By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… Oh Republican-controlled Senate has presented its version of “repeal and replace ObamaCare.” This bill does not repeal let alone replace ObamaCare.
Repeal and replace has been the chant of the GOP for seven years. As the minority party for most of that time they stood outside and sniped at the Democrats’ efforts to bring health care to all Americans. The Democrats in both Houses of Congress pushed through a very flawed health care law in hopes that it would collapse and the nation would default to the Democrat end goal of a “one payer system” of health care.
ObamaCare is not a health plan; it is an insurance plan. Not a single dollar of ObamaCare goes directly to health care; it goes to insurance companies in hopes that they will transfer the money to health care for the American people. The Supreme Court has defined it as a tax and only by doing so could Americans be forced to purchase health insurance.
The Republicans during this time, serving as the royal opposition, assured the American people that they had a better plan; and if they were to get control of the federal government, they would solve the problem of health care for the American people. The Republican leadership lamented the fact that the only reason the country was saddled with ObamaCare was that they were in the minority in Congress.
After six years of hearing that the Republicans had a better plan, the America people elected a Republican House and a Republican Senate. When the people asked the Republicans to reveal their health plan, now that they controlled both houses, the legislators indicated that they could not reveal their plans because Mr. Obama was still the president. He would veto any efforts to “repeal and replace” ObamaCare.
The Republican Party leaders said ‘Give us a Republican president and we will solve the nation’s health care woes’. The America people took them at their word and elected Donald Trump.
The Republicans now have control of both Houses of Congress and a Republican president who would not veto their marvelous new health care plan.
When the big reveal finally took place, the public found out that for eight years the Republicans had been blowing smoke. The only plan they had was a plan to get Republicans elected to office.
When ObamaCare was ratified in Congress, all Democrats and no Republicans supported it. Now that the Republicans are presenting a healthcare program, no Democrats will support it and the Republicans are split. How can a party make an issue a signature of its campaigns and then not be prepared to deliver on it when they get control of the government?
This is so predictable for the Republicans on the local level as well as the national level. Our state Republican Party is a microcosm of the national Republican Party. Two elections ago the people of the State of Nevada turned the government of the state over to the Republican Party. The House, the Senate, and the Governorship was controlled by Republicans.
The Republicans took control of the state government and pledged to reform education in the state of Nevada in general and CCSD specifically. Educational reform was to be their signature legislative efforts. When the smoked cleared, the Democrat minority had out-foxed the Republicans and destroyed the entire reform effort.
Republicans do not seem to understand how to use the power of a majority to carry out their programs. They seem to think consensus is the answer. Democrats understand the principle of power of the majority, consensus be damned. It is a lesson the Republicans need to learn. In the State of Nevada, it may be a lesson learned too late.
As the State of Nevada becomes more urbanized and more infiltrated by Californians the Republican legislator may become an endangered species. We may soon have to go to the wilds of the Nevada desert to see this rare creature.
No one asked me but… The investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election has found that the Russians hacked into the DNC computers. This was done to influence the presidential election. That is like discovering granite is hard, nuclear bombs kill, the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west.
Everyone testifying before the myriad of congressional committees have stated they believe the Russians attempted to influence the outcome of the election. While Democrats would have you believe this is the end of the world, one might consider the fact that every country tries to interfere in the government of other countries hoping that the outcome will be to their advantage.
More important than the fact that the Russians hacked into the DNC computers is that all of those who have testified; Republican, Democrat, and supposedly neutral parties; have all testified that the Russian efforts were not successful. One may argue that some of the revelations from the hacked e-mails changed the minds of some voters to the determent of Hillary Clinton. Others might argue that the Russians did us a favor by exposing Hillary’s collusion with the DNC to scuttle Bernie Sanders’ campaign against her. The point is that all of those who testified, when brought to the bottom line, explained that the Russians were not able to change the results of the election.
The latest denial of successful Russian interference in the election came from ex-President Obama, himself. He stated that as early as August, the president was made aware of the Russian attempt to affect the election by cyber sabotage. For those actions, 35 Russian diplomats were expelled from the country.
When he was made aware of Russian attempts to meddle in the election he took immediate action to counter those activities. Denis McDonough, the former White House Chief of Staff for President Obama, in defense of the action or lack of action on the part of the Obama administration, stated: “We set out from a first-order principle that required us to defend the integrity of the vote. Importantly we did that.”
McDonough further indicated that a number of options to counter Russian interference was discussed. These included, cyber-attacks on Russian infrastructure, the release of CIA gathered material that might embarrass Russian President Putin, and sanctions that could crater the Russian economy.
One might wonder how the CIA collected information on Putin that might embarrass him. Could it be by hacking into Russian government computers? Just asking!
Thought of the week… “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
