GOP Got What It Wanted

For the record, this column was written before President Obamahad that fascinating back and forth with House Republicans on Friday. (By the way, is is possible to pass a constitutional amendment to force that kind of frank dialogue on national TV at least once every month?) I say that because the president touched on some of the things I did in the piece. He reminded them that certain GOP priorities are part of the Senate bill. I would probably also add some form of sensible tort reform as well, particularly because the CBO says that the official GOP health plan -- which doesn't do much to stem the tide overall -- has tort reform and that will bring down premiums a bit. I will also say this: I will be happy to praise the GOP if it gets serious about helping the country achieve long over due, much needed comprehensive health care reform. So far, I have not seen, except in the small ways I've mentioned in the past about Senators such as Olympia Snowe and Lindsey Graham, at least initially. Below are some of the email reactions to the piece. I responded to their emails but am not including my responses to them, except to answer one point in the emails. They argue that the GOP has nothing to do with blocking reform because the Demcrats have a super majority. That's factually inaccurate. For the first time in history, when the Dems had a super majority, they passed a bill out of the House and the Senate and were in talks to meld them -- before they lost that super majority in Massachusetts. In general, I don't like one party having that much control, but in this particular case, I was disappointed in that special election result because I knew what it could mean for health care reform. But with this new reality, the Democrats still have enough power to move something forward -- and they must -- and the GOP can no longer claim it has no role in the process.

As Joe Wilson so aptley put it "You Lie"  There is nothing in the latest bill regarding tort reform or buying insurance across state lines. Let's see you were able to take 2100 pages of a bill and put it in focus with a few hundred words. The Democrats need you to start writing their bills.. You "LIE" again about the number of deaths regarding lack of insurance. There is no proof about such a claim. This is so bogus. Of the number of people who do actually die how many refuse to get health insurance even if they can afford it. Or as is the case in my family 6 relatives just decided they can do something else with their money. Smart "NO" but I think they have that right. Not the Democrats they are going to fine you if you do not get their version of health care. No you are wrong if we ever are in bankruptcy it will because we elected a Socialist. Quit whining about the Republicans. You have had a very big plurality in the House and 60 votes in the Senate (filibuster proof) Yet you have not passed one piece of Liberal legislation. How come??? When Pres Bush tried to reform SS ( a truly great idea) he did not have the 60 votes and it died. Issac can you remember back that far and did you write a column about that super plan. Why didn't the Republican want an extension of Medicare ( the cost Issac the cost). The Obama Care program is a left wing payback. The American people do not want it. Oh you and your merry band of Socialists want it no doubt but the American people do not. Check with Virginia,NJ and Mass. Issac check the "letters to the Editor: section and review the letter "campaign promises yet to be fulfilled" Yes a lot of used to be hard working Americans have lost their health care because of the lost jobs caused by Obama. I was amazed at the State of Union speech. He is completely lost. Henry Ford once said "The secret to success is to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are " In the case of Obama he is so smart he can not find anyone that is smarter.. I suppose I am no longer on your mailing list so maybe this will get to you or not  Ronald Poole

 

Thanks! A pleasure to read .............. I'm sure you'll get a ton of hate mail for today's piece...... hang in there for those of us who can be more civil!   Bob Remais

Mr. B.,    Spot on again.    You have nailed it.  Factual inaccuracies are the cause of health care failure.  Now, ask why are there "factual inaccuracies" formerly known as "political lies".  I suggest 2 reasons; 1) an inept Democratic Party and democratic politicians and 2) a lazy, inept and ill informed national and regional press.  Correct facts are not opinions.  The world is not flat.  The press should not seek to find a source to say the world is flat. Competent  democratic governments can not long last without an informed public.  We are pushing the envelope.  Keep doing your part.    Jim

 

Re: Sunday 1/31  "GOP GOT WHAT IT WANTED"

Issac you failed to mention that the Democrats  "GOT WHAT IT WANTED" with control of both houses and the White House and still can't pass it. Don't blame it on the GOP you don't need the GOP. John Gomolski

 

 

Issac,

 

I don't think I have ever disagreed with all the points you make in your column, but I can't think of anything I agreed with you on in your Sunday morning column.  First, I don't believe the GOP got what it wanted.  Fortunately, it prevented the administration/Congress from passing something that did little to genuinely reform health care.

