Today it seems as if every issue that crops up is one of ultimate importance. For example, Iran is seemingly falling into disarray after disputed election results and Obama is increasingly loosing hold on his Democratic majority. These two issues have been dominating the headlines today and have been on my mind for some time.
Firstly the election results in Iran. This is what happens to a regime with so much contradiction and one that for some time has allowed a tyrant to increase his grip on power. The democratic process for electing the all but insubtantial office of President in Iran is totally contradictory to the basic premise of a Islamic Republic. Laws in that country which are predicated on maintaining Islamic order are completely undemocratic; restrictions on dress, speech, images etc. Today more than ever, after Ahmadanejads "landslide" victory these rules are being tightened as he believes that these "results" are an affimation of his policies. As I stated in an earlier post before the elections he gave his cronies the O.K. to fix election results if the need arose, which it might have. The EU, playing the role of appeasers once again have affirmed the election results without much resistence, the Obama White House has held off judgement and the foreign policy guru Biden has explicitely said he has grave concerns about the results but curiously reaffirmed the party line of engaging Iran at any costs.
If the demonstrations in the streets are any example as are the reports of news report blocking and open beatings of people exercising free speech Iran is tumbling down a path that could unravel a nation. I am not saying civil war as I believe that is highly unlikely but clashes reminicent of 1978 are very possible. Students as in the previous instance are the main catalyst for wanting change in the Iranian government. Putting nuclear ambitions aside Mr. Moussavi shows a clear break from the current status quo in Iran. I am not so sure that his platform aligns with that of the Ayatollah [the head honcho in Iran] which is why he seems apathetic to the clashes in the streets and was so quick to affirm Ahmadinejahds victory. The volitile situation in Iran at an increasingly volitile time for the Middle East peace process is very important. On a side note a very interesting report coming out of Tehran said that some of the secret police beating opposition supporters were actual Lebonese Hezbollah, keep an eye on that story!
The next story is supported by the drudgereport and also by politico the liberal blogosphere. The democrats at this point are either too big and therefore too much of a "catch all party" or some including members of his own party are realizing some of the large blunders that Obama is increasingly having. Not only does Obamacare not look like it will get the support it needs from his own party but also Democrats are beginning to look to run against democrats in not only local but national elections! This is an extreme break from the status quo. My focus is on his increasing inability to get all in his party on board for national healthcare. This afternoon Obama will take his case to his biggest opponents the AMA, and these are the guy who should know best! One step that Obama seems willing to support is protecting doctors against some of the frivilous malpractice suites that cost them millions every year...they are here to save lives and sometimes if they cant that doesnt mean that you can sue them!
In a recent post I stated that I support finding some way to cover all people 21 and under, either through the public sector or through subsidies which allow for private options. My gripes with total healthcare reform start with this. The GOVERNMENT wants to take over 1/6 of the American economy! 1/6! The largest economy in the world, 1/6 is bigger than a lot of countries. They say that they want efficiency but every person knows that with government oversight comes Red tape, inefficiency and lack of competition which breeds complacency. The private sector is our saving grace it is what broke us out of bondage. Today as i watched a movie I heard a pretty poinent quote "All the world's great civilizations have followed the same path. From bondage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy back to bondage. If we are to be the exception to history, then we must break the cycle, for those who do not remember the past are condemned top repeat it". Our forefathers broke us out of bondage to England, from "taxation without representation". They fought against big government and their hand dipping into our pockets. They fought for free markets, for choice, for open competition which bred this great country we have today. With the growth of government comes control, complacency, apathy which all lead to even more control or bondage. We have to learn from the past keep ourselves free. This is not a conspiracy theory and I am not against progress in fact I am for progress. I BELIEVE that all Americans need coverage but do I think that it should just be given? NO! To those 21 and under yes! We need to develop again a sense for what is important, what it is to work for these things, work hard, just like those who came before us to establish our nation as the creme of the crop just as our grandparents did. We need innovation, new ideas, competition and a race to the highest rung on the world stage. This cant be done with government subsidies or mandates but by market forces which drive us to strive for something better, to squeeze that extra buck out of the smallest margins. My problem with universal healthcare has less to do with principle than it does with what it says about our change in core values and what it would do to our economy. Because yes in a perfect world everyone would be covered, but we dont live in a perfect world. Scores die every day from disease, famine, violence and hatred. I am happy to live in a land where I am free to fail or succeed by my own initiative to pull myself up by the bootstraps. Apathy and complacency will never have a place in the America I know and I hope the same goes for you.
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When it come to health care reform, I'm convincible to any idea that answers both sides of all the questions. 1 - The private health industry has given us huge unending increases in cost and has pushed millions out of the system and into the government run, emergency room health care plan in county hospitals. My money is my money if its taken by private greed or government waist. What do I have more control over, don't lecture, convince. 2 - Basically, if your right, right now, 1/6 of our economy is run by insurance company's and pharmaceuticals who make large political donation to have things run their way. It is government either way, which is more corrupt?
ReplyDeleteI would love to see an honest debate, w/o, ideology, just the facts. Your writing here is assuming government doesn't work and moving to single payer would change the mind set of America. That is a big assumption. I believe our public school system and government mandated schooling is what made us one of the most stable and powerful economic nations in the world, and there are factual reasons for saying that. The same thing can be said for our military. Perhaps when you have people running government who are motivated to have it fail, it fails.