A common theme the Republicans harp on concerning the healthcare bill is its length. “It’s so long.” “Look how tall it is when we stack it.”
My question is, what the hell does this have to do with anything? Medical school is long, but I don’t hear anyone saying that want the doctor that studied heart surgery on Wikipedia. I think we all want the doc that studied for 8 to 12 years before they cut us open.
I’ll let you guess how long the Republican plan was when they controlled all branches of government. Yep, ZERO. This is the sum of their effort to control costs and provide for the needy (you know that whole Christian thing about caring for the less fortunate).
Now, in the 11th hour they provide a bill that is much thinner than the Democratic’s bill. The budget office (accountants) studied both bills and says the Democratic bill is superior in providing for the needy, lowering costs (not as much as needed, but it’s a start), and lowering the overall deficit.
Let’s think about this: a long bill that starts to tackle the issues we face or a short bill that does not. Which one is better?
#1 by Nick Vest on December 1st, 2009
I trust that you’ve read both, in their entirety, before casting judgement on one or another?
If not, therein lies the problem. If you go to whitehouse.gov you’ll see layman’s terms of the Presidents plan…and it’s garbage. If only I were paid to read HUGE stacks of new law and then vote yea or nay, life would be sweet. But it’s not.
#2 by Rocco on December 1st, 2009
I’m not casting judgement on the detailed merits of either bill. I’m sure there are some things in the Democratic bill that I wouldn’t like as well as things in the Republican bill that I would. That’s not my point.
The point is Republicans have not taken the lead to address this problem when they had the chance. They may have issues with the bill, but complaining about the size is not a valid take.
Neither is saying something is garbage just because. It all comes down to the fact that in our system we can never get a perfect bill. It will always be watered down.
You may have a fundimental issue with the whole idea. That is also fine, but have a rationale as to why you disagree. Read my blog, By the People, For the People. Paul disagreed with most everything I said, but he had a frame of logic to argue his point.
There is no right or wrong ideas, per se, but we are here to discuss the merits of ideas.
Not trying to browbeat you or anything, but I want to here why you think it is a junk bill and why it won’t start to fix the issues.