"Socialist Govenment Takeover" - Rage of the Nation

If anyone really wanted to know why the Health Care issue (and virtually every other piece of legislation) is going the direction it is, it would be necessary to consider the influence of Lobbyists. To not recognize the lobbying factor would be to close your eyes to the reality of today's politics. If you ever wonder WHY Republicans and Democrats are not "listening" to The People, here is why: http://www.opensecrets.org/capital_eye/health.php.

A "Socialist Government Takeover" (not unlike "Weapons of Mass Destruction", and what all that entails) is simply a catchphrase, a label, or slogan that Republican spin politics have sarcastically pinned upon the "public option" aspect of the House sponsored Health Care Reform bill, i.e., the same insurance that Congress and all other Federal employees have, and similar in every way to State, County and City provided health insurance. The "public option" was just that; an option. Everyone would have the option or choice of private or public insurance. And I must mention here that, the "public option" was removed from the bill by the Senate in December of '09, and has not been a part of any other legislation since, nor will be, according to the Democrats themselves.

What is still in the Senate version of the bill is by no means Socialist. Rules that govern the way corporations, and in this case insurance companies, are allowed to behave is in no way different than any other laws in society that regulate the way individuals behave (laws for traffic and against theft come to mind.) If businesses are perpetrating exploitations upon individuals or society as a whole, The People, through City, County, State and Federal laws step in to regulate and/or impose penalties, the same as is done with individuals. In this case, insurance companies along with pharmaceuticals and hospitals have instituted price increases far outpacing national pay increases and inflation rates.

Government health care reform is not a new topic. When President Carter threatened tough cost containment regulation in the late '70s, the health care industry organized what it called the "Voluntary Effort." The rate of increase in the per-capita private-sector health spending fell rapidly, but then bounced back within a few years after the threat dissipated. Managed care and the threat of the Clinton health care reform plan appeared to have had a dramatic impact on the rate of increase in private health spending in the mid '90s, but by the late '90s it was once again on the rise, reaching double-digit rates of increase by 2001.

Threats to regulate have always resulted in temporary behavioral changes in the free market of Capitalism (also seen in the modest 3.2% increase from '07 to '08 because of presidential campaign promises), but has never caused them to develop lasting standards of integrity. And never, I might add, have any of the other previous threats of regulation on health care been labeled a "Socialist Government Takeover." Which brings back the question WHY. Why is the Senate bill still labeled as such? Why such an insidious (and apparently effective) scare tactic?

It's all about politics. It's all about power and who's going to be in charge. It's all about how to influence and motivate the public. Our elected public officials are the middlemen between two powerful forces: Lobbyists interests (both Corporate and Special) and their money vs. Public interests and their votes.

This is the very reason why Democrats are focusing their regulations on the insurance companies. Unlike the Republicans, they weren't persuaded or bought out (is that too harsh?) by Corporate Insurance Lobbyist interests. Does this reflect any virtue towards the Democratic Party? No, not by any means. They have been bought out by the Pharmaceutical and Corporate Hospital Lobbying, and you can bet there will be earmarks and loopholes in the 2000+ pages of that legislation. Check it out.