© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
This is an odd August Congressional Recess. Usually members of Congress bask in the calm and quiet at home while escaping the heat and humidity of Washington.
But this recess from the Washington heat is nothing compared to the local constituent heat. That Congressional deer-in-the-headlights look says it all: “You little people are supposed to adore us who serve you in Congress, not shout at us.”
Citizens are worked up. Some vent their frustrations by shouting. Partisans say the shouters are professional troublemakers, not real citizens, but I am not buying it because some are friends of mine.
I am only talking about the loud, scolding behavior; I do not condone violence or threats of violence, ever. These interactions this month are loud and passionate expressions of citizen concern. This is an American right and treasure.
What seems to be lost is that this is not — and should not be — a debate about details. The health-care debate is about changing our government’s philosophy of health care. There is no way to debate any proposed details without first addressing the overarching philosophy change.
Let us reason together in this health-care debate. There are two contentious philosophies that make me consider shouting at my representative even though I am not a shouting sort of person.
False emergencies
First, there was a false emergency dialog coming out of the leadership that led to Congress passing profound legislation without reading it! This is never appropriate in a representative republic.
The process of introduction by the leadership ensured that no one could read the bills carefully before voting. This was explained by leadership this way: Congress must act without thoughtful consideration because it is an emergency. Our representatives went along with not reading the bills and are now sizzling on the political griddle.
I cannot imagine voting for society-changing legislation without reading it. The partisans of each party say that it is the way things are done, but I disagree. There can never be a reason for our representatives to abdicate their legislative role short of a dictatorship.
Imagine at the founding of our country what might be the liabilities of voting on our Constitution without being able to read it first. The people who wrote this spring’s legislation read it and had time to consider possible outcomes. If you wish, go ahead and make your case as to why, in our system of government, the representatives of the people should not know exactly what is in the bills they are passing.
Regardless of party, if they say passing the legislation is so important that no one can be given the time to read it, we must throw them out of office. Start with The Patriot Act a few years ago and include all of the non-read profound legislation this spring.
Debating a fundamental change
The second issue is even more important. The current health-care reform debate cannot be about any of the details being bantered about. It is a fundamental philosophical debate about changing our government’s involvement in health care.
Most of us geezers and geezerettes were promised by this society that if we gave our all while of working age, we were due retirement. Social Security and Medicare were created by our government to provide for us. The core of the health-care reform discards, without compensation, that social contract and requires us to adhere to a social justice societal contract not of our making or in our best interest.
In the imposed social justice contract we geezers are told we got what was due us from our society when we were younger. Now, after our productive days, for social justice reasons, we are being told that we cannot be a burden on society. That is the core of the health-care debate.
The philosophy of social justice is in opposition to health care supporting older Americans after retirement. We have had this philosophy for generations, but our elected leaders may allow it to be destroyed.
That our representatives would consider this is a betrayal of the first magnitude. Either our congressional delegation does not understand, which means they are stupid, or they do understand and are evil.
Yell if you want
One group not being addressed is the health-care professionals. The doctors, nurses, specialists, technicians and support staff are necessary for health care. Congress seems to think these people cannot quit and do something else with their lives. Congress assumes they will obey whatever Congress tells them to do.
A number of my friends work in health care. To a person each has pointed out to me that it is unlikely they will participate in a system of medicine where political rather than medical actions rule.
One health-care professional asked, “So Congress wants us to lower the cost of health care. What have they done to make my medical practice less expensive and what have they done to make it more expensive? Congress made health care much more expensive and will not admit it.”
My friends who are doctors say they will find something else to do since they will not be able to run their practices in a profitable manner. If that happens, we citizen lose.
I hope people yell at the members of Congress every day of their terms in office and then vote them out of office for not representing us who sent them to Washington. While I prefer reasoned discourse where people are able to disagree without being disagreeable, it is not my place to tell Americans betrayed by their elected leaders to hush.
Swickard is a weekly columnist for this site. You can reach him at michael@swickard.com.