BENTON COUNTY — This is being written before the promised vote on President Obama’s healthcare reform bill. It is assumed the promised vote will take place Sunday - if the Democratic Party can actually muster up the necessary votes to pass it.
If the votes aren’t there, the delay continues until enough members of the House have been swayed to pass it. That is a far cry from the president’s request (or statement) that the “people” deserve an “up or down vote.” This sounds more like “up, or not at all” vote. The inconsistencies in this whole process have been very alarming to me personally. Is this an example of the transparency the president promised when he was campaigning? Has our nation fallen to the level of banana republic politics where dictators use any means available to get their own way?
My information on our national sentiment is strictly based on news reports of polls taken by various organizations and I am not sure of their statistical accuracy but all seem to report that over half of the respondents oppose the Senate version of the Healthcare Reform Bill. CNBC reported the results of an e-mail survey as 75 percent opposing the bill but this was a daytime survey with a limited audience of people more likely involved in economic concerns. Fox news reported on the Saturday afternoon show that their polls show that 79 percent of the respondents believe “Congress does not follow the will of the people.” The same poll reported that 66 percent of those interviewed believe thereform bill will result in the public paying more for health care. The poll also found that half of the people disapproved of the president - 47.8 percent to 47.3 percent.
According to the Congressional Budget Office the most recent estimate of the cost of the healthcare reform proposal is $940 billion over 10 years.
That is $94 billion per year and Caterpillar Corporation estimates the changes will increase its healthcare costs by $100 million in the first year alone. If that estimate is correct, the cost of construction equipment will have to increase to offset the $100 million. The effect of this on a company that is international in scope with a stock price selling at about two thirds of its previous price and with a price to earnings ratio twice as high as the S&P 500, is not going to help our economy if it widens the gap between our average hourly cost and those of foreign labor. If this is typical of other major manufacturing companies, how can it conceivably help our economy and unemployment?
The secrecy that shrouded this healthcare reform effort in both the Senate and the House from the beginning has been cause for alarm if there was no other concern. That cloud of questioning has, in my opinion, led to one of the mostdivisive periods in our nation since the Vietnam War. If you consider the distrust most people feel about Washington politics and the betrayal of those we have elected to represent us there, the prospect of a major political swing in the November elections is very high. The effect of this single issue has led to a public outcry unprecedented in my observation with new groups springing up to organize efforts promoting change via the ballot box.
Apparently the Tea Party has been successful in its attempts to activate people opposing the bill and the television reported buses were arriving in Washington by the hundreds on Saturday to demonstrate against the bill’s passage. The object was for people to personally visit their representative and demonstrate the potential for political retaliation if the House member votes for the bill.
Why can’t our governmental leaders expend this same energy and expense to reduce Medicare and Medicaid fraud? Why can’t these same people (leaders/legislators) work on a meaningful Tort reform bill not attached to total healthcare reform?
Where are the healthcare accreditation groups - American Medical Association, etc. - when fair and meaningful compromise with ambulance chasing lawyers needs to be established? Doctors do make mistakes and the records indicate some lawyers make millions suing them, but wouldn’t controls over the excesses in some of these cases warrant legislation as much as many of the otherareas covered in the controversial proposal?
As one individual who tries (maybe unsuccessfully) to stay informed, I am offended at how the political system has tried to force change on me and others by whatever means they choose so they can satisfy their own objectives. Is the long-term damage to this nation worth the benefit of the legislation? None of us knows the final cost of the bill, but I do know as a former manager, our corporation would be affected by the increased cost of a full-time employee. As our healthcare costs increased we hired fewer people on a long-term basis. No where have I heard that a family whose health care expenses have resulted in financial ruin will be restored to economic stability. No where do I find that the premiums for persons (or families) with long-term, pre-existing conditions are guaranteed to be within the means of a family living on an average retail or manufacturing paycheck. These are not things you legislate.
My greatest fear is that too many of us are being blinded to the good points in the bill by the methods used to promote it and by Congress’s unwillingness to recognize the wishes and the concerns of the public. Can we as a nation benefit from the outcome of this situation regardless of the final vote count?
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Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@ nwanews.com.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 03/24/2010