When Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, a lot of people were relieved that George W. Bush’s administration was coming to a close. Many believed that we would finally have a president not only interested in solving our nation’s problems, but also capable of doing so. Obama successfully inspired hope in the majority of Americans; that he could change the way politics took place in Washington.
Boy, has he ever.
We are all currently living under the most partisan administration of all time.
At one point, I thought that I simply disagreed with Washington liberals about the solutions to the problems that face our country. I truly thought they had the best interests of the country at heart.
I no longer believe that.
The Democrats running the country right now don’t care about you or me. All they care about is doing what is best for their party.
I truly believe that, now that I’ve seen what Democrats have done since Obama took office.
The number one issue facing Americans right now is the economy. It’s extremely simple. States, cities, towns, families and individuals are clamoring for an economic turnaround. The situation is dire for many, and Obama knows that. That should clearly be the President’s top priority, but look at what Obama has done this past year. Since passing the stimulus bill, Obama has spent all his time trying to pass a health care bill many Americans did not want to begin with.
The health care bill is not going to solve any of our economic problems. It isn’t going to reduce our nation’s debt. It isn’t going to create jobs and lower unemployment. None of this will happen as a result of the bill. That’s reality.
So then why is Obama spending all of his time on a health care bill, that according to a recent CBS news poll, only 34 percent of Americans approve of, at a time when it absolutely should not be a priority? It’s about liberal ideals, but even more importantly, it’s about winning elections.
When this bill was passed, Obama made it possible for over 30 million Americans who don’t currently have health care coverage to get some. I’m sure Obama and his comrades are banking on a couple of things. The first is that those 30 million Americans who will now have access to health care will forever be indebted to Democrats. Imagine if you were suffering with cancer and didn’t have insurance because of your circumstances. The financial burden for most in this situation would be too much to bear. Now, suddenly, you are getting insurance because Democrats have forced the passage of an unpopular bill, despite evil Republicans doing all they could to stop it. Your life could be saved as a result of this. Knowing this, who would you vote for in the next election? Who are your family members going to vote for?
Democrats are essentially attempting to buy votes through health care. That’s really what this comes down to. It is obvious why they don’t care about the polls showing a lack of support because who cares about support at this moment? The polls are irrelevant. Obama getting a second term is irrelevant. This is about the long-term outlook for Democrats.
To make matters worse is the second thing Democrats are banking on – it would be complete political suicide for anyone to try to take health care away from 30 million people by repealing this bill, no matter how terrible it turns out to be. An individual would have to be insane to run on a platform that contains taking healthcare away from that many people. Good luck trying to get those votes. It just would never happen.
Many think Republicans are evil already, imagine if they try to pull the plug on health care for 30 million voters once this bill goes into effect?
It can’t happen.
To top it all off, the bill is indeed terrible. It is – as I have written before – a blatant attempt to get us into a government-run health care system. In the interim, this bill will drive up health care costs for everyone and Americans will continue to suffer economically.
I am sure I am going to take a lot of heat for holding a view this cynical. I truly would love to live in a world where everyone could have affordable health care if they wanted it. This bill is not making health care more affordable, though. Just because conservatives oppose this bill does not mean that they are evil or want people to die. We conservatives just want to address the real issues. The real issue with health care is not that people don’t have health care – it’s why they don’t have health care. People don’t have health care because they either can’t afford it or they just don’t want it. I want to see a health care proposal that does something to solve that problem.
I oppose Democrats on this issue because I want quality health care to be affordable for everyone. Obama wants health care to win elections for Democrats. That is the change Obama has brought to Washington – the priority is no longer making America better, the priority is to get more votes for Democrats.
Alex Perry is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]
Dan • Apr 13, 2010 at 6:28 pm
First off, nowhere did Alex justify spending money on the Iraq war. You liberals are quick to point fingers at conservatives, call them racists when they don’t agree, and get people riled up, as bad or worse than Rush and Beck.
Fact is, Obama signed the stimulus, said unemployment wouldn’t go above 8% and private sector jobs would be created. And what has happened, the administration lied about created jobs, has made dominantly public sector jobs (notice the tons of highway construction recently?) and unemployment went above 9%, but that doesn’t count the people transitioning to low pay full-time jobs or college students who can’t find jobs, or those that ran out of unemployment benefits.
