Posted by
Bob Sordahl on Sunday, September 06, 2009 2:17:07 PM
Originally posted on 09/06/09 at
ConservativeCompass.com
More and more, Republicans have become content with failure. They lost
the Oval Office. They lost the House and Senate, and they lost tight
races in individual states. Now this Country is locked in battle over
a Liberal health insurance plan that could well bankrupt America. It
won't be enough to just defeat the plan. Most Americans regardless of
political philosophy believe that the health care system and how we pay
for it needs some improvement. The Republicans must not be content
with merely diluting Obamacare, but rather present a complete, fiscally
responsible and easily comprehendable alternative solution, and they've
got to do it now. If they don’t, they will risk yet another defeat
that their party and this Country cannot afford.
Every time a Democrat wants to defend their crazy Government
insurance program, the mantra is: "Republicans don't have a plan." It
is time to take that excuse away from them.
I know that
Republicans are basking in the glow of vocal town hall meetings where
the American people have been rejecting this administration's spending
frenzy. Citizens don't like what they've seen so far, and they don't
have much faith in what is still coming from the powers in Washington.
If the Republicans wish to build a strong foundation for 2010 and
beyond, this is the perfect opportunity, and they'd better not squander
it. These newly awakened patriots and citizens are not protesting
party politics as much as irresponsibility and lack of accountability
in our Government. I doubt that they will put up with baloney from
either party anymore and we’ve seen how hot it can get. Unless they
want to be skewered like their associates on the other side of the
aisle, Republicans better come up with more than just objections.
It's not enough just to make the other side lose. You've got to bring
something to the table that will benefit the American people. I'm no
great thinker, but here are a few specific suggestions that might get
the GOP started:
- Tort reform. Too much money is
wasted for malpractice insurance and needless tests to protect health
care practitioners from unreasonable settlements.
- 100% covered
care for terminal patients with one year or less to live, to preserve
quality of life for the remaining time they have left.
- Insurance premium increase limits keyed to cost of living.
- An
entitlement program for people with pre-existing health issues. We put
up with entitlements that are a lot less worthy than this.
- Extension of patent terms for non-generic drugs allowing pharmaceutical companies a longer time to recover development costs.
- Allow tax deductions for all out of pocket medical expenses, not just a small percentage as is currently the case.
-
Health care vouchers for the hard-core needy. These could be
distributed at emergency rooms in cases where the patient does not
require emergency care. Recipients could then use the voucher to visit
a general practitioner.
- Allow insurance to be purchased across state lines to encourage competition.
- Catastrophic
assistance like "medical bankruptcy" to keep families from being
financially ruined by big ticket injury or disease.
None
of these ideas would require gutting our current health insurance
system, or forcing anyone to change their preferred coverage, and I
would bet they wouldn’t cost over two trillion dollars to accomplish.
Michael Steele the chairman of the Republican National Committee was recently asked in an interview
on Fox News for specifics of an alternative plan, and couldn’t come up
with a single point. There is a little general, outdated information
on the Internet, but you’ve got to go looking for it. This issue needs
more than that. The RNC should be taking their proposals to the people
via television, radio and print media and they should be hitting it
hard. If they don't, they will be forcing the American public to once
again choose between the "lesser of two evils", and we know how that
can turn out. Representatives Cantor, Boehner and Senator DeMint, now
is the time. This battle is too important for all of us, to once again
accept failure.