Tuesday, June 23, 2009
No Middle Ground
Depending on who you are reading, a government plan for healthcare is either in real jeopardy or is going to be pushed through no matter who is against it. One ray of hope is the comment, “Over the break, comments from constituents could determine whether Congress sticks to its goal of passing legislation this summer.”[1] This means, as it should, that the constituents have a chance to weigh in on the President’s plan.
It was also announced on Monday that the President had reached a deal with the pharmaceutical association to reduce the cost of name brand prescription drugs for seniors. This would be great news, except that Ken Johnson, spokesman for the pharmaceutical association is quoted as saying, “"There are a lot of discussions going on right now, there are a lot of moving pieces, there are a lot of elements to it that have not been finalized.”[2] This begs the question if an agreement has been reached, or could some of these “moving pieces” kill the deal?
What can be seen emerging as some sort of “bottom line” is that the American people are going to have a chance to weigh in on all of these issues during the July 4th Congressional Break. Representatives and Senators will be back on their home turf, and this will be the time to connect and inform. Understand that if the majority of people want socialized medicine, as the polls would indicate, then that is what we will happen. We can always figure out how to pay for it later, maybe. This much is certain, the President is wasting no time spending all the political capital he managed to accumulate through the election. Come 2012, he will either be seen as the answer to our prayers, or the biggest villain since Saddam Hussein. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle-ground here.
[1] Alonzso-Zaldivar, Ricardo, and Philip Elliot. "Democrats may go it alone on gov't insurance plan - Yahoo! News." The top news headlines on current events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News. 22 June 2009.
[2] Loven, Jennifer. "Obama announces agreement with drug companies - Yahoo! News." The top news headlines on current events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News. 22 June 2009.
It was also announced on Monday that the President had reached a deal with the pharmaceutical association to reduce the cost of name brand prescription drugs for seniors. This would be great news, except that Ken Johnson, spokesman for the pharmaceutical association is quoted as saying, “"There are a lot of discussions going on right now, there are a lot of moving pieces, there are a lot of elements to it that have not been finalized.”[2] This begs the question if an agreement has been reached, or could some of these “moving pieces” kill the deal?
What can be seen emerging as some sort of “bottom line” is that the American people are going to have a chance to weigh in on all of these issues during the July 4th Congressional Break. Representatives and Senators will be back on their home turf, and this will be the time to connect and inform. Understand that if the majority of people want socialized medicine, as the polls would indicate, then that is what we will happen. We can always figure out how to pay for it later, maybe. This much is certain, the President is wasting no time spending all the political capital he managed to accumulate through the election. Come 2012, he will either be seen as the answer to our prayers, or the biggest villain since Saddam Hussein. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of middle-ground here.
[1] Alonzso-Zaldivar, Ricardo, and Philip Elliot. "Democrats may go it alone on gov't insurance plan - Yahoo! News." The top news headlines on current events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News. 22 June 2009
[2] Loven, Jennifer. "Obama announces agreement with drug companies - Yahoo! News." The top news headlines on current events from Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News. 22 June 2009
