The political machinations in Washington over Trumpcare are WAY outside the scope of how things are "supposed to work."
When I was in High School Government class, we learned a straightforward process by which a bill becomes a law. The process made sense and was a logical flow of thoughtful, informed decision-making:
Th first house does the best it can to create good legislation. Then they send it to the second house, which either agrees or makes amendments members there think will improve the legislation. The two houses work out their differences and send the compromise to the president. Sometimes the bill is rejected along the way.
When it comes to Trumpcare, the House Republicans didn't care about the provisions they voted on, because they knew it would be changed in the Senate. Now it appears that the Senate Republicans are going to try to ramrod something through, so that they can figure out their final plan in the conference committee. No significant hearings or public input in either house. They are voting on things that nobody has been allowed to read.
That's not how it's supposed to work!
Obamacare was something this country has never done before. There were hundreds of special interest groups with their fingers in the pie. It is not at all surprising that there are things that need change, now that we are down the road a ways. When you try something completely new, nobody expects it to be perfect the first time. Success is often incomplete until it has been tinkered with and fine tuned several times.
I am open to changes that make sense to improve health care for vulnerable populations. The best way to do that is to have everybody as "part of the pool."
I am not open to the mindset that says people are poor because they are lazy and do not deserve the support of society, which is what we are seeing among many Republicans right now.
(Image above from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/190066046749776126/)
No comments:
Post a Comment