To Your Health

The Supreme Court has taken up the health care issue.

More than two dozen states are challenging aspects of the Affordable Care Act.  Much of the law has yet to be implemented, and there were many questions about whether challenging it now is even legal.  That may constitute opposition to a tax before imposition of the tax.

There is a good chance portions of the law may be repealed, but there are possibilities some of it may be preserved. That would leave i up to the next Congress to come up with something that works.

Let's look at some of the things the Affordable Care Act has already accomplished.  Several million young adults who grew up with health insurance have gained the option of staying on their parents' plans thru age 25. Many parents are gladly paying the extra premiums for the added peace of mind.

Preventive health screenings that were once limited to public health clients are now more broadly available; and some insurance carriers have added a portability clause to their coverage and dramatically reduced exclusions for preexisting conditions.

But opponents of the health care plan continue to ignore the 800 lbs gorilla in the room.

Uncompensated care is not free.  The millions of avoidable emergency room visits that occur each year are just part of the costly care we all pay for each year with our tax dollars. Some of the costs are covered with higher insurance premiums.

Sometimes it seems like the opposition to the Affordable Care Act has a lot more to do with the fixation to defeating President Obama than it could possibly have to do with opposing legislation that could help unclog emergency rooms, end the practice of hospitals keeping multiple sets of books and allow dependent care rules  to reflect the realities of the young adults who remain in our households.

If they want to call it Obamacare, that's fine, but millions of Americans have already seen their lives and the lives of their children change for the better as a result of measures that have already taken effect.

This case won't be decided until June, but, if repeal is the course, family healthcare for many will take a huge step backward. 

No Use for the Field

Barry Goldwater was both a fiscal conservative and in his time, viewed as a social conservative. He was also a wartime veteran of military service and an active supporter of U.S. troops in any action the nation committed them to over several decades.

Goldwater understood the differences between conservative positions on social issues of his time and feared what would happen if that wing of his party was ever turned over to the clergy. A famous quote that holds true today is:

"Like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly.  

The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom.  They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent.  

If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.  

I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D.  Just who do they think they are."


Barry Goldwater said all of that. He died in 1998. One of his last visitors was President Bill Clinton, whom he defended in the heat of the Whitewater scandal. That led him to break with the Republican Party he'd supported for decades.




 If Goldwater were alive today, he would look at this field of candidates and say, "they're not with me.!"   


They have an "Etch-a-Sketch" Mitt Romney, who wants to just shake the board to get a do-over on whatever he says this week to get voter support.

They have Richard "Slinky" Santorum who recoils at the idea that the GOP staying out of people's private lives.


They have Newt "Potato Head" Gingrich, who changes his identity whimsically and still can't get traction with his stale tax cut ideas.


They have wing-nut, Ron "Operation" Paul who served two years as a flight surgeon in the U.S.

Air Force. Paul also served three more in the Air National Guard, but does his early Cold War status have any relevance to today?


The Republican Party to toy box is full of dated, discards screaming for nostalgia.  Close the lid because their promises offer no hope for the future. And would probably not work well for notable conservatives of the past.