Lawmakers Miss the Healthcare Deadline

The plan was to have healthcare reform before Thanksgiving.  There were too many details to work out to appease both sides of the aisle, so the deadline was moved to Christmas.  Well, that didn’t quite work out either.

Here we are approaching Valentine’s Day and all factions seem to be doing everything they can to out shout each other, do one up on each other and stop the other groups from getting their ideas passed.

For the most part, since the beginning, it seems that the President has been appealing – almost begging – for people to work together to get this done.  You can almost hear him saying “Can’t we all just get along?”  Unfortunately, the answer has been a resounding “NO!”

With the great divide between opinions, especially between Republicans and Democrats it doesn’t seem that Healthcare Reform is the central focal point, it seems that each party’s desire to win is the focal point of a tug of war that is ripping Healthcare Reform to shreds.

It seems that in the beginning of the work toward Healthcare Reform, at least some people tried to work together.  In fact, it seemed that there was actual communication and some ideas that people agreed with – both in the public and in Washington.

The problem is that somewhere down the road things got derailed and people turned this into a tournament to see who could win and who could lose.  So far, nobody has won, the lawmakers are arguing and the public is losing.

Somehow, the tournament has to stop; the communication has to start and the concern for the public needs to begin to be reflected in the negotiations.  It’s not all about money.  Yes, money is part of the entire picture, which includes wars and education and aid to other countries.  It’s time to balance things out so that the millions of people in this country – some who make a decent living – are able to afford and keep at least basic, if not, decent healthcare.

The deadline has come and gone – more than once.  It’s time to stop the games and solve the healthcare reform problem.