In an Editorial last Friday, USA Today discussed how the health summit exposed “irreconcilable differences” between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of health care reform. It said in part:
That at least makes it clear where reform goes from here. Obama and his party have three choices: They can give up and blame GOP intransigence. They can try to settle for the same sort of incremental changes made after President Clinton’s health reform effort failed in 1994. Or they can try to push through a comprehensive plan to overhaul a dysfunctional system that works well for some Americans but leaves far too many with no coverage and costs everyone too much.
My personal opinion is that—given that Democrats honestly believe that Americans (especially the 30 million uninsured ones) indeed deserve a better health care system—-there is really only one choice, and that is to proceed full steam ahead and “damn the Republican torpedoes.”
A USA Today reader took the words out of my mouth in a Letter to the Editor on Tuesday:
Democrats must stick to convictions on health care
Just as today we have “irreconcilable differences” between Democrats and Republicans concerning the proposed health care reforms, such was the case in 1935 with Social Security, and again in 1965 with Medicare (“Health summit exposes irreconcilable differences,” Editorial, Friday).
Both times, Democrats displayed conviction and had the backbone to continue to fight for what they believed was right for America. They were able to pass landmark legislation with, at the last moment, some Republican support.Although your editorial mentioned that President Obama and the Democrats have three choices, history and the desperate health care needs of millions of Americans leave them only one choice: To push through their comprehensive plan — with or without Republican support — face the music in the upcoming elections, and let the American voter be the final judge. The voters and history will once again look favorably on how Democrats handled these differences.
Some may say, yes but look at the dire straits Social Security and Medicare are in right now, and look at how much it is costing the nation.
I would agree with those who express such concerns. Those issues can and should be addressed in a bi-partisan manner, and hopefully those programs can be “made well” again. But I would also like to point to the millions upon millions of Americans who have benefitted from those programs, and suggest that if we could take a poll of past and present beneficiaries (and their families), not too many would condemn those programs or say that they would decline the benefits.
It is ironic, and a pity, that our political leaders have not been able to responsibly and forthrightly achieve much needed reconciliation on this critical issue and, instead, may very shortly be staring into the barrel of that dreaded “Reconciliation gun.”
I may be wrong, but I sincerely believe that when we look back upon these “irreconcilable differences” twenty years from now, most of us who are still around will say that the major factor that made those differences irreconcilable was the politics of the day.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.