And while out economy went down the toilet, the promise of the stimulus went unmet and the politicians fretted over healthcare. Very few repubs/conservs said NO to healthcare, they said NO to the bill and wanted alternatives. But of course, liberal media spin only shows the “No” but none of the reasoning. To help out, Cash for Clunkers was a waste that cost 4 times its payout. To top it off, most of the health care bill doesn’t take any effect until AFTER 2012. It is conveinient that we don’t see the “benefits” of this bill until after Obama is up for re-election, although he and the administration say we need it NOW so desperately. Then why aren’t the effects immediate?
Why aren’t we taking care of the economy? They rushed the stimulus and when it hasn’t been working they make excuses instead of solutions, why?
People are stupid enough to think they can get something for free or at the cost of those “evil corporations” and “evil rich people” but fail to realise the costs trickle down. They don’t realise govt. spending is just more beareaucratic waste. But liberals will never believe this. They enacted the economy destroying housing bill created by Dodd and Frank (who still won’t own up to its destruction) to help the poor get housing, but down the road our economy was destroyed because of the housing bill and Fanny and Freddy, and then they bailed out the “too big to fail” banks. I guess it was the humane thing to do, destroy our economy and siphon money into companies clearly incapable of making rational decisions and likelely prevented from making rational decisions under govt. regulation, as long as some “underprivelaged” can get some action.
Thanks Alex for sticking your neck out and pointing out some major flaws of our current administration (that wants to cut emissions but fly all over the world spreading lies) in the midst of Liberalville, Massachusetts. And before the liberals go off on me on how its Bush’s fault, Bush was a bad president but Obama has only continued the Bush Policies and the wars you libbies were so outraged over. But, the mainstream media wouldn’t dare go after a democrat and rather hang a republican.
Fred • Apr 13, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Mr. Perry I especially loved the part of your column that said Obama is trying to “buy votes” because a person who is terminally ill now has the insurance coverage that could save their life and they will be forever indebted to Democrats.
In that paragraph you pretty much summed up the benefits of the Health Care Bill, which is first and foremost about helping those in need. Contrary to your opinion Alex, sometimes it’s not all about money. Sometimes we, as a nation, have to look at what is best for everyone and not just our own self interests.
It’s humorous to me that you can take such an exception to the cost of Health Care when we have spent over 7 hundred BILLION dollars fighting the war that your boy W got us into. If you seriously think that the $700,000,000,000 has been better spent on blowing up innocent Iraqis instead of health coverage for Americans I really question how you had enough intelligence to get into this university.
And for the record Alex this bill will actually cut costs in health care. If you had done any research Mr. Perry you would have found out that anytime one of the 30 million people who had previously lacked insurance became sick or injured they would have to go to a public hospital. And public hospitals are funded by who? The taxpayers. If nothing else this bill encourages people to stop using the Emergency Room every time they get the flu and will almost certainly cut down on hospital cost.
Also I doubt so much time and energy had to have been wasted on the Health Care debate if it wasn’t for Republicans. The Republican party screwed America for the past decade and decided to do it once again by trying to fight a bill that they had no hope of stopping. When the President is a Democrat, the Senate is a majority of Democrats and the House is majority Democrats then the Democrats are going to get to pass their bills, that simple. If you don’t like the current state of the nation, then maybe you Mr. Perry, should write to the head of the Republican Party for Massachusetts and tell your party leaders not to sell the country down the river again.
Chris Amorosi • Apr 13, 2010 at 11:01 am
Alex’s right, Tequan. To be a conservative you have to be hysterically opposed to absolutely everything Obama does without any discrimination between what’s reasonable and what’s ideology. Conservatives don’t use reconciliation, conservatives don’t use congressional majorities, conservatives don’t walk and breath.
Ohhh. Oh wait.
Alex: The most liberal president of all time was FDR, who instituted genuinely socialist programs like social security or the WPA, or Jimmy Carter, who opposed the death penalty, or Abraham Lincoln, who fought slavery. Not Obama, who passed Romneycare and stopped trying to close Guantanamo. Your idea of researching conservative values is typing “Don’t do this” in front of the Democratic party platform and stopping there.
