “death panels,” “socialist programs,” and so on. Yes, the bill passed, but it was heavily gutted from the soaring, revolutionary plan that was first presented to the American public.
After much back and forth between the two sides, the battle continues. Since Democrats lost the house in the mid-term elections, conservatives have made healthcare public enemy #1 and are hell-bent on destroying it by any means necessary. The mid-terms were like a shot straight to the solar plexus; it forced the President to wake up and take stock of how far off course the ship had strayed.
So, in his second State of the Union address (which was pretty blah, by the way) he offered an olive branch to conservatives regarding healthcare. He agreed to actually consider legislation that would rein in malpractice lawsuits, a key pillar of the skimpy healthcare alternative plan that the GOP released early in the healthcare debate (which has not been really updated or given more detail, since the original).
There are estimates that say if malpractice insurance lawsuits were fully implemented, it would only affect 2% of the total healthcare spend. Maybe.
Big whoop. Two percent? That’s not even enough to affect anything. That is the classic “fly on the elephant’s ass” analogy. So, what’s behind it?
My theory is that President Obama, in his desire to move to the middle, is trying to outflank conservatives and opponents to healthcare by easily giving up an item of contention that has almost no noticeable effect on the overall structure of healthcare and how it would be delivered. Essentially, he called their bluff.
Now, the ball is in conservatives court. If they continue to attempt to undermine and gut healthcare legislation, they run the real risk of alienating more of the american public and creating a backlash (again?) and eroding the significant gains acquired so far.
My take on this is that conservatives have painted themselves into a very tough corner. They’ve harped (and harped) about healthcare legislation driving up the federal deficit and the debt burden we would be leaving future generations. Yet, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has announced that if healthcare legislation is repealed, it will drive up the deficit to higher amounts than if it is allowed to proceed.
Much like the Borg characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, conservatives have delivered sound bites in perfect form about reducing the federal deficit, cutting spending and so on. But, if they proceed with their plan to starve healthcare legislation to death, a “prime directive” will be violated. How will conservatives respond? They delivered a huge shot to the President and his agenda much like Godzilla or Megatron would hit each other, but the President responded with a more nuanced counterblow. This rest of this year should yield some very interesting developments – from both sides.
No comments:
Post a Comment