The Politics of Change

We heard a lot about 'change' during the last election. One candidate touted his age, experience, and qualifications while the other candidate promised 'change' from the ways things were. The 'O'ther candidate won. Enough citizens were tired of the establishment-and there were a lot of things to be tired of. We are one year into "O's" reign as President. 'O' promised a change from closed door politics. He said ". . . we'll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies." And yet, we are looking at a substantial piece of legislation known as health care and the American people have yet to be able to see it. We get snippets of it. We see one side of the proposal in the form of the House bill but not the Senate bill. We hear 'their' plans on forcing all Americans to have it, penalizations for not taking care of yourself, fines and prison if you don't participate. Americans voiced their anger, marched on DC, called their legislators, emailed, visited them and were asked to leave. We were promised health care would cut health care costs, but reports from the Congressional Budget Office show otherwise. We were told that there wouldn't be any more taxes on those making less than $250,000 a year, but there will be a slew of new taxes on everything from health insurance premiums to cosmetic surgeries and medical devices. Then we have politicians who have positioned themselves against this bill cutting deals for their votes. Two such politicians are Sen Ben Nelson from Nebraska and Sen Bill Nelson from Florida. In order to get a 'yes' vote to pass the health care bill they cut a deal for some (or all) of their constituents. This deal will require all taxpayers to assume the full share of the costs that Nebraska (and some counties in FL) will incur as a result of the expansion of Medicaid.
Hum...Change...
Then there are reports that 65% of Americans DON'T want the governments health care plan. According to the Right leaning-Heritage Foundation, "Public opinion polls for the past year from Gallup, Zogby International and even the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press have shown a steady drop in support, and corresponding rise in opposition, to health care reform legislation that would bloat Washington’s powers over the private health care sector.
Left-leaning, Politico reported this week that exit polls circulated by Republican polling firm Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates “found that 52 percent of Massachusetts voters said they opposed [President Barack Obama’s] health care push, and 42 percent said they voted to for Brown to stop reform.”
Since the election of Republican Scott Brown to replace Democrat Ted Kennedy, we are seeing Congress embarking on another mission to change the rules so things go their way. Another, you ask? Yes, another. In 2004 when John Kerry (MA) was running for US President, Massachusetts had a Republican governor. If Kerry won the Presidential election, the Republican governor would appoint a replacement. Former Senator Ted Kennedy prodded state legislators in MA to change the appointment rules so a Republican would not be in position to name a sitting senator in the event Kerry won. Well, Kerry didn't win in case you have been holed up somewhere for the last ten years. Since Ted Kennedy's health started to deteriorate, he requested the state of MA change the rules...again. MA has a Democrat governor. It is ok for a Democrat governor to appoint a sitting senator in the event of a senator/representatives death. So, once again, the MA legislature changed the rules to suit the political needs of the liberals in DC. The Democrat governor appointed a democrat senator to temporarily sit in until a special election could be held. BUT those legislatures did not foresee their blue state electing a red senator! Now what? Change the rules, AGAIN! The problem with this is they will have to change federal rules. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) is planning on introducing a bill that will eliminate the 60 vote threshold that will end debate in the Senate so they can ram the health care bill down our throats without a fight.

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper. (T.S. Eliot-Hollow Men first and last stanza)