What I Think about Election Day 2012

Last week’s election was a key turning point in the direction the country is going, perhaps as significant as the 1992 election.  It’s key because our candidates this year were such mirror opposites of each other in terms of their overall vision and direction.  While they share many of the same priorities, their plans and methods are far more different than we’ve seen in the recent past.  In my opinion, both of our candidates will lead this country into bad places.  There is no candidate that will make everything better, and that’s disappointing.  There are many reasons for this, but I think the biggest reason is partisan politics.  Me, I like partisan politics.  While it can over-polarize particular issues it does provide a vastly uneducated electorate a means to decide which leaders they wish to support and do their governing for them.  Political parties help you decide whether to elect a pro-life candidate or to focus on the candidate with a trickle-down economy plan (another concept our electorate doesn’t seem to completely grasp).  The downside to political parties is when they start acting like political parties.  When the party motto is “They’re wrong. We’re right.” there is no room for compromise or understanding in a republican government that requires a majority consensus for anything to get done.  That leads to the emphasis not on being right or doing right but having the most people to ensure your way is the way things will go.  It’s become about winning and not governing.  That has led to the most impotent and ineffective Congress in history.  As we approach the so called “fiscal cliff” I’m quite certain that our Congress will fail us again … not because they couldn’t come to a compromise, but because they wanted to make the other party look like the bad guy.  I wish I could say the new Congress coming in is going to do any better.  Me, I’m saving up and planning for the worst.

So, as we look ahead to the next 4 years of what will certainly be a roller coaster ride through hell in this country, let me provide a few tidbits of wisdom to both parties that perhaps might jolt them into changing their stance/opinions on a few things for the next couple of elections.

Democrats

• As a former member I can sympathize with you the most.  Even though I’m registered Independent, I still describe myself to others as “liberal” and I’m proud to be so.  However your party’s choice of leaders, policies and platforms just makes me want to puke up my colon.  Here are a few reasons why.
• You think the government is the answer for everything.  For deciding social policy.  For taking care of people who won’t (notice I didn’t say can’t) take care of themselves.  For providing loans to private businesses.  For providing health care.  You all need a healthy dose of a college constitutional law class to realize that NONE of those things were intended for the federal government to provide in the original Constitution.  There’s a very good reason for that … when governments start to assert control over the free market and people’s lives, bad things happen. Color it anyway you want, it’s still the first step on the road to Socialism, and look how well that turned out for the average citizen. 
• Even if somehow you can justify and pass laws that empower the government to pay for things not laid out in the Constitution, Democrats need to get it through their heads that someone needs to pay for it all, and those people are the taxpayers!  We can have mandated health care and financial bailouts and welfare for life for anyone.  Sure.  It means more taxes on us to pay for them.  Anyone who tells me we can afford all of these entitlement programs and government initiatives while cutting taxes is grossly underestimating the costs of running a country this big while providing its citizens with all these neat benefits.  Sure, there are ways to cut spending.  All we have to do is cut back space exploration and national defense. WTF ever.  So what else will we cut back?  Welfare?  Medicare?  The money has to come from somewhere folks.  Better wise up and understand that you’d better be ready to pony up from your own pocket to pay for all these great government programs.  What?  You don’t want to pay more taxes? Too bad.
• And please don’t tell me that we can just increase the deficit to pay for it.  That’s like putting your monthly mortgage payments on a credit card.  Sure, you can stay in your house for the time being, but once that card maxes out and the bank comes calling, I hope you have some way to pay for it.  If we believe the Democrats, it’s almost like you want our kids to pay for it.  At this point Alex and his family will owe nearly $100,000 when he turns 18, and he hasn’t done anything in/for this country other than grow up.  Does that make sense to you?  Is it worth it to have bailouts now when our kids won’t be able to buy/pay for anything later on?
• Now one thing we do agree on is the impact a Republican administration could have on social issues.  The potential disasters in regulation or outright abolition of reproductive and free speech rights terrify me almost to the point of voting against anyone who backs the Republican party!  I’ll get to that in a minute. 
• It all comes down to this for me … what is more important: the stability of our country’s economy and the government that oversees it or the potential loss of rights in social issues.  I have to say, sadly, that today it is far more important for our country to stop bleeding money and to stabilize government spending.  With my vote this year I risked a Republican administration who wants to put it in law that I can’t burn an American flag in protest.  I will trust in the judicial system to protect my rights.  At least my country wouldn’t default on loans or debts while the court case is worked out, and the economy tanks so far that the country cannot function.

