by Chas Bonner
Please excuse the soapbox, but..........
Conventional wisdom says “NEVER discuss religion or politics.” Since we are not too political or perhaps too savvy, let’s go after politics.
Obamacare has become a noun in the American language. It has been soundly pilloried, rightly or wrongly, as another wasteful government program. The divide has been totally along partisan political lines, Democrats supporting, and Republicans claiming it to be the biggest boondoggle in history.
Let us dig a little deeper into history however. In 2003, when Republicans controlled Congress, Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who soundly renounces Obama’s proposals, was the chief architect of Part D of the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. That bill was the biggest expansion of government’s role in health care since the passage of the Medicare/Medicaid Act in 1965. Medicare Trustee’s have estimated the 10 year cost of the 2003 law will be $1.2 Trillion, even higher than the estimated “Obamacare” cost.
To add to political insult, of the 28 remaining Republicans still in the Senate today, 24 voted in favor of the 2003 Medicare bill. Out of 122 remaining Republican house members, 108 voted in favor of the bill.
What drives the almost 100% opposition to Obamacare by Republicans today, and the support of the 2003 law? Might one answer “Politics as usual?”
While few in our company are Democrats, we are aware of the hypocrisy so prevalent in Congress, on both sides of the isle. It appears that the primary motivation of Congressmen/women is re-election, and whatever it takes to be re-elected. And don’t charge the beneficiaries of such profligate spending, but present the bill to our children and grandchildren. That is the way to get re-elected.
This is why we love farming and ranching. It is close to the earth, its practitioners are solid and dependable people, and it pays for what it gets.
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