Even real conservative strategists understand that the Democratic majorities were won by running social conservatives like the Blue Dogs and their ilk. That’s how Palin’s minders knew who to put on their gun crosshair chart. Your amateurish drivel hardly reflects true conservative thought.
I challenge you to write a column that isn’t the usual Us vs Them garbage. I challenge you to understand how Democrats and Republicans aren’t two monolithic entities but composed of factions who don’t necessarily agree with each other on all points.
Alex Perry • Apr 13, 2010 at 8:59 am
Tequan- everything that obama does is the opposite of what a conservative would do. Obviously I opposed stimulus spending becauce there is no precedent for governments being able to successfully spend its way out of an economic downturn. Of coure I oppose obama’s idea of health care reform… he wants government to control it and have all of us dependant on government.
How am I not conservative for opposing him on these issues? This is the most liberal president of all time. Do some research on what a conservative believes before making arguably the most ridiculous comment ever posted under one of my columns.
Chris Amorosi • Apr 13, 2010 at 1:37 am
I usually only respond to Alex Perry’s garbage because his columns are the perfect combination of being so awful as to merit a rebuttal but so poorly thought out that it doesn’t take much time to write out my thoughts. Yet again, he delivers.
“Chris- The votes he is trying to get are the votes of the people who lack health care insurance but need it desperately. Obviously its not the full 30M+ because a portion of that 30M+ includes people who just don’t want health insurance.
The plan hasn’t come into full effect yet Chris. Most people haven’t at all benefited from it yet. I’m sure once those people do, a lot of their attitudes will change.”
Here Alex Perry explains how every Republican who isn’t rich is an idiot who votes against their interests and he didn’t even realize it. Let’s dissect:
Alex says that Obama is trying to get the votes of about 30 million people who don’t currently have insurance but desperately need it. Fair enough, it would be in their interest to support the bill and the president who helped pass it.
But, according to Weird Al here, these 30 million or so won’t support Obama until all the health bill provisions kick in. Only after the effects are felt will “a lot of their attitudes change.”
I completely agree with you, Alex. I agree that people who oppose the bill – and who also can’t afford health insurance – are short-sighted morons when they withhold electoral support for (progressive) Democrats. They are too myopic to see that benefits are on the way and were only delayed or watered down because of the Republican “kill the bill” onslaught that accomplished absolutely nothing.
Republicans killed Clinton’s health care reform and then did nothing to fix the system for over a decade despite enjoying a majority in Congress for the entire time. The Democrats then regained a majority but had to finesse a crap bill because of Rahm Emanuel and because the Republicans couldn’t be bothered to flip their calendar past 1994 and realize that the world has changed.
Fortunately for Republican electoral chances, their base (ie not you, Alex, but their racist thralls in the South and Midwest) also doesn’t realize the world has changed. They believe Boehner’s lies about repealing the bill and they’ll scare their children with stories of “death panels.” Yet again, the Republicans will propel themselves towards electoral dominance with the promise of nothing.
Justin:
“I think the key points Alex hit are dead-on: It is expensive, politicking and the promotion of a dangerous ideology that fosters government dependence.”
The US military is expensive, politicking (Support our troops! Also funnel money into my congressional district’s defense contractor!) and promotes a dangerous ideology that fosters dependence on the government to defend us from the terrorists and China. Therefore we should privatize the military. The invisible hand will swat down the nuclear bombs!
Oh wait, you’re just a standard Ayn Randroid who should go to Somalia and learn about true free market capitalism and libertarian government.
Ryan • Apr 12, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Alex,
You forget that one of the first things Obama did when he took office last year was sign the recovery and reinvestment act which directly addressed the nations economic woes. So clearly the economy was a priority if the first. This bill which only 3 republicans voted for. The extreme lack of bipartisanship is not just a Democratic problem it’s a problem for all of congress. Furthermore, I agree with you (as I’m sure everyone does) that the true issue is the economy. And therefore I think if Obama’s sole motivation was to win the election in 2012 (which he probably will based on the beyond modest selection of Republican candidates), he would have spent all of his effort focusing on the economy. Instead, he passed a health care reform bill that, despite your opinion, needed to be passed. Republicans shot down Clinton’s attempt to create a new health care platform how many more presidents do we need until we finally pass one of these bills.