Republicans

• First thing today, before you get your first cup of coffee, the Republican party needs to look at the demographics of the election and ask themselves why they didn’t get the vote of the women and minorities.  Then they need to do something about it.  Today, the Republican Party is the party of well-off/wealthy, white, Judeo-Christian men, and don’t deny it.  When you say you’re the party of Reagan you’re not going to win over the Justin Bieber fans, single mothers or immigrants working minimum wage.  There are many reasons you lost the election, but the truth is you’re not even trying to extend your voter base!  Why don’t women like your party?  Why don’t homosexuals?  Why don’t blacks or hispanics?  Better think long and hard about that.  And, if your answer is you’re a party who believes what we believes and refuses to change or consider alternatives, you’d better get used to losing.  A lot.  Your voter base will start dying soon.
• The Republican party needs to get in the 21st century, mostly from a social standpoint.  To dictate social morals through laws is questionable enough, but to base a party platform on the outdated Judeo-Christian values as you have in the past, you assure yourself irrelevancy.  We live in a free society where citizens are encouraged to explore their belief systems free of restriction by their government.  21st century America encourages this culture, providing various means of social media to explore within as well as a society open to the possibility of alternatives.  That’s why you have gay pride parades, transgender conferences, requests for same-sex marriage and a growing number of people who think there’s more to life and love than just one man with one woman.  Better get on board this train.  It’s been around for centuries.  We now have a society where those things, some I would say are still considered a bit taboo, are open for discussion, open to the public and now open to protection under the law.  If you choose to hold true to the idea that anything other than one man and one woman is not an option, you will forever doom yourself as the party that is out-of-touch with modern society, and rightfully so.  Gay love is no different than your traditional definition of a marriage.  Accept it.
• Get some energy, would you?  You know how to win the Bieber fans?  Be interesting!  Be energized.  Energize the people around you.  Don’t be afraid of technology, embrace it.  Don’t be afraid of social media or trends!  Understand them and look for value in them.  They’re your electorate too.
• And find some leaders we can all get fired up about.  In 2004 the Democratic party seemed lost.  John Kerry was the best they could do.  But then the convention shows up and here are these two fireballs, two energized members who get people fired up about being in their party and being an American citizen.  One was Hillary Clinton.  The other is our President now.  Get some people up on that stage that can re-energize the youth and vitality of your party, or you’re never going to win over the younger undecideds, no matter how good your argument is. 
• Make this clear to every single member of your party:  Rape is a crime.  It’s a horror.  There is never, not one circumstance when it is acceptable.  The health of the raped person matters above all else.  To say otherwise is to be inhuman.  At least two of your candidates this year were inhuman.  Not good.  You’re guilty by proximity.
• Oh yeah … if you’re running for office expect every single word you utter to be recorded by someone, somewhere.  Democrats want this because they like to be heard.  That 47% crap was an election-killer.  I’m amazed you still did as well as you did.
• Dial back your pundits.  Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh.  They’re not winning over voters.  They’re not even firing up your own party members.  All they’re doing is alienating people.
• No matter what you have to do do not let Donald Trump or Sarah Palin speak for your party again.  EVER.

The Next Four Years

• Surprisingly I can live with Obama as President for the next four years if he works hard to make some changes with our economy and works to get things done, rather than just try and then blame the other guy when nothing happens. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks as he leads the battle to beat the fiscal cliff.  So far, it just looks like business as usual.
• The biggest problem I have with Obama’s first administration was a complete lack of governing on the part of Congress.  I don’t fault Obama for trying to push through his agenda.  Any President faces opposition on any initiative.  My problem was the decision by Congress to basically oppose EVERYTHING that came out of the Executive Branch.  That’s not governing.  That’s partisan politics at its worst.  It meant no budgets passed, no laws passed, debt increasing, spending unaccounted for.  In effect, our elected representatives were on paid vacation for four years.  Enough, Congress!  You’ve been elected to govern.  DO SOMETHING!
• Sadly, the makeup of Congress didn’t change much last week.  There are some new faces.  Hopefully that will be enough to jar some things loose and get things going.
• Our debt is going to go through the roof and through the upper atmosphere.  At some point we’re going to have to pay for that.  Last I heard Obama’s only answers included taxing the wealthy more (which won’t even make a dent in the debt he’s added with Obamacare and the bailout) and a vague reference to cutting the deficit.  Well, unless you’re going to include increasing taxes on everyone by 2-3%, I don’t see us making any sort of impact in the debt we have.  I can only hope no one comes calling to collect.
• Well, at least we know abortion, flag burning and same-sex marriage rights won’t be changing.  Yeah.  That makes my concerns about the economy just vanish.  No … wait … that don’t make a damn bit of difference.
• You’d better start showing me more of Joe Biden otherwise you might not get my vote.