 

The reason it failed, in my opinion, is that many Americans finally realized what Ronal Reagan said, "Big government isn't the solution, it is the problem."  2000 pages of reform that hasn't been read by most legislators can't possibly be good for a freedom loving people.

 

As a retired Army veteran of 30 years, I can attest to how poor and wasteful government run health care is.  It is steeped in bureaucratic rules for active duty dependents that make it difficult for the wives and children of service members to get timely care.  For retirees, unless we are willing to pay for supplemental insurance, care is difficult to find.  When I enlisted in the Army in 1965, one of the promises I was told was that I and my family would have health while on active duty and that I and my wife would have health care for life if I retired.  Neither came to be.

 

As a partially disabled veteran, I am forced to use the VA medical system.  I will not complain about the care provided except to say it anything but timely.  The administration, however, is abominable. 

 

The fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs are legendary.   From what I have seen using Tricare, I can easily believe most of those claims.

 

One of the biggest issues is the rising cost of health care which is the result of how HMO's operate, frivolous law suits and people who abuse the medical system by obtaining care without paying for it. 

 

So, what the GOP and most independent, self reliant Americans have clamored for in health care is simple and basic.

 

1.  Clean up the fraud and abuse in the current Medicare, Medicaid, and VA system

 

2.  Enact legitimate Tort Reform.

 

3.  Enable individuals and companies to purchase health care across state lines.

 

Issac, I am pretty sure you and I will never agree on the solution to affordable and effective health care.  What I do hope, however, is that we can agree that health care is not an entitlement granted in the constitution.  Hence, any debate about what should be done to insure everyone needs to be debated with that premise in mind.  If we truly want to government involved, then we should be honest enough to recommend that the constitution be amended.  The "Progressive" agenda which has been marching relentlessy forward since Teddy Roosevelt's term has dramatically changed our country from a republic to a near 'socialist state" along the lines of many European countries.

 

4.  Find and effective way to regulate current waste in the current health care system, much of which is caused by illegal immigrants gaining access to health care without paying for it.

Bob

 

Hi Issac,

 

Your column in Sunday's paper is perhaps the most one-sided piece of writing you have ever written. It blames Republicans for the Democrats' failure to pass meaningful healthcare reform when Democrats had a super majority in the Senate and an overwhelming majority in the House.  It ignores major questions about the ultimate cost of the proposed legislation and the shell game the Democrats used to rationalize the cost, such as placing over $200 billion in a separate bill to fund compensation to doctors and taking over $400 billion from medicare. It says nothing of Congress' recent expansion of the debt limit by another 1.3 trillion dollarrs so they can keep spending.   It makes tort reform appear insignificant because of so-called minimal savings, ignoring the immoral capitulation of Congress to the demands of lawyers, the chosen profession of many Congressmen before they went to Washington. It says nothing about "little things" like using federal dollars for abortions. Most of all, it says nothing about the fact that moderate Democrats such as Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieux had to be bought off to bring them on board, and then the public outcry made Congress reconsider. Your effort to blame Republicans for the failed attempt (thus far) to ram health care "reform" down America's throat is shameful. Democrats themselves are responsible. You convey a tone of intellectual and moral superiority in your column and ignore the overwhelming response of the American public (those dummies) who elected Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey (New Jersey of all places, where incumbent Corzine spent 23 million dollars of his own money and had the backing of the powerful NJEA), and Republican senator in Massachusetts, from a little town called Wrentham, right in Ted Kennedy's backyard. Issac, I truly appreciate a need for healthcare reform of some kind, but not of the magnitude proposed by the Democrats led by Pelosi and Reid. Pelosi is an arrogant individual and says she will get her health care initiatives done in any way possible, parachute them in, sneak them in, whatever, regardless of what the American people want.