Justin • Apr 12, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I think the key points Alex hit are dead-on: It is expensive, politicking and the promotion of a dangerous ideology that fosters government dependence.
muad'dib • Apr 12, 2010 at 12:25 pm
How dare those damn, dirty Democrats win votes by helping people in a way that Alex Perry disagrees with! Don’t they know that disagreeing with Alex Perry is un-American, and that it is the height of gall to claim to be helping people while disagreeing with Alex Perry, since that only means that you’re conspiring to steal the country away from its real and true citizens, Alex Perry?
Tequan • Apr 12, 2010 at 11:57 am
You are not a conservative so please don’t call yourself one. You are just anti- Obama. The only way we can have progress is if we try to see other views instead of just causing dissension. It’s impossible to believe that you as a conservative genuinely disagree with everything Obama does. At this point im sure your goal is to make Obama look bad until next election.
Alex Perry • Apr 12, 2010 at 11:46 am
No one is forced to get insurance under this plan. If you don’t get it you will just have to pay a fine.
Chris- The votes he is trying to get are the votes of the people who lack health care insurance but need it desperately. Obviously its not the full 30M+ because a portion of that 30M+ includes people who just don’t want health insurance.
The plan hasn’t come into full effect yet Chris. Most people haven’t at all benefited from it yet. I’m sure once those people do, a lot of their attitudes will change.
I’m sure Obama feels that way too. Otherwise what are you arguing Chris? That everyone hates this bill and that is never going to change? Then why is Obama passing it? Makes no sense.
Maybe Obama can get illegals covered down the road too like he originally wanted. That way he can sink his teeth into another growing 15M population. We’ll see!
Ed • Apr 12, 2010 at 7:43 am
There are three fallacies in the 30M figure: first that there are 30M people who really have no access to medical care and that is not true. They may not have easy access to it, but they do have access – this is not a society where we leave people to bleed to death on the street corners. Nor do we have debtors prisons (other than those of the IRS) for those who are unable to pay their medical bills. The reason why there are so many bankrupcies tied to medical bills is because bankrupcy is how we deal with medical bills exceeding people’s ability to pay. (Instead of a doctor basing his fees on the sick person’s income, we have a bankrupcy trustee doing it.)
Second, not all of the 30M want insurance – many are already eligible for Medicaid and other forms of welfare and refuse it.
And third, how many of these 30M are going to resent being forced to buy the insurance they don’t want. NObama dodged this a little bit buy dropping the age of Medicare by a decade (further bankrupting Social Security) and by requiring family plans to cover children up to age 26 (thus raising the cost of those plans, further increasing the number of employers dropping them), but Gen X gets screwed.
Notwithstanding this, there are three points worthy of note. First, we are going to have an inter-generational “war” and the transfer of wealth from the young to the old is simply not sustainable. When tax rates get to the point they will need to be in order to sustain this stuff, people are simply going to stop working.
Second, the middle will cease to hold. The era of the interest voter is going to expand – even if the 30M were all happy and all voting NObama, there will increasingly be the 30M on the other side saying “time for grandma to die.”
And third, there is simply no way that everyone now forced to purchase insurance will be happy with it. Nor will everyone else – student opinion of Death Services comes to mind. And the backlash on this is going to make Herbert Hoover look like a rock star.
Chris Amorosi • Apr 12, 2010 at 2:37 am
“I no longer believe that.
The Democrats running the country right now don’t care about you or me. All they care about is doing what is best for their party.
I truly believe that, now that I’ve seen what Democrats have done since Obama took office.”
You know, Alex, one of the prerogatives of the majority party is to pass its legislative agenda. But I guess when a party actually tries to pass its promised platform it is “buying votes.” Except when Republicans do it because then it’s morally right (torture?) or fiscally responsible (Iraq?) or whatever…
Polls say that the Democrats hardly received a bump from passing health care reform so I’d like to know where those 30 million votes are. I’d ask you to explain, but a parrot probably has a better understanding of the words it mimics than you do of the talking points you parrot.
Another week and another predictable, cretinous smear of excrement from Alex Perry. I hardly ever use the Monday edition to line my birdcage any more because Perry has already gummed up the pages with his fetid stench.
Next week should be about how women should shut their legs or something because it’s already been a week since the last misogynist spiel, right Al?