Bad Manners Reaches the U.S. Congress

The general lack of respect and civility that has been increasingly plaguing our society has finally reached Congress.

In one wanton outburst House Republican member Joe Wilson of South Carolina rendered class and decorum as obsolete notions.

We elect these people as our representatives to debate issues not to shout down the president or throw insults at each other. That is the domain of such classless venues as wrestling matches not the U.S. Congress.

If he and Governor Mark Sanford are representative of the best that South Carolina can offer then the good people of South Carolina are being short-changed.

Whether Americans engage each other in town hall meetings, at political rallies, or in social media, we need to remember we are all Americans with the same desire to live in peace and find the most viable solutions to our most pressing problems. It is counter-productive to resort to childish name-calling and disrespect.

Debate, don’t be contentious.

Why Do We Allow Profit From Other People’s Pain and Suffering?

I believe that making a profit on people’s pain and suffering is immoral, but in our capitalist society profit takes a high priority over anything else. To balance the two, profit and morality, is the crux of many problems in America.

The business of providing health care can still be profitable without destroying the lives of those who cannot afford to pay. The question becomes how much profit should be made? And if we begin talking about limiting profits are we really talking about socialism, a charge that is so generally tossed about today? This, I believe, is what scares many Americans today.

So what do we do? Do we provide free heath care to everyone? Of course not, someone has to pay. If we are to have an equitable system of health care for everyone then everyone is going to have to pay into the system. Does this mean that the federal government is actually going to run the health care system? No.

A reformed health care system will not look exactly as it does today, with people paying monthly premiums in hopes of building up a large enough bank to rely on in times of sickness. We will be able to visit a doctor when we need to and get the necessary care we can only wish for under the current system.

At this stage of our nation’s development the federal government is the only entity large enough to handle this venture. Is this socialism? Absolutely not.

Look, it behooves everyone, from the company owners to the workers, to have a healthy populace. What many anti health care reformers fear is paying for the health care of others. It is particularly distasteful to pay for the health care of those who simply refuse to care for themselves. This, I think, is a very valid point. If we begin caring only for those who care for themselves, i.e., proper diet, proper exercise, etc, then we have become exclusive. This then comes back to the moral issue.

Should the government pay people to stay healthy? Things could very well come to this. Especially if it is determined this long term expense is cheaper than if we wait until we have contracted diabetes or heart problems, something that would have been prevented by proper exercise and diet.

It is also beneficial to the country to eliminate bankruptcy due to medical bills. Something like 60% of the bankruptcies are due to medical expenses. This is outrageous.

We need to make it happen and we need to stop with the scare tactics and lies and the innuendos. The one thing that would help us all the most right now is if we had a main stream media that would actually report what the health care reform bill is and give us an accurate analysis of it instead of headlining rent-a-crowd antics at town hall meetings.

The bottom line is, trying to pass health care reform has been tried by both parties over the last 60 years, and the profit makers have always managed to shoot it down. When are we going to get out from under their thumb and do what is right for ourselves? I wish I could see it happen during my lifetime.