The extremes on the left and right may never agree but for the vast middle the debate is almost entirely about means with everyone agreeing on the ends.
Who for instance does not believe that we as a society should try to get quality health care for all?
There actually are some. Some on the right think “I’ve got mine, and you are not my problem.” More damnably, some on the left think that as long as there are those who need health care there will always be someone to manipulate to do their political bidding to keep them in wealth and power.
ObamaCare perfectly illustrates this. Remember that debate was never about health care but about the “uninsured”. ObamaCare’s political supporters stuck to the matter of cost and never broached actual health care namely how to increase the quality, quantity and efficiency of those who provide it i.e. doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical manufacturers etc.
They never attempted to understand what makes someone go through the expense and effort to become one of these professionals nor did they consider what makes one of these professionals stick with their taxing jobs and put forth the extra effort that can’t be itemized on a spreadsheet.
They did however listen to the trial lawyers and political bureaucrats and so what we end up with are cuts in Medicare, increases in middle class health insurance and doctors quitting their practices. For many Obama voters this would be an unintended end because they truly wanted better health care for all. What they might still not understand, though, is that many opponents of ObamaCare wanted the same thing.
The rising dispute over compensation for public workers is another example. Decent people don’t begrudge public workers good pay. Decent people, however, also understand that it is wrong for a widow barely getting by to be forced to pay another thousand dollars per year in property taxes to give these public workers their nice pay.
Or consider the minimum wage. Most don’t want to see others made to do soul-sapping work for a pittance. On the other hand, most also would like to see a business owner pay an otherwise unemployable drunk a little self-respect to sweep out the store room without having to answer to government. And anybody sane would understand the benefits of this business owner being allowed to take a chance and give a teenager his first job which the red tape now put on his plate might otherwise dissuade him from doing.
The more the ends are discussed rather than the means the more likely common ground will be found among the typical American and the more likely the plans will be foiled by those who seek to divide and rule us.
“Who for instance does not believe that we as a society should try to get quality health care for all?”
There must be some because it is still being done at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in America and until recently health care for all was available at Old Blockley the old name of Philadelphia General Hospital. That institution had an unequaled reputation when it came to providing medical care.
Our Veterans Hospitals are another example of providing top-notch medical care.
There may not be all the bells and whistle found at high-priced teaching hospitals, but the medical care is just as good if not better.
No we do not need Obama care. We just need the politicians to get the hell out of the road and let folks who know what they are doing, do it.