The Art of the Deal is No More

Good-faith negotiations produce good compromises that move all signatory parties forward as a result of a new agreement. Worthwhile public and private policies, contracts, laws, decisions, and agreements require that foreseeable options, benefits, and problems are discussed openly and honestly. There must be a pervasive willingness by all participants involved to be flexible and to compromise because future opportunities outweigh the limitations of the status quo.

Over the past 25 years, I have been directly involved in many different types of business and legal negotiations between two or more parties over large and small matters. Extreme initial positions were not uncommon but they were understood to be just opening gambits. Ultimately reasonable minds prevailed in most negotiating situations and real progress was made in formulating worthwhile new agreements that left the extremes far behind. Everyone understood that the future tangible and intangible benefits outweighed the estimated and associated costs, and there was a strong desire and ability by everyone involved to visualize something better than the current situation.

HEALTHCARE FAILURE

This nation’s 2009 healthcare reform efforts have failed miserably and they will not improve this nation’s health system in any meaningful ways. What we are witnesses in Congress is the final death throws of a legislative process and irrational national debate gone terribly wrong. All efforts to get any deal passed (no matter the lack of actual substance) are rather meaningless if nothing intrinsically worthwhile is actually accomplished.

Healthcare reform, after both the Senate and the Joint Conference Committee get through with it, will have no public option, no meaningful cost controls in the public and private sectors, and no significant expansions of or improvements to Medicare or Medicaid. There will be some new limits on consumer abuses by insurance companies that will be effective (sometime in the future) and a lot more customers (some with public-sector subsidies) who must buy policies that have no limits on premiums for very likely limited coverage. The current dysfunctional system will not be fixed, and the new solutions may just exacerbate the current situation.

With uncontrolled health insurance premiums covered by federal subsidies, the eventual costs of these proposed reforms will skyrocket. With increased global competition, most U.S. companies will continue to reduce healthcare benefits to their employees so that eventually the majority of citizens under the age of 65 and not eligible for Medicaid will lack meaningful private health insurance. With stagnant employment opportunities and more people falling into poverty, more people will become eligible for Medicaid even under the stingiest of eligibility requirements.

It is one thing to compromise the ideal for something decent and workable, but it should not be traded for something that is completely lousy. On the bright side, by letting things get even worse by passing lackluster reforms and keeping much of the status quo, both will make a complete and radical makeover of our healthcare system all the more necessary in 5 to 10 years.

TIME TO MOVE ON

Obama has met his Waterloo and he must move on to saving his Congressional Democratic majorities in 2010 and his Presidency in 2012 by concentrating on things that can be controlled and promptly enacted, and dominating the storyline to mitigate the likely criticisms from his many opponents. At this point in time, healthcare reform is a complete political loser for this President and Congress, and it would be a waste of time and words trying to make things appear better than they actually are.

The only priorities for the Administration and Congress should be creating a growing economy and many new jobs, along with passing strong and meaningful financial reforms and consumer protections. Unfortunately all efforts towards these goals will be difficult and protracted because there are no quick fixes to our terribly dysfunctional national economy and financial system. Whether Americans have the patience, intelligent understanding of history and economics, and possess any cohesive outlook, are completely separate matters.

SYSTEMIC NATIONAL GRIDLOCK AND PARALYSIS

We Americans must scale back our expectations from Washington DC and the 50 states. If super-majorities are required to pass all legislation in the U.S. Senate and to raise taxes in many state legislatures, then a minority of people will always control public policy and governmental budgets. We must also realize that the majority of our elected officials in both political parties belong to the wealthiest part of society, and they are principally dedicated to serving their large campaign contributors and various well-funded and dedicated special interests.

Unfortunately with our polarized, partisan, ideologically rigid, greedy, narcissistic, and intransigent society, most extreme negotiation stances are now non-negotiable. Any signs of flexibility and willingness to compromise are viewed as weaknesses and used to refuse any changes in the initial demands. This naturally results in complete systemic paralysis and gridlock. If some compromise is achieved, it is only by combining extreme policies into an unnecessarily complex, unworkable and illogical agreement that essentially changes nothing.

It was once thought that our country was only able to take meaningful, concerted and bipartisan actions in the wake of complete disasters, but we were unable to adequately plan for or prevent them. The events of the past 10 years indicate that we can’t even do that as a society. A crisis is not even an opportunity that can be used favorably for any policy changes. Instead a crisis is now only another excuse to argue endlessly and simultaneously ignore until we start the next new crisis, which will be also be argued about and ignored as well, and so forth. When faced with multiple crises, we can justify doing nothing because we can’t handle the various challenges simultaneously or separately – particularly if another scheduled election is a year or two away.

TAKING CHARGE OF OUR FUTURE

Americans must determine what we really want to accomplish for ourselves and our country. Major changes have always been effectuated by a large and cohesive group of common and sometimes nameless people forcing our political leaders to lead, follow, get out of the way, or else face election defeats. If we believe in certain policies and principles, we cannot just hope they will also be shared or pursued by our ruling political, social, and business classes. The events of the past few years are excellent arguments for such a realistic viewpoint.

If Americans want change, they have to personally get involved and take actions. Peaceably taking to the streets, actually voting out of office all current office-holders, setting new priorities, and effectively forcing our nation’s wealthy business, social and political classes to put the best interests of the nation and the majority of citizens first instead of last, are our best hopes.

WE MIGHT NEED TO NEGOTIATE A NATIONAL CIVIL DIVORCE

We should also realize that our country has at least 2 to 4 distinct and irreconcilable world views that will never be compatible. Then we must acknowledge this impasse and formulate a national civil divorce – a complete split of this country geographically, politically, socially, religiously and economically. If we cannot move forward on any of our goals together, it might make better sense to go forward separately to maintain our collective and individual sanity.

At the beginning of the 21st Century, our nation has few overriding centrist ideals in common. We may be deluding ourselves in thinking we can continue to function as a unified nation beyond sharing a common currency and central bank. If irreconcilable differences justify divorces between married individuals, then the same should apply with our entire society.

We might better serve our diverse country by dividing ourselves into about 6 workable smaller yet more cohesive countries. Respecting our differences may only be possible if we actually live separately in several new political entities free to fully pursue the ideological policies that best address our different political, economic and social needs. Forcing everyone to accept one lousy national policy (or no policies whatsoever) may be far worse than permitting various separate policies to be offered to different groups of people who are willing to embrace them. It would be cheaper to help people peaceably relocate to several newly-incorporated North American nations located between Canada and Mexico rather than perpetually accomplishing nothing on a nationwide basis.

GIVE A DAMN

Losing ourselves to anger or depression in the face of opposition or apathy, wallowing in social and political isolation, and pursuing technologically narcissistic and meaningless entertainment, and the adulation of empty personalities, will certainly not accomplish anything or make anything better. Giving a damn and getting fully involved in life might stand a far better chance of remaking our cities, states, nations and the world into places where we can fully participate, prosper and build better futures.

Marc Pascal, happily ranting in Phoenix, AZ which still remains a part of the U.S.