Healthcare!

"congrats man! we have health care"

Those were the words I received from my friend who is stationed in Baghdad with the Marines. Very cool to have someone in a combat zone so happy that the U.S. Congress passed a plan to extend health care coverage.

First however, I need to state two qualifiers before delving into this post:

1. I have done minimal research on the provisions of the bill beyond reading Paul Krugman's economic analysis.

2. I am not sure, as of yet, how the bill will impact me given that I am currently uninsured.

Having said that I was happy about the passage for several reasons. First, I think this can help to make the U.S. more economically competitive by reducing the burden on employers to provide insurance (however, I don't think what I have seen of the bill does nearly enough to reign in costs). Second, providing health care for the poor, the young, and the elderly is never a bad thing. Third, if the experience of Taiwan is an indicator health care can be extended quickly. Fourth, I recall a story by Fareed Zakaria saying that much of GM's production has been moved to Canada because workers there are just as skilled but don't have the huge burden of health insurance.

Despite the good that I think can result from this bill I have been disappointed in many aspects. As mentioned above, costs will not be controlled well enough because we fear "death panels." Speaking of which, leads me into the most disheartening parts of this debate: political behavior of the American right.

Politics is the art of compromise. So when you start things off by screaming that a bill is the return of Stalin, Mao, and Hitler then you don't leave yourself room to compromise or even improve that bill. As has consistently been the case this year, the Republicans (and Tea Par tiers) have not sought to improve things and instead turned to purely vitriol-filled spouting. So much for acting like adults. They alone haven't poisoned the political process, but they have done far more than anyone else to poison things.

While I am happy the bill passed I am sorely disappointed in a significant section of the populace. Then again disappointment doesn't even begin to describe low lives who would use the n-word when yelling at Congressman John Lewis. Shame on them and the Republicans for not doing more to reign them in.