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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.
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