It’s real. Unless the current health care reform legislation is amended or the so-called “doctor’s fix” is changed, the first step in Medicare reform will happen shortly. Medicare patients will be paying more for their doctor visits or will lose that doctor because he will not accept lower fees. Worse, if a Medicare patient is dumped – especially by a primary care physician, that patient may end up without a doctor. There is a critical shortage of doctors in general, primary care physicians in particular. The democrats did not think through this part of the legislation while drafting this bill – or did they?
If Republicans had softened their stance and participated in the legislative process on this one, one among them could have picked up on this and used it as a major point of contention. As i t is, they fought the fight against an entire bill. Had they participated, they would have had their “one step at a time” process.
Now because they have been entrenched about financial reform, that bill has now left committee and they will now have less leverage in helping to shape it. Instead of moving on to focus on the legislation coming up, Republicans are now behind in what they need to do for their constituents. [ The Hill] Their constituents must look at this and say to themselves why should I vote for rigidity and disorganization? They keep letting the horse out of the barn.
I have said repeatedly, Republicans need to take a careful look at Obama’s winning strategies, acknowledge they are effective and get on the offense. Right now they are down in the trenches studying their multifarious amendments to slow legislation rather than shape it. They will lose the all-important independent swing vote if they don’t get out front and give them a winning strategy and some solid results.
Everybody wants to be on the winning side – Obama knew that. This is the reason he’s kept the momentum going and has launched a campaign to explain the content of the law and clarify its benefits. This is how he has been the primary element in shifting voters to the democrat’s side of the ledger almost overnight. Now he is out there ahead of Republicans already actively looking to the fall elections and daring Republicans to overturn this legislation. He has again cast the Republican Party as the party of “no.” He is getting lots of press without dealing with the press. His familiar strategy. He’s talking directly with voters and answering their questions.
Now that the bill has passed, why aren’t Republicans screaming that there is a less expensive way to educate the population about its benefits short of having tax payers pay for Obama to go on the hustings? It could have been done by local representatives at, you guessed it, town hall meetings. But Obama was perhaps worried that this may have made these local democrats targets for dissent rather than a listening audience. They didn’t handle the town hall meetings all that well last summer and fall. Still, the argument for the cost of this remains to be handled effectively in some way.
Most important, with Biden having failed in the handling of the situation on the ground in Israel during his visit and Hillary having failed to gain the support of Brazil for sanctions against Iran, shouldn’t the President be paying less attention to other domestic issues and some attention to foreign affairs? Since he has opted out of a leadership role in the Middle East peace process by default, China and Brazil have stepped into major roles in this arena. The result of his personal inattention to foreign issues may turn overwhelming domestic approval away from him in warp speed if a Republican strategy could include this point. Now here is an area where Obama’s obsession with health care reform has made him rigid in another sense.
The way this senior sees it, Republicans generally have been as unhelpful in so many areas they approach the neglect of us by AARP . Like those insurance salesmen, they and have not protected us. As a result, AARP now stands for American Asses are Republican Politicians! Ladies and gentlemen Republican Congressmen, start your engines. You should be asking yourselves why a senior citizen should be making points and handing them over to you? Now an aging voter is out ahead of you. Could there be any worse scenario. If you don’t get on the offensive pretty soon, you will just be downright offensive.
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HotAir – Report: Obama humiliated Netanyahu at the White House
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LisaInTX
March 26, 2010
SH
IMO—Government is TOO busy controlling our lives and destroying our Constitution to worry about doing the JOB they were HIRED to do…..how the heck can we stop them????
They are so out of control and the corruption runs so deep….makes my head burst trying to figure all the insanity out at times.
samhenry
March 26, 2010
I think we are overwhelmed by it and are like deer in the headlights. But we need to snap out of it.
LisaInTX
March 26, 2010
SH
I wished the Repub’s had brought THEIR healthcare plans to the table several years ago when THEY had control and chance to reform healthcare…..that they didn’t then has created a sad and tragic situation for us all.
A day late and dollar short comes to mind, but hopefully some of this can be changed this Nov with an awaken populace that are QUESTIONING things at last.
I try to keep a positive outlook that from bad situations, good things can still blossom.
samhenry
March 26, 2010
It does help to choose to view the future positively since there is a 50-50 chance you could be right. I don’t get into math too deeply! Anyway, they may have thought that they could stand firm but that the dems would come to them and beg them to participate – perhaps they did. What I mean to say is the Republicans did not realize that the democrats had changed the rules on everybody.
dancingczars
March 27, 2010
I don’t agree with your thoughts on this one. Republicans and conservative members of the Tea Party movement will have plenty to discuss on this burying the sword deep into Democratic candidates come November.
There will be more negative unintended consequence of this dead pig as time goes on. Already we know with new CBO scoring that the cost will be much higher than the chosen one said.
States are using the Tenth Amendment to Nullify this law protecting their citizens. See importance of understanding the 10th Amendment here{ http://dancingczars.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/understanding-the-importance-of-the-tenth-amendment-in-stopping-an-administration-gone-wild/
Children with preexisting diseases not currently insured will not be be covered until 2014. If that is fixed as promised, (think another lie) the bill will be required to go back to the senate and the house.
I’m quite satisfied with the hand the Republicans are holding, Jim
samhenry
March 27, 2010
Jim – thanks for adding this valuable information and your opinion to this post. It fleshes out the subject.