Where Have All the Moderates Gone?

The nice thing about deciding to do a political blog is that there is no shortage of material to write about! This week especially, it seemed like the news stories about bad behavior on both the far right and the far left were never ending. There was the Sarah Palin controversy about her use of rifle crosshairs over districts that Republicans were targeting to take back from Democrats this year. On a related note, she recently criticized Obama for not putting tougher sanctions on Iran, stating that doing so will allow them to develop nuclear weapons and cause a "Second Holocaust." I find it hard to take foreign policy advice from a woman whose previous foreign policy experience was limited to, as she so famously stated, being able to see Russia from her backyard. I often wonder how anyone can possibly take this woman as a serious political figure...but I'll refrain from saying much more, given my self-imposed rules of refraining from angry name-calling on this blog.

I digress. Aside from the Sarah Palin controversy, there were also acts and threats of violence committed against members of Congress in both parties after the signing of the healthcare bill, Karl Rove getting heckled for being a "war criminal" at a book signing, Tea Party participants harassing a homeless person by loudly shouting he was in the wrong place if he was looking for a handout, domestic terrorists being arrested... and probably a lot more of disturbing, extreme political behavior.

It's unfortunate, but there's obviously a big divide in our country. You can see this in any recent poll - America has been split basically 50/50 on every major controversial issue of the past few years, whether it's the healthcare, the wars, or the economy. What's even more unfortunate is that it's only the far sides of the political spectrum that are getting the attention. Both liberal and conservative politicians seem to be moving farther left or right as well, only making the situation worse. I was listening to a local early morning radio show the other day, when the obviously liberal hosts were bashing the tea party movement. From what they said the movement is really about fear of change, fear of having a black President, fear of having a Latina on the Supreme Court, etc.. In other words it's just a bunch of rich, racist white people complaining about change. I could not believe what I was hearing! Then on the conservative side, I don't know how many times I've heard people ignorantly accuse Obama of being a communist, a Muslim spy, or even an illegal alien.

It's all ridiculous! It's this kind of thinking that causes people to resort to bad behavior and violence. If people would just get educated on the issues and learn to communicate about their ideological differences, maybe our country wouldn't be so divided. Have we forgotten what the 'U' in USA stands for? I only hope that the next President can do a much better job of unifying this country, because we sorely need it!

Time to Celebrate, or Denounce the Barakolypse?

I’m sure everyone has heard all they want to hear on the issue of healthcare reform, so I’ll try not to beat a dead horse. In a sense I guess I’m just joining the fray…but I think my frustration is shared by many and voiced by few, so here goes.

On one hand, the bill has some pretty worthy aims that I think most people would like. Dependents can remain on their parent’s health insurance plans until age 26 (good news for college kids, or recent grads like myself). People with pre-existing conditions will no longer get denied coverage. No more lifetime or annual limits on coverage. Preventive services will now be covered. So far so good….here’s the bill in its entirety if you feel so inclined.

But here’s my big issue with Democrats – it’s called bipartisanship, try it. Obama came in to office promising to unify our country, and he’s only making us more divided! When other historic bills like Social Security and Medicare passed, they did so with support from both sides of the aisle. In both the House and the Senate, not a single Republican voted for the bill…for the second time in Obama’s short time in office. Hey Obama, what was your slogan? Was it, “Yes We Can -- alienate an entire segment of America,”?

On the other hand, the Republicans aren’t exactly doing themselves any favors. They love to say it’s a government takeover of the healthcare industry, that it will create a massive bureaucracy, bankrupt the economy, and that it will raise taxes. Despite the fact that it’s a very one-sided look at the issue, they are still valid concerns. Ever been to the DMV? Or tried to fight a traffic ticket? Now imagine how it will be to adjust your insurance claim. And $1 trillion!? Seriously? Just to get an idea of how huge that number is, I heard that 1 billion seconds is 38 years…1 trillion seconds is 38 thousand years. Wow.

But here’s my issue with Republicans – where’s your solution, then?! Rather than saying no to everything, come up with at least something in response. And what’s with the “baby-killer” outburst? You’re making the Party look like a bunch of ignorant fools only capable of pithy name calling and dramatic disagreements. After the bill passed, House Republican leader John Boehner commented that doing so has failed the American people. Well John, you’ve failed too. Just because your constituents disagree with how Obama is accomplishing it, doesn’t mean they don’t want something to be done about it.

But like I said before, I think Obama’s goals are, in essence, worthwhile. I do feel, however, that he is going about it the wrong way. But the problem is that so are Republicans. Now they’re beginning this huge campaign to repeal the bill, and several Attorneys General, including Utah’s Mark Shurtleff, are vowing to take it to the courts. For those of you who think that’s ridiculous, it’s actually not so far-fetched. For example, Virginia has a law in place saying that its people cannot be forced to buy insurance. Still, it’s an act of desperation that will more than likely end up being a big waste of time and tax-payer money and accomplish nothing.

Speaking of Utah, in case you were wondering ALL of Utah’s elected officials voted against the healthcare bill, including Democrat Jim Matheson. Kudos to you for being a politician who actually listens to his constituency.

So maybe having the States get involved isn’t such a bad idea. Look at what Romney did in MA. From what I see, he’s the only Republican with an actual plan on how to solve the problem. Why can’t states decide what the best solution is for them? Local politicians, though not without flaw, understand what their state needs better than a massive federal bureaucracy would.

To summarize my views – this post was indeed about the healthcare bill, but mostly about my frustration with our country’s politicians who are polarizing the people, rather than working together to come up with solutions to the problems our nation is facing.