Don't tread on me and all that yada yada

I watched some history made last night. No, not the Bama-LSU game, the House vote on health care reform. I did catch some of the football game too, but for sheer entertainment purposes, watching the House debate won hands down. My nine-year-old would watched a bit with me, and he could always identify the Republican members of Congress because they sounded so angry. In a sense I can't begrudge them anger. Having preached for 14 years I know what it's like to be condemned to making arguments that you are sure will fall on deaf ears.

What I can begrudge them are the sheer incoherence of their arguments:

"This is a government takeover of our health care system!"

• Um, no, it's not. If you have private insurance and you like it, you get to keep it.

"This plan cuts Medicare!"

• Well now, Medicare IS a takeover of the health care system, at least for Senior Citizens. If you're against "gubmunt run health care," then you shouldn't be fighting Medicare cuts. You should be fighting to kill Medicare.

"This plans FORCES you to buy health insurance whether you want it or not!"

• Pardon me if I don't pick up my pitchfork and march on Washington about this one. The government already forces me to buy auto insurance if I want to drive. My seminary forces me to buy health insurance as a condition of my enrollment. People should carry health insurance instead of parachuting into an ER when they get sick and letting me pick up the tab with higher premiums on my policy. It's a matter of personal responsibility. And if you can't afford it, you'll be subsidized, which is more efficient than the current system.

"This plan fosters government dependency. Why, I used to be a judge and I had to send away too many boys born to welfare queens who got paid by the gubmunt to have babies."

• Not a direct quote, but pretty close. Some Congressman from Texas. Please see the above comments about personal responsibility.

"We're going broke!"

• Ahem, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the House bill will reduce the deficit over the next ten years.

"Pelosi bill, Pelosi bill, Pelosi bill!"

• Yes, some people don't like strong women from the Left Coast, but really, can't we do better than ad hominem attacks? Besides, the House-approved bill is a bi-partisan bill. That's right. One GOP lawmaker voted for it. Only one, but it counts.

I think that when all is said and done, the Republicans were opposed to this bill, not because it might fail, but because it might succeed. Tactically, they want to deny the President a legislative victory. Strategically, even if the government can solve problems, they don't want it to. You see this dynamic in spades with global warming. That kind of ideological rigidity gives birth to the kind of angry, non-sensical ranting we saw on the House floor yesterday. I have no use for it, nor do most people. It's taking longer than we thought, but the reform movement continues to jump every legislative hurdle. I remain confident that it'll happen, and years from now, everybody will wonder what all the pitchfork-brandishing was about.

Comments

[Adrian]

Your responses are perfect. Listening to these ridiculous arguments makes me want to pull my hair out. Now if only this can pass the senate...