 

Obviously you know and have experienced things I do not know and have not experienced, and I have had experiences that you have not experienced. You have your views; I have mine. Your support for Obama and the Democrats seems unequivocal. I wish you could write honestly about the radicals with whom Obama has surrounded himself, people such as Van Jones, who believes Bush and Cheney conspired to blow up the twin towers; Anita Dunn, who says Mao is her favorite philosopher, the one she would "turn to"; and a host of other radical or corrupt individuals who serve in our administration. Tell me why Tim Geithner, a guy who knowingly did not pay his taxes for four years, is our Sec. of Treasury, overseeing the IRS to make sure we pay our taxes. Issac, why don't you write about these things, at least occasionally. You seem to support Obama no matter what.

 

Sincerely,

 

David R. (Randy) Bryan

As Joe Wilson so aptley put it "You Lie"  There is nothing in the latest bill regarding tort reform or buying insurance across state lines. Let's see you were able to take 2100 pages of a bill and put it in focus with a few hundred words. The Democrats need you to start writing their bills.. You "LIE" again about the number of deaths regarding lack of insurance. There is no proof about such a claim. This is so bogus. Of the number of people who do actually die how many refuse to get health insurance even if they can afford it. Or as is the case in my family 6 relatives just decided they can do something else with their money. Smart "NO" but I think they have that right. Not the Democrats they are going to fine you if you do not get their version of health care. No you are wrong if we ever are in bankruptcy it will because we elected a Socialist. Quit whining about the Republicans. You have had a very big plurality in the House and 60 votes in the Senate (filibuster proof) Yet you have not passed one piece of Liberal legislation. How come??? When Pres Bush tried to reform SS ( a truly great idea) he did not have the 60 votes and it died. Issac can you remember back that far and did you write a column about that super plan. Why didn't the Republican want an extension of Medicare ( the cost Issac the cost). The Obama Care program is a left wing payback. The American people do not want it. Oh you and your merry band of Socialists want it no doubt but the American people do not. Check with Virginia,NJ and Mass. Issac check the "letters to the Editor: section and review the letter "campaign promises yet to be fulfilled" Yes a lot of used to be hard working Americans have lost their health care because of the lost jobs caused by Obama. I was amazed at the State of Union speech. He is completely lost. Henry Ford once said "The secret to success is to surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are " In the case of Obama he is so smart he can not find anyone that is smarter.. I suppose I am no longer on your mailing list so maybe this will get to you or not  Ronald Poole

 

Thanks! A pleasure to read .............. I'm sure you'll get a ton of hate mail for today's piece...... hang in there for those of us who can be more civil!   Bob Remais

Mr. B.,    Spot on again.    You have nailed it.  Factual inaccuracies are the cause of health care failure.  Now, ask why are there "factual inaccuracies" formerly known as "political lies".  I suggest 2 reasons; 1) an inept Democratic Party and democratic politicians and 2) a lazy, inept and ill informed national and regional press.  Correct facts are not opinions.  The world is not flat.  The press should not seek to find a source to say the world is flat. Competent  democratic governments can not long last without an informed public.  We are pushing the envelope.  Keep doing your part.    Jim

 

Re: Sunday 1/31  "GOP GOT WHAT IT WANTED"

Issac you failed to mention that the Democrats  "GOT WHAT IT WANTED" with control of both houses and the White House and still can't pass it. Don't blame it on the GOP you don't need the GOP. John Gomolski

 

 

Issac,

 

I don't think I have ever disagreed with all the points you make in your column, but I can't think of anything I agreed with you on in your Sunday morning column.  First, I don't believe the GOP got what it wanted.  Fortunately, it prevented the administration/Congress from passing something that did little to genuinely reform health care.

 

The reason it failed, in my opinion, is that many Americans finally realized what Ronal Reagan said, "Big government isn't the solution, it is the problem."  2000 pages of reform that hasn't been read by most legislators can't possibly be good for a freedom loving people.

 

As a retired Army veteran of 30 years, I can attest to how poor and wasteful government run health care is.  It is steeped in bureaucratic rules for active duty dependents that make it difficult for the wives and children of service members to get timely care.  For retirees, unless we are willing to pay for supplemental insurance, care is difficult to find.  When I enlisted in the Army in 1965, one of the promises I was told was that I and my family would have health while on active duty and that I and my wife would have health care for life if I retired.  Neither came to be.