What I Think about Gun Problems in the U.S.

Last night a lunatic planned and executed a massive violent crime at a crowded movie theater in Aurora, CO.  Over the past few months I’ve seen story after story, here in Columbus and elsewhere, of violent crimes committed using guns, many of them for the most petty of reasons.  I’m here to offer my thoughts and potential solutions to this problem.

The culture in the U.S. has changed in the past year, certainly significantly since 9/11.  There seems to me, based on the high volume of these types of incidents, a propensity for individuals within our society to choose to purchase a gun.  Then they choose to take the gun outside of their homes (whether it’s legal to or not in their state isn’t relevant at this point … a CWL wouldn’t have helped the people in Aurora last night).  Then they choose to resolve a problem, whether it is one of their own or one with another person, by using the gun to kill.  Something has gone seriously wrong with our society and culture if members of our society think that this is a proper and appropriate way to deal with problems. 

I recall a recent incident here in Columbus where a man and his girlfriend got into an argument with a man who had been riding a bike nearby (no idea what the argument was about).  The argument escalated to the point where the man on the bike chose to pull out his gun and shoot the couple.  A simple argument between strangers quickly escalates to deadly violence.  What was the guy on the bike thinking?  Did he feel that he needed the gun for his own protection so he took it with him on a fucking bike ride?  And worse did he feel that the only resolution to the argument with the couple was to shoot them both? 

I can only imagine that the feeling of superiority and power over the couple led the man to casually toss aside any moral deterrents, respect for the laws of our society, empathy or self-control and just pull out his gun and shoot.  Certainly the asshole in Aurora decided that the only solution to whatever problem was plaguing him was to shoot a bunch of strangers and strike terror into the hearts of thousands or movie-goers across the nation.  Where was the respect for your fellow man?  Where were the moral lessons of our parents, society and religions? Where was the guilt on the part of the shooters?  What happened to the thought process that prevents people from choosing to commit violent acts?

On the other side of this coin is the simple access to guns for individuals like these to commit these crimes.  The right to bear arms is in the Constitution and there’s no chance in hell of that being removed.  But we can restrict who can purchase and use firearms and which ones with other laws.  We require background checks.  That’s nice and there may even be statistics to prove that’s reduced violence.  But these assholes got through background checks and still got the guns to do the deed, so something still isn’t right.  Is it the responsibility of our government to protect us from people with criminal intent when they purchase firearms (or tear gas or Kevlar … why do average civilians need those things again?)

So I see three failures here, each of which I think can be resolved with a few changes.

First, the Federal Government needs to pass laws that require gun owners to show proof of a college degree before they can purchase a gun.  My reasoning for this is simple: Going to college and completing a degree takes a few things:

1. Commitment
2. Intelligence
3. Support

If a person is committed to completing a college education they are invested in their future and their well-being.  They’re less likely to do things to jeopardize that investment in themselves, particularly for things as simple as disagreements in parking lots (for example).  They also have a greater amount of intelligence before, during and after their education, hopefully one that has a broad enough range to include (directly or indirectly) some philosophy, morality or history that can highlight the consequences of our actions on ourselves and our societies and to recognize evil thoughts and deeds when you see them.  You can’t make it through college without support, either from yourself or from your family.  That support mechanism can help solidify a base to counter violent acts and thoughts with the recognition and implementation of support and love from other people. 

These three simple but vital characteristics of most college graduates can provide the intellectual and moral foundation for appropriate behavior, self-sufficiency, self-awareness and the mental capacity to accurately determine right from wrong.  If the people with guns are intellectually prepared for their actions in the world, I would hope that alone would reduce the number of these senseless, uncaring and evil acts.  Unfortunately the gunman in Aurora was a graduate student in Neuroscience.  He had to have had each of those 3 things and yet he still did this terrible, terrible thing.  So, we need to do more.  And when I say we, I’m not talking about just our government.

