Politically speaking, I don’t care if you’re left, right, or straight up the middle. Whoever and whatever you are, you simply have to cringe when you read this article.
In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the “personal health insurance coverage” of senators, representatives and their staff members.
For example, it says, the law may “remove members of Congress and Congressional staff” from their current coverage, in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, before any alternatives are available.
The confusion raises the inevitable question: If they did not know exactly what they were doing to themselves, did lawmakers who wrote and passed the bill fully grasp the details of how it would influence the lives of other Americans?
Ouch.
Of course, the reaction after you cringe is perhaps most telling.
Do you celebrate the mistake, advancing your argument for repeal of the entire law? Or do you admit the obvious — that perfect legislation has never been written and passed, by any legislative majority of any political persuasion — and then do the reasonable, responsible (some would say “conservative”) thing, and keep what’s good while fixing what’s not.
Here’s an offer to Republican candidates for Congress: This November, assuming you’re a respectable person with no particularly damning skeletons in your closet, I will vote for, contribute to, and campaign for any of you who have the guts to pledge that you’ll fight for refinement rather than repeal of the recently passed health care reform law.
Any takers? Contact me at the email address listed below.
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