 

As a partially disabled veteran, I am forced to use the VA medical system.  I will not complain about the care provided except to say it anything but timely.  The administration, however, is abominable. 

 

The fraud and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs are legendary.   From what I have seen using Tricare, I can easily believe most of those claims.

 

One of the biggest issues is the rising cost of health care which is the result of how HMO's operate, frivolous law suits and people who abuse the medical system by obtaining care without paying for it. 

 

So, what the GOP and most independent, self reliant Americans have clamored for in health care is simple and basic.

 

1.  Clean up the fraud and abuse in the current Medicare, Medicaid, and VA system

 

2.  Enact legitimate Tort Reform.

 

3.  Enable individuals and companies to purchase health care across state lines.

 

Issac, I am pretty sure you and I will never agree on the solution to affordable and effective health care.  What I do hope, however, is that we can agree that health care is not an entitlement granted in the constitution.  Hence, any debate about what should be done to insure everyone needs to be debated with that premise in mind.  If we truly want to government involved, then we should be honest enough to recommend that the constitution be amended.  The "Progressive" agenda which has been marching relentlessy forward since Teddy Roosevelt's term has dramatically changed our country from a republic to a near 'socialist state" along the lines of many European countries.

 

4.  Find and effective way to regulate current waste in the current health care system, much of which is caused by illegal immigrants gaining access to health care without paying for it.

Bob

 

Hi Issac,

 

Your column in Sunday's paper is perhaps the most one-sided piece of writing you have ever written. It blames Republicans for the Democrats' failure to pass meaningful healthcare reform when Democrats had a super majority in the Senate and an overwhelming majority in the House.  It ignores major questions about the ultimate cost of the proposed legislation and the shell game the Democrats used to rationalize the cost, such as placing over $200 billion in a separate bill to fund compensation to doctors and taking over $400 billion from medicare. It says nothing of Congress' recent expansion of the debt limit by another 1.3 trillion dollarrs so they can keep spending.   It makes tort reform appear insignificant because of so-called minimal savings, ignoring the immoral capitulation of Congress to the demands of lawyers, the chosen profession of many Congressmen before they went to Washington. It says nothing about "little things" like using federal dollars for abortions. Most of all, it says nothing about the fact that moderate Democrats such as Ben Nelson and Mary Landrieux had to be bought off to bring them on board, and then the public outcry made Congress reconsider. Your effort to blame Republicans for the failed attempt (thus far) to ram health care "reform" down America's throat is shameful. Democrats themselves are responsible. You convey a tone of intellectual and moral superiority in your column and ignore the overwhelming response of the American public (those dummies) who elected Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey (New Jersey of all places, where incumbent Corzine spent 23 million dollars of his own money and had the backing of the powerful NJEA), and Republican senator in Massachusetts, from a little town called Wrentham, right in Ted Kennedy's backyard. Issac, I truly appreciate a need for healthcare reform of some kind, but not of the magnitude proposed by the Democrats led by Pelosi and Reid. Pelosi is an arrogant individual and says she will get her health care initiatives done in any way possible, parachute them in, sneak them in, whatever, regardless of what the American people want.

 

Obviously you know and have experienced things I do not know and have not experienced, and I have had experiences that you have not experienced. You have your views; I have mine. Your support for Obama and the Democrats seems unequivocal. I wish you could write honestly about the radicals with whom Obama has surrounded himself, people such as Van Jones, who believes Bush and Cheney conspired to blow up the twin towers; Anita Dunn, who says Mao is her favorite philosopher, the one she would "turn to"; and a host of other radical or corrupt individuals who serve in our administration. Tell me why Tim Geithner, a guy who knowingly did not pay his taxes for four years, is our Sec. of Treasury, overseeing the IRS to make sure we pay our taxes. Issac, why don't you write about these things, at least occasionally. You seem to support Obama no matter what.

 

Sincerely,

 

David R. (Randy) Bryan