Second, there needs to be much more accountability with selling guns, ammo and all this other crap.  This guy in CO managed to get his hands on basically a SWAT team member’s full gear.  It’s insane to me that all that stuff could get into the hands of civilians so easily.  Am I saying not to sell Kevlar vests?  No.  But tear gas?  Seriously?  What law abiding citizen needs tear gas … EVER.  Or, an even better example, an AK-47.  WTF?  Why do we sell military-grade weapons to anyone except, I don’t know, the military?  Are we that greedy and gun happy that we’re okay with this?   I think you ban the sale of military-grade guns and ammo.  There’s plenty of money still to be made for the gun wranglers. 

The other side of this, the part that I doubt would ever fly in our democracy, is to hold the gun seller accountable.  Ideally, I’d want the guys who sold the Columbine kids guns locked up forever or something worse.  They sold machine guns to kids.  They don’t deserve my tax dollars to pay for their prison food.  Whoever sold this CO guy an AK-47 should lose his ability to sell anything and work as a slave for the families who lost loved ones.  Of course the same argument could be made for the car seller and a drunk driver who kills someone with the car they bought.  It’ll never fly, but guns are out there for only one purpose: to kill things.  Maybe the people selling them would be more careful who they sold them to if they were at least partially accountable for how the gun is used.  Alas, the land of the free will protect them.  So, let’s focus our efforts on restricting sales of this shit to only that which people need.  I have two co-workers who own military-grade assault rifles.  They have the education and self-awareness never to use them on other people (including me, thankfully), but even still what the hell do they need them for when a rifle could get the job done just as well?

Third, and this is the hardest part of all, we need to adapt our culture to prevent these types of personalities and situations from ever developing.  We need to take care of our kids and if you put them in front of guns to teach them how to use them responsibly and how to NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER use them on another person.  Why?  Because killing someone is wrong.  Killing someone will not make the world better.  Killing someone will not bring you peace.  We need to take care of our kids who are depressed or hurting or mentally ill and keep them safe and teach them how to deal with bad feelings that lead to these kinds of acts.  We need to teach our kids and remind our adults to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS seek the better angels of our nature and make the conscious choice to avoid a violent response to any situation.  We must condition ourselves to choose to act responsibly towards ourselves, our neighbors and yes even the crazy driver in front of us.  We need to take a collective breath and pause before we act.  We need to remember the consequences of our actions before we do them.  We need to emphasize the importance of being good neighbors, of being loving people, or being patient and practice active empathy. 

We need to teach our people to be better people. 

There’s a reason most other democracies in the world have far fewer gun deaths than the U.S. and it’s not because of our gun laws or even their availability.  It’s because of the people who use the guns.  It’s a hearts and minds stage here, and change only comes from parents teaching their kids right and holding them to it.  Oh, how many things in our country would improve if parents could just do that!  I’d like to think the Columbine kids and the Aurora guy and the Columbus guy might have all chosen differently given a better parental influence.  As Aaron Sorkin once wrote “they weren’t born wanting to do this.”  Amen to that.  It’s on the parents and all our neighbors to show each other the best way to live.  In our homes, in our streets, in our schools, in our cars, in our movie theaters and in our communities large and small. 

We must change our way of thinking to be a more positive one.  If we don’t it’s only a matter of time before we’re all packing heat and worried that the guy we just cut off in the passing lane is going to hunt us down and kill us.  I think we’re all better than that.

What I Think about American Politics in 2011

Let me start by reasserting the fact that I’m a registered Independent in the United States.  Why am I an Independent?  Simple … I can’t stand political parties.  I resent the need for an organization to tell me what I am to believe, who and what I am to support and who I am to distrust.  As a citizen of this great nation it is my civic responsibility to make those decisions on my own, and it is my duty to act upon them by voting and participating in the representative nature of my government.  No problem.  Each time I vote, I vote with a clear conscious knowing that my decisions are my own, based on my own research, analysis and personal beliefs, not those of any individual group or organization or religion or anything else.  If I chose to vote down a particular amendment or bill, it’s because I think it’s the right thing to do.  I’m proud of this, and I think it makes me a better American.  That works fine for me, but my government certainly does not operate with such precision or simplicity.

