Full Version: Medicare Drug Bill
I was watching PBS today and they had a montage of House members who were debating the House version of the Medicare Drug Bill.
On one side there were the Republican backers of the bill. Who claimed that they were passing "the most sweeping change in healthcare in a generation."
On the other side were Democrats who were blatantly attacking the bill and (more specifically) its backers. One Representative held up a largish sign with the letters "GOP" on it. Except this GOP (he stated, as did his sign) stood for Get Old People. He says this in the face of a bill which is the largest government program since Medicare was passed in the first half of the 1960s. The next backer to get up challenged this guy on whether he thought the Republicans loved their mothers any less than those on the other side of the aisle. He actually was choked up as he said he loved his mother more than anyone else in the room loved their own.
There was a third side: more conservative Republicans who called this a blatant tax and spend program. The Rep I saw stated that it wasn't tax cuts that created defecits, it was huge government programs such as this one.
I will leave the actual bill for another thread. My question for debate here is:
Do you think the current political climate is one in which compromise cannot be reached? Are we becoming so partisan that Congress will disparage issues and bills that are in their party platform, simply because it is promoted by the other side?
On one side there were the Republican backers of the bill. Who claimed that they were passing "the most sweeping change in healthcare in a generation."
On the other side were Democrats who were blatantly attacking the bill and (more specifically) its backers. One Representative held up a largish sign with the letters "GOP" on it. Except this GOP (he stated, as did his sign) stood for Get Old People. He says this in the face of a bill which is the largest government program since Medicare was passed in the first half of the 1960s. The next backer to get up challenged this guy on whether he thought the Republicans loved their mothers any less than those on the other side of the aisle. He actually was choked up as he said he loved his mother more than anyone else in the room loved their own.
There was a third side: more conservative Republicans who called this a blatant tax and spend program. The Rep I saw stated that it wasn't tax cuts that created defecits, it was huge government programs such as this one.
I will leave the actual bill for another thread. My question for debate here is:
Do you think the current political climate is one in which compromise cannot be reached? Are we becoming so partisan that Congress will disparage issues and bills that are in their party platform, simply because it is promoted by the other side?
QUOTE
Do you think the current political climate is one in which compromise cannot be reached? Are we becoming so partisan that Congress will disparage issues and bills that are in their party platform, simply because it is promoted by the other side?
Unfortunately, unless it is in the matter of extreme national security, I would have to say yes. Both sides are so adamantly opposed to each other over certain issues that it overshadows the good things that they could do together. It's sad that our elected officials sometimes act no better than petty teenagers, selfish over what they want with no consideration for what's best for the citizens they represent. BOTH SIDES ARE GUILTY OF THIS.
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