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Tell Me, What's the Rush?
by James Glaser July 22, 2009 About a month ago, on my way to work, I saw a car on its side in an intersection. About a block down was another car smashed up against a building. Come to find out, both cars started out on a green light, and they were hit by somebody running the red light. It is always a good idea to take that second look both ways before you start out. Really, it only slows you down by a second or two, but those extra seconds can save your life or someone else's. I'm not writing this column about red lights and car accidents, rather I am writing about how our President, Barack Obama, is trying to get a quick start with his health care plan, and isn't stopping to look both ways to see if there is a problem in the road ahead. It has been said that Obama's health care plan will be the biggest spending bill in the history of the United States, and it will send our debt level to an all time high. I know, at least for me, when I make an impulse buy, I usually regret it. Maybe President Obama has figured out the best plan that America could ever have to give every citizen health care. If that's true, I would think it would then stand the test of time. Not long ago Congress, with President Obama pushing them, passed a stimulus bill that was supposed to put people to work. They rushed it through, without taking time to look both ways, and now we find out that only 10% of the money is really going to be used for job creation. Maybe if more time and thought had been put into that bill, and maybe if the hype about passing it quickly had been toned down, Congress could have put something together that would have been more help. Somehow, I have come to believe that when Washington gets in a panic and starts spending money willy-nilly on some idea, usually they do know where that money is going, and it is not going to the American people. The White House and the halls of Congress have been filled with scammers for too long, and that has got to stop. If President Obama has a good idea that will help fix health care, then we should give it a real close look and decide if it is worth the money it will cost. Then, even if we find it is, we have to decide if we can afford it. This time, Congress has to have the time, and the American people have to have the time to look at what this plan calls for, and if we decide to go way into debt and pass it into law, at least we will all know what we are buying. So, shouldn't Congress stop and look both ways before proceeding on with Obama's health care plan? Stopping and looking around does take time, but after all these years with no national health plan, what is the rush? |
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