The past month’s debate on the national debt ceiling is a clear indication of how things are going to be run in this country for the next 10 years … poorly and slowly.  Speaker Boehner announced today, along with a deal for the debt ceiling he begrudgingly accepted, that “it shows how much we’ve changed the terms of the debate in this town.”  I couldn’t agree more, but it’s not a good thing.

The “terms of the debate,” as he put it, basically mean what each political party is willing to agree to and risk in order to win.  Let me be clear about that … not to do what’s best for the nation, but to do what is needed to declare a victory for themselves.  A victory over what?  Rival political parties?  The agenda of an executive branch they disagree with (i.e. are in a different party)?  Our politicians now operate in Washington with a simple goal in mind:  win the majority and don’t let go.  That means achieving victories in the eyes of the voters so that they and their buddies will get elected/re-elected.  Notice how there’s nothing in there about making our nation greater or stronger.  That’s a secondary benefit to the S.O.P. these days.  It’s more important to our representatives to declare a victory for their party than it is to enact something that does some good.

Raising the debt ceiling is a necessary act of Congress.  It’s been done numerous times over the past 20 years.  It’s necessary because government spending has gone up and up and the need to borrow money has grown with it.  In the past, the decision to raise the debt ceiling was much easier to pass.  This time there were a few differences:

• The Presidential election of 2012 is gearing up.  What better way to start it than to be the party that saved the nation from financial disaster by passing their version of the measure?
• The split majority in the House and Senate gives an opportunity to shut down the efforts of the other party. 
• It gives the majority in each House the opportunity to demonstrate how resolved they can be to voters.
• It allows politicians to go on TV and declare themselves resolute or working hard or best yet, the winner.

It’s funny that after this compromise was approved, no one has declared themselves a winner, because in truth no one is.  No political party got everything they wanted.  No political party or individual politician got to step up and save the day.  The day was saved by compromise, twisting the arms of the leadership to the point where the biggest concession they gave up was the right to declare themselves the victor.  It wasn’t a success to them, raising the debt ceiling.  It wasn’t a victory to prevent an economic crisis that would have impacted billions of people across the world.  It wasn’t a victory to cut government spending by trillions of dollars.  No, it was a successful compromise.  Well, good for them (I suppose).  I’m sure they’ll find ways to spin the praise and the blame over the next 15 months.

In the end our government operates at the purview of the agendas of political parties.  To me, that is too polarized way to run a nation of this size.  Unfortunately, it’s how the game will be played for the rest of my lifetime, almost like a bad “reality” TV show … people will form alliances (political parties), unify a plan and core beliefs and then get others to work with you.  That might be a good way to win the games, but if the motivation is simply the victory itself rather than to improve things for the citizens of this nation then I cannot feel confident in my leaders to lead effectively. 

My political leaders must all re-focus themselves on their true goals.  Their primary goal should not be victory over the other party.  Their primary goal, even at the expense of their own jobs, must be to make this nation a better place.  Press conferences should focus on what they think about a measure, why it will help their constituents and our citizens, why the alternatives are wrong.  They should not focus on how they plan to advance their party’s goals or defeat the goals of the other party.  There shouldn’t be “voting along party lines" all the time.  My leaders have been selected because they want to be the ones to make this nation better, not to simply claim power, declare victory and then sit back and see what happens next.  But, from where I’m sitting none of this will happen.  My leaders’ two main goals will continue to be to beat the other guys and to get re-elected and will be for a long time to come.  With that attitude and motivation my country is certain to go nowhere but down.

What I Think About Burning the Qur'an on 9/11

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Plain enough for you? Allow me to elaborate.

I have two major problems with the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida that has announced they will burn copies of the Qur'an on 9/11 to protest the Islamic influence on the tragedies of that day.

First, it is ignorant to think that all followers of the Islamic faith are to be held responsible for the actions of the 9/11 conspirators. Yes, the men who pulled off the highjackings were all devout and practicing Muslims and held the Qur'an above all other holy texts. But that by itself does not mean that the Qur'an inspires the same actions in the millions of other Muslims throughout the world. I've never read the Qur'an, but I do know it can be interpreted to justify violence against other peoples, and terrorists groups throughout the world uses those interpretations to justify their actions. But, I also know the Qur'an speaks of loving forgiveness with as much value as the Bible does. Taken for it's best points, the Qur'an can serve as a motivator for a peaceful life ... and it DOES for millions of Muslims. Yes, the Jew-hating, America-hating, gun-toting, cave-dwelling Muslim terrorists are forgetting these perspectives, but burning the Qur'an doesn't send a message to just them, it sends it to all Muslims.

