Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The case for gridlock


    The editorial last Wednesday commenting (correctly) on the deplorable state of gridlock in Washington lost most of its credibility by citing the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2009 as a model of how government should work.
    Setting aside the merits of the ACA itself, passage of this bill was the poster child for doing it wrong. Not one of the 279 legislators who voted for the bill had even read it. Unlike the Civil Rights laws of the 50s and 60s, not one of the 217 members of the minority party could bring themselves to vote for it. The ACA, supposedly designed to help the poor and middle class, was supported by some of the biggest, strongest special-interest groups in the country, including Big Pharma, large hospital groups and trial lawyers. Worst of all, its proponents knew before it was even voted on, that two of its main selling points, that it wasn’t a tax, and you could keep your existing health insurance, were outright lies.
    Compared to that exercise in crony capitalism, gridlock is an attractive and preferable alternative.
Walt Denekas
Hailey




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