Democrats, You're In Power For A Reason

America, I’m a little confused by what I’m seeing in the news lately. Our president, along with his congressional majority, isn’t conducting the business we voted for them to do. Instead it seems that a small albeit loud group of misinformed Republicans are once again dictating how this country should be run.

Well, Mr. President, I’m here to tell you to STOP IT! I, as a United States citizen have had to endure eight long, arduous years of the policies of your predecessor that included two "official" wars, deregulation of the banking system that enabled the housing market collapse and rampant unemployment, human rights atrocities in the name of “counter-terrorism”, the spending of Medicare money on those wars and countless other things.

Democrats need to collectively “grow a pair” and start talking directly to the American people at large. Forget those people yelling over you at town hall meetings because they’re not interested in the discussion, only in making sure you Democrats can’t be heard, which, come to think of it, really goes against the whole freedom of speech amendment.

It’s time to remind the Republicans that this isn’t “Obama’s Economy” and it isn’t “Obama’s Healthcare Plan”. It’s America’s economy and America's health plan and this is an opportunity for the United States to “catch up” with the rest of the civilized world for something in which we should be leading already. Oh sure, we can lead in categories like the most countries invaded in modern times, most powerful conventional bomb, and coolest looking new fighter plane, but when it comes to affecting the lives our citizens in a positive way via energy independence or a national health system, then all bets are off and its neighbor against neighbor.

We aren’t even in the top 30 when it comes to quality or effectiveness of our healthcare system, but we are number one when it comes to the price of that healthcare system. The system we have now isn’t working as well as the rest of the industrialized world for two important reasons. First, the single payer system we have (Medicare) isn’t ever allowed to keep the money its allocated by Congress, it is always being stolen to pay something else, wars for example. Second, Republicans have a little too much pride when it comes to objectively looking at the problem and how it’s been solved by other countries.

I’d like to remind Republicans and Democrats of where most of the Medicare money has gone recently. As of August 19, 2009 the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost us almost $900 Billion, approximately 96,000 civilian and over 4,600 military casualties. Just imagine how much more effective and expansive Medicare could be if properly funded!

I’m not suggesting that the systems other countries have are perfect, only that, according to the World Health Organization, they’re more effective, provide better healthcare and cost less than the private insurance system we have in the U.S. One final thing, when President Obama started back peddling on the public health plan option, the economy was tanking, but top health insurance companies all posted really nice gains for the day. That money doesn’t go into the system to provide you and I better health care, it went into the executives pocket, who take home about $11 million a year each. I wouldn’t complain as much if we were number one in healthcare quality, patient satisfaction and outcomes.