Shooting Us in the Foot

I don’t know about you but I am angry as hell. At the US Congress. Especially the republican portion of the Congress.

Let’s see what makes them tick. They don’t like being out of power – that is, not in the White House. So they have done everything in their power (and some invented and manipulated powers!) to minimize the power in the White House.

Why they do this is complicated. But I think there some stark talk that needs to be spoken about this. We have a problem. And it is not President Obama. He is a kind, gentle and intelligent person focused on doing what is best for the nation. But the problem is this: he is black. And that does not sit well with a lot of people.

Evidently this sits very poorly with republicans. They have pledged their political careers on demeaning Obama and making his presidency meaningless. Too bad that time has past. His terms in office have been fruitful and successful in spite of the efforts to the contrary. How it turns out is this: The Obama's are decent people. Their enemies are not decent people.

And the reason? Probably two elements combined but mostly racism. Ugly as that sounds it is true. I labored from the 1950’s through the 1970’s to defeat racism in America. I thought we had it tamed. Evidently not. It reappeared in capital letters throughout America in the 2000’s when a black man ran for the White House and won. Good Lord, he won!

For some reason this embarrassed the republican establishment. They pledged they would make Obama’s presidency a futile exercise on his part. And they have nearly succeeded.

Somehow Congress messed up on Obamacare. They meant to minimize it, cut it off at its knees and to frustrate the hell out of it so it wouldn’t work. So they passed it in a frightful state of incompleteness. They did this intentionally, but Obama accepted what he could after a very long and grueling fight in Congress.

Wonder of wonders Obamacare was successful; a halting start due to its complexity (thanks to Congress) and the computer systems people had a difficult time supporting the program accordingly. But they finally got it off the ground. Over 15 million people previously uninsured became insured with health care coverage. And millions more who were under-insured finally had better benefits that saved lives and fortunes.

Along the way the nation – the US Federal Government – saved many billions in Medicare and Medicaid funds. The savings could have been more. The coverage could have been more broad and successful. But no, Congress thwarted the program at every step. Where they had screwed up – miscalculated really – the popularity of the program and its need had surprised the republicans. Still they endeavored to defeat the program turn.

Today, as planned, the infrastructure of Obamacare is struggling with premiums and open market programs in individual states and regions. The funding and actions required to fix these problems – remember they are intentional problems engineered by political enemies – they now are pledging to defeat again. Republican leadership in Washington announced on October 5, 2016 that they would do their best to keep solutions from being enacted to solve problems in Obamacare.

They do this because they are racists and hate Obama. It is said. Right here and right now. They are white men privileged and committed to their own power and influence. They refuse to share it with others not selected by them, especially a black man. Shameful.

Shameful. And in 2016, 52 years after the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed and implemented. Oh so very shameful upon the character and history of America. I am ashamed of my own country for this. I thought we were well beyond this.

Gridlock in Congress is said to be an ideological skirmish. It is not. It is not merely conservatives against liberals. I say this confidently because there are plenty of people not aligned with these two ideologies in the first place. Many of us are centrists; still others are libertarians. And countless others are nothing on the political ideology scale. They simply are not interested in this baloney.

What matters is getting things done that matter to the American people. That’s good enough for me. What about you?

Isn’t it time we dumped the obstructionists from political power? You know we have the opportunity to do this by cleaning them out in this election. 100% of the House of Representatives, are up for re-election. Every two years your congressman and mine have to be re-elected to office or face replacement. Every two years one third of the Senate is replaced in similar fashion. We can make a huge difference in Congress in 2016 by ousting the trouble makers.

Maybe term limits are a good idea. I have not supported that in the past namely because the history and governance protocols are heavy and complicated. It takes experience to understand them and work them well. Newbies would mess it up; but at least they would focus on what matters rather than the dark side of manipulated power.

I want Obamacare to work well with all the support and amendments that will perfect it over time. After all, Social Security was not perfect at the very beginning. It took decades to improve it. Along the way too many trouble makers added too much burden and bells and whistles to Social Security; it almost killed the great program. But repairs have been made to prolong Social Security’s life and promise.

The same needs to be done for Obamacare.

And the same return to hard work needs to be done for social justice and race relations in our nation. Without that we remain a nation stunted by our own prejudices. And I think that would be a terrible stain on our history. A repeat of history actually. All the more shameful!

October 10, 2016