Well, this was supposed to be the big day. The day people on both sides of the political spectrum were waiting for. The question on everyone's mind was: will the Republican American Health Care Act (AHCA) pass the House of Representatives and head on to the Senate, or will it die? Your perspective on the bill, and the Affordable Care Act's (ACA, or Obamacare for easier recognition) 'repeal and replace' fight will determine how you view the result, which was the bill being pulled because there wasn't enough support for passage. Now both sides are going into full spin mode, trying to make the lack of a vote be a good thing.
On my way in to work, I was listening to the news (yes I'm old, I've become that person who listens to radio news instead of music. Not that I don't like music, but listening to the news at least lets me feel somewhat in touch with the world around me). The host was talking about the potential fallout if the bill didn't pass. One point he brought up was how many times the House of Representatives voted to defund or repeal the ACA during the Obama administration (the number he quoted was 40). A quick look across the internet shows it to be six repeal attempts, with numerous other efforts to delay, defund, or otherwise limit the ACA. The main point the host made was: they had no problems passing something when they knew it had no chance of making it (either the Senate wouldn't let it through, or President Obama would veto), but when they actually have the chance of doing something, they can't.
I thought about that point for a moment (I didn't believe the 40 number immediately, but I do remember the House of Representatives had done the delay and defund tactic every budget at the very least). And it suddenly struck me: the government was shut down in 2013 over a defund attempt (which affected me personally). I know our government had pretty much turned into kabuki theater (making big shows in order to placate the masses), but if people couldn't remember this and call BS on their representatives for this, then we truly have no one but ourselves to blame for the result. I thought to myself 'I should actually be upset about that.' But I wasn't, because I already believed all of those attempts were kabuki theater, and had nothing of substance behind them.
I know there's a difference between just stopping something from happening and actually trying to create legislation and laws (I did pass civics class). However, I believe there's a bigger point to be made here and I'm going to make it by asking a question: did the Republican party EVER have a plan to put in place when they got the opportunity to get rid of the ACA? Simply looking at what's happened since January, my answer would have to be 'no'. They just wanted the ACA and what they felt it represented (a step towards socialized medicine) gone. I won't ascribe any other motives, as I have no evidence.
I've said in the past I believe the American health care system needs to be 'blown up' and restructured from scratch. I've also said that shouldn't be done until we as a country agree on what we want health care to do and be. I haven't moved from that. A moment from the health care debate between Senators Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders in February summarized the foundational question that needs to be answered: is healthcare a right? Whatever your answer to this question is, and it should be backed up by logical arguments, this needs to have a definitive answer one way or the other. If the answer is 'yes' then the system put in place needs to reflect that. If the answer is 'no', then people need to stop expecting healthcare as if it's a right. Our current problem is the fact the system is an amalgamation of yes and no, and the one thing everyone agrees on is that it needs to change.
