A Group Hug?

 

 

"We will either all hug and make up, or our health care will die a death of a thousand cuts..."

It happened again this morning. I was watching the very biased Morning Joe show on the vile MSNBC network, when one of the Progressives said the following, "The biggest disaster of this health care roll out is this law effects everyone in the country. To screw this up so badly, will set progress on health care back 5 to 10 years." Wow! I could not believe my ears! This is the choir now rebelling against not only the choir director, but also the minister.

There is now developing consensus that this thing is more screwed up than Hogan's Goat. It was a mistake from the get-go to ram this sweeping, very controversial piece of legislation through Congress without the support, the help and the amendments from any Republicans. Now the President needs Republican help, and needs it badly. This roll out, as well as what is predicted yet to come, is nothing short than a "death by a thousand cuts."

As in any relationship, sometimes saying "I am sorry" are the three toughest words in the universe. It is time for everyone to realize the train has come off the tracks and we can either marvel at the carnage, or we can pitch in to help. Not everyone is going to agree with this, but it is how I feel right now. To do nothing and watch this thing continue to kill our health care systems as well as our economy will help none of us.

Therefore, I believe the way forward is as follows:

• This one is going to hurt a bit. The President needs to address the American people and admit he made a mistake - a big one. He needs to immediately stop all Obamacare initiatives and put them on hold.
• There will be a panel formed before Christmas with members from the Administration, Democrats from the Senate, and Republicans from the House. They will first agree on what they can agree on. There have always been some things in the bill which everyone liked.
• There are some huge holes which need to be address before going forward. The web site is small potatoes. The big ticket items are 1) People being informed they are getting "more for more" when you don't want or can't afford "more." 2)  A "doc fix" now that word is slipping out doctors will have more patients and get less reimbursement from the government - net result - a projected doctor shortage. 3) The cost containment measures that were left out need to be revisited - such as tort reform and interstate insurance sales. 4) A "true up" on the REAL ten year cost of this thing - we all know now this thing taint free or even close to it.

Now, we can continue to fight over this thing until the cows come home, and watch the train wreck get worse. Or we can all have a slice of humble pie, admit our mistakes, and have a group hug. Having a group hug does not mean we sign up for a bad deal - it means we agree to negotiate a better deal than we have now.

Some might enjoy seeing the President twist in the wind with his numbers going south faster than ducks in November. My biggest fear is if we do not fix this thing and fix it soon, we will all be twisting right next to him.