Republican Scott Brown: Democrat Health Care at Cost of Economy

Hugh: I've said it before and I say it again:  Anytime a political party--whether it be the Democratic or Republican party--is obsessed and fixated on passing trillion dollar legislation it sends up a red flag.

I agree with Scott Brown and I've been saying for months and months that the U.S. economy resembles a depression more than a recession and that the Obama administration along with the Congress and Senate should have made the economy their first priority.

As James Carville said years ago, "It's the economy, stupid!" I hope that I'm wrong (and I've never been known to be an optimist) but from all the economic data that I see, it is going to take years before the American economy get's back on track and the unemployment rate gets back into the 5 percent range which it was in throughout much of the Bush administration.

I've always paid close attention to politics and in all that time, I have never seen a political party and administration more obsessed with a single issue to the exclusion of all other issues than I have seen with the current Administration and congress. Mr. O is making Jimmy Carter look like a political genius for God's sake!

With the U.S. economy in shambles as it is and no light at the end of the tunnel as it were, I scratch my head in disbelief over Obama's and the Democrats' priorities. America is not Chicago and people living in fly-over country couldn't give a you know what about  Saul Alinsky's teachings . . . .

nanute: Any time I see a political party obsessed, as the Democrats obviously are, with passing legislation, it makes me very suspicious of the motives. I don't think that the Democrats--or the Republicans for that matter--have the best interest of the majority of Americans in mind vis a vis their version of health care reform legislation.

The Democrats' health care bill would have been passed long ago if the majority of American voters were for it and any number of Republicans from moderate districts would have crossed over the aisle and supported it.

Were talking about a trillion dollar pipe dream here that many Democrats have been obsessed with for years including the late Ted Kennedy. And let's face facts. If the Democratic party can't pass its version--and only its version--of health care reform before the 2010 elections, health care reform is toast.

And I say "toast",  because given the present political and economic climate, and the fact that Independents (according to all recent polls) are becoming more and more disaffected with the Democratic party, the Democrats are going to lose many seats in the Congress and the Senate come the 2010 elections. The only way that will not occur is if Obama and the Dems pull a rabbit out of their collective political hat or if there is a major upheaval in the U.S. as a result of a devastating terrorist attack, or if the economy and consequent unemployment situation somehow improves dramatically between now and November 2010.

Cynic: The will of the people is dynamic and not static. And at this point the will of the majority of Americans is in opposition to the Democrats' health care reform legislation.

I venture to say that the majority of Americans, including myself, are strongly in favor of health care reform legislation. There is no doubt in my mind that the system is broken and needs to be fixed. Medical costs are astronomical and they keep rising.

I know this all to well from a personal perspective in light of the fact that I have an autistic daughter. It costs me $600 per month out of my own pocket just for my daughter's medication alone!  And her visits to the doctor cost at least $300 per month. Factor that in with the rest of the family's medical bills and we're talking well over $1000 per month just for health care. Add that to a $1000 monthly mortgage payment, $500 in utility bills, food, vehicle insurance, homeowner's insurance, and so on and so forth and it all adds up to over $3000 per month just to live a no-frills existence.

My situation is no different from the millions of middle class Americans out there. We would like nothing better than for our health care costs to go down.  Indeed, we're being squeezed, financially, every which way from Sunday and yet we do not believe that Obama's health care reform legislation will lower our health care costs! In fact, we think that his health care reform legislation will make things much worse. You can imply that we're all idiots and  that we don't know what's good for us. That's fine and that's your opinion. But we simply don't believe that a bunch of politicians, no matter what side of the political aisle they're on have our best interests at heart when it comes to health care reform . . . .

Karl: That's right! You can't blame everything on the GOP. I just wish that more Americans  would get it! And what more Americans need to get is that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans hold the key that unlocks the shackles of their discontent.

The only time that things will get better, here in America, will be when Americans cast off their political blinders and see their way clear of  irrational political preferences.

hidflect: In my humble and untutored opinion, Obama is a wimp and a wuss--big time! But you know, many Americans--especially the female Americans--like that about Obama.

Well, I think Jesse Ventura was asked a similar question on Larry King about Obama's "focus". And (I paraphrase) he said a President should be able to do at least 3 things at the same time; HCR, jobs and the overseas wars. As an ex-soldier and ex-politician (good at both!) Jesse should know.