Here we are nearly 8 years later. The Republicans are still lost;

• They have tried to appease the Tea Party by incorporating them into their ranks. While the initial message of the Tea party is good, the radical attitude diminishes the Republican party as a whole and dilutes the message. If they’re only going to worry about Tea party members, they are lost.
• Republican candidates for president are poor with few exceptions. Some are old losers (Barbour, Gingrich, Paul), at least one is a quitter (Palin), we now have a homophobe (Bachman) in the running, Americans are mormonophobes (Huntsman, Romney) so those candidates are losers by default.

I read today where president Obama has raised some 86 million from April to June this year. Combined (yep I mean a total of) 35.5 million was raised by ALL Republican candidates during the same period. Hello! Republicans!! Anyone home!!! Have the right-wing radicals (a.k.a.; Republicans) run out of money? Or has the party credibility finally tanked?

Perhaps mistakenly, I was under the impression the political philosophical divide is supposed to be bridged by debate and compromise. Lately it appears both parties, Republicans and Democrats, are subject to close-minded, knee-jerk reaction brought on by a perceived constituent demand. Debate erodes to argument, philosophical positions have turned into fortresses.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the desire to reduce taxes, the deficit and government spending. There’s also nothing wrong with the desire to care for the disadvantaged and the elderly via Healthcare, Welfare and Social Security. The United State can have it all if we’d stop the political pendulum, approach the issues without emotion and execute logical steps.

Look: We all know the system is broken and we need to reduce spending. An admiral goal! Do we go to the extreme, abandon everything accomplished in the United States thus far and terminate entitlements? Would it not be better to identify the things that don’t work and fix ‘em? Maybe even make ‘em better? Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water!

A new civility needs to be attained in politics. Issues need to be thoroughly debated and realistic solutions tendered. Politicians no longer care about what’s good and right for the people. The people have lost faith in the political process. The divide between the government and it’s people grows wider, while trust and faith in government dwindles.

American-Political Jihad anyone?

Over the past 200+ years, I’m sure you’ll agree, the United States of America has changed a lot. Americans are a bit smarter, not that completing 12 years of required education means everyone can read. We can now communicate with places and people all over the world instantly – It takes less time to communicate with a spacecraft in orbit around Saturn these days, than getting a letter from Washington D.C. to San Francisco CA. in 1850.

One might conclude that if the underlying “need” to establish the Electoral College no longer exists, the Electoral College would no longer exist. One would be wrong!

While our forefathers did provide a system of checks and balances to base our government upon, subsequent legislators have had little incentive to establish new checks and balances nor review the old during our national growth. Insufficient attention was paid, by our forefathers, to keeping the politicians themselves in-line. This combination has created a political environment that, like many families in America, is utterly dysfunctional.

Intelligent discussion, debate and compromise no longer exists. Politics has erroded to lie, badger and coherce in order to achieve “progress”. And the “progress” that is achieved is often nullified shortly after “the next election”. It’s nullified because election results most often exemplify extremes. Displeasure with elected officials leads to replacement during the next election. Each election year it’s the same, with less getting accomplished each cycle.

Healthcare reform enacted in 2009 was defunded in 2011 by the Republican congress. There was no counter-proposal put forth to pay for the legislation or plan to re-instate funding. We now have a mess AND run-away insurance/medical costs.

In 2008 Barack Obama was elected as president with the promise of Change. The people of America, by-and-large, want Change. In 2010, Republicans gained majority control in congress. Largely thanks to the Tea Party and the “cut-government spending” mantra. The American people want a lean efficient government. The American people want an improved Healthcare System, we want our elderly and disadvantaged cared for,  and we want to retire someday. We want the government to help achieve these goals. Telling us “No” without adequate explanation is not an option! Reneging on committments (Social Security, Medicare) made to the current population is equally unacceptable.

The American people have grown considerably over the past 200+ years. The proposition of legislators “knowing what’s best for the public” is long dead and gone. We want viable partners in life and government. It may take another 200 years for the politicians to figure this out. In the mean-time, they’ll “entertain” us with embezzlement, violations of ethical behaviour and back-room deals advantageous to themselves or their favorite donor. All at great detriment to the people of the United States.

Now, I’m all for capitalism. But, healthcare is the wrong place for the capitalistic attitude. Making money on the health issues of the public just seems vulgar. Co-ops on the surface sound good, but I don’t think they can get the economy of scale, due to their smaller size, that the big insurance companies do by bullying the doctors and the patients.

The healthcare debate has been raging on “The Hill” for months now, so I don’t prescribe to the notion that everything is being cobbled together or left unrevealed. The variations on the bills under consideration/consolidation stand as evidence to that fact. You can read them yourself, they’re available on-line. And the nonsense that anything proposed will cost the American taxpayer “out-the-butt” is bogus too. From what I’ve read of the bills, if properly consolidated and executed the largest portion of the costs are covered by simple redistribution of existing expenditures. Long lines resulting from a public plan? I can’t dismiss that. Ever been to an HMO?

Cooler heads need to prevail! If you believe the cost to the taxpayer is going to be astronomical, ok – it might be in the end, we ARE talking about our inept government after all. But, a significant portion of this rhetoric is fueled by the insurance companies. No one is talking about taking away what’s already available. If the insurance companies can’t compete with a government plan or co-ops, then they SHOULD go by way of the DoDo. But, please don’t parrot the diatribe spewed by the insurance companies and getting ugly at public meetings is a bit primitive.

Of course, if you’ve got a better idea, there’s millions of Americans waiting to hear it, please share. I believe it’s better to do something than nothing at all. If that means a public option, let’s give it a try. We can always change it later – everyone remembers how to vote right?