Second, despite the Dove Center's opinion to the contrary, I believe it will put American troops and citizens in greater risk. More importantly, it will rekindle flames of hatred of America from Muslim communities. A nation that allows such abhorrent bigotry deserves contempt. It enhances the hypocrisy of the U.S. that we allow everyone in but you are not necessarily welcome. I think it will give the gun-toting bastards fodder to fill recruiting drives and undo years of diplomatic progress.

Above all, it will accomplish nothing to improve the world.

The problem is the actions of the Dove Center are very much protected by the First Amendment. It is as protected a right as burning a U.S. flag. The law cannot stop it. Efforts by the Vatican and the U.S. Government to stop the protest are being ignored. It's going to happen.

So, when the retaliations begin against U.S. citizens and messages of revenge for the acts of the Dove Center are broadcast, I hope they can accept their damned nature and know that they will never be forgiven, certainly not by me. Sadly, they are doing nothing to promote the ideals of peace personified by a dove. Idiots.

What I Think about Health Care Reform

In my perfect world, if I'm ever sick I can walk into any hospital and get the health care I need. I'm a capitalist, so naturally I expect the doctors, nurses and janitors to get paid to provide for whatever is needed to make me well again. One thing though, I don't expect it to put me in debt for the rest of my life. I certainly don't expect to be turned around at the door because it is more important to determine how I can pay for my health care than what is wrong with me.

There are plenty of problems with the health care system in the U.S., as I see it.

- The medical culture has evolved over the past century into one of the highest paid industries in the world. The expectation of every medical school graduate is to be paid well to reimburse their 8+ year investment of their lives to education and beginning their medical practice. This creates an environment where doctors naturally charge heavily for their services, typically more than any individual or family can pay without assistance.

- The general culture of the U.S. has evolved to where we will sue anyone for anything in order to buck out of paying for things, to assign blame to someone else and to get rich. Of all the professions in the world, one of the few that I expect 100% perfection from day in/out is a doctor. I'm not sure someone who got C's in med school should be determining what is wrong with me! But, as with all professions, the individual must be held responsible for the quality of their work. If my doctor prescribes the wrong medication and I get sicker, I expect to be compensated for problems caused by their mistake. Thanks to the high pays that doctors and nurses make, I can sue them for a lot of money.

- To protect themselves from the lawsuit crazy society, medical staff and hospitals take out massive amounts of malpractice insurance that drives up their prices even higher so they can pay the premiums.

- Prescription drug companies charge large amounts of money on their drugs to recoup the costs of research and development (and all those free toys they give at conventions). Plus, they know that since doctors charge a lot, so can they.

- Insurance. Quite possibly the worst invention of mankind, insurance controls the pricing of the whole industry and sadly determines exactly what kind of health care I can receive when I walk into a hospital (if any at all). If the insurance company can't pay for the high costs of the treament (that the doctors and hospitals and druge companies have applied to meet their expections of compensation), then they deny me coverage or charge me a shitload of money to pay for as much of it as I can.

Tonight, the House of Representatives passed the Senate's Health Care Reform package and it will be law within days. I find myself completely and totally unexcited about this package because it does absolutely nothing to fix the problems I've mentioned above. What it does is forces Americans to get insurance and prevents insurance companies from denying us insurance. Yes, those were two problems with the system, but in my opinion they don't fix any of the really big problems. All they've done is make those problems available to more people!

So now what? The legislation does nothing to help reduce what doctors and hospitals will charge for our care. It'll still be a ton, maybe more now since their taxes are paying for this plan. That means insurance companies will have to pay more to cover our bills. That means our insurance premiums go up, including those for the 30 million Americans who were just forced to get insurance. What has Congress fixed? Nothing substantial. All they've done, as I see it, is spend a shitload of money for programs and policies that don't fix any of the really big problems to reduce the costs of health care. Sure, Americans all have insurance now, but have we really made health care that much more available? Only if the costs of health care go down, and they have no reason to at this point. So now I can go into a hospital and guarantee a bed with my name on it, but I still can't guarantee that I won't have to sell my home to pay for my care. Until we do that, the work isn't finished, and I believe the hard work hasn't even started yet. Time will tell. For now, I've got a bad feeling about this.