Party versus principle is the continuing topic I've addressed in the last several posts. I've become more than disillusioned with the our infamous two party system in the United States. Actually I've become disillusioned with the party leaders and members who abandon every cherished principle at the drop of a vote or turn of a poll.One man simply never ever abandoned his principles. He stood firm always. He fought his own party tooth and nail when they parted ways with his principles. That man was Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
To be certain, Ted Kennedy was a consummate politician. He knew how to get things done. He was quick to cross party lines to accomplish his goals. He was willing to compromise for the greater good. But he never sold out. He never took his eye off the goal.
There are perhaps another half dozen Senators who attempt each day to rise to the Kennedy standard. I wish there were 93 more.
Today Democrats are hoping to capitalize on Ted Kennedy's memory to pass a health care reform bill. It is a noble goal and one that would please the Senator. But they all lack Kennedy's good sense to cross party lines and enlist a Hatch, McCain or Graham to achieve the real goal. Invoking Kennedy's name isn't enough. They need to invoke his spirit.
Today, as we all watch the memorials to Senator Kennedy, we need to challenge ourselves to be more like him.
11 comments:
On balance for your perusal
The Kennedy Plan in his own words:
... we have to cut the costs of health care. For families who've seen health-insurance premiums more than double—from an average of less than $6,000 a year to nearly $13,000 since 1999—one of the most controversial features of reform is one of the most vital. It's been called the "public plan." Despite what its detractors allege, it's not "socialism." It could take a number of different forms. Our bill favors a "community health-insurance option." In short, this means that the federal government would negotiate rates—in keeping with local economic conditions—for a plan that would be offered alongside private insurance options. This will foster competition in pricing and services. It will be a safety net, giving Americans a place to go when they can't find or afford private insurance, and it's critical to holding costs down for everyone.
The cause of his life.
Nice to see the Liberals following Rush Limbaugh for a change...
How should I be more like Ted Kennedy? Should I attempt to bargain with the Soviet Union in order to influence a national election? Should I lie on the Senate floor as I misrepresent the record of a respected jurist, coining a new term for smearing someone? Or should I just commit manslaughter and go on my merry way?
I'm sorry, as personable and committed as Ted Kennedy was, the principles he stuck to were wrong and antithetical to the principles on which this nation was founded.
Bob this was a great post, ignoring the nonsense of some of your more fanatical followers of course. America needs health care and America needs the public option. America needs to take care of all of its people not just the chosen few. Senator Kennedy believed this as do many of the more committed lawmakers.
Yep. What Mike says....
Let us say that people think food is far too expensive. Food is a right, I mean, you can't go without food. So lets say Obama came along and said, "ObamaFood can drive down what your spending on food. Make sure you get what food you want, when you want it and that there's no discrimination. Nobody's will eat better than you do and you're going to eat no better than anybody else."
The Obama administration says they can cut the cost of food. They will say that they're going to drive down the profits of the greedy farmers, they're going to drive down the profits of the greedy shipping industry, and then they're going to attack the food stores, the grocery stores that sell at too large a profit.
Speaker Pelosi would call food stores, grocery stores immoral! And to keep them all honest, Obama then would create real competition with a public option for you to buy food from. The government will be in the business of distributing and getting to you food at an affordable price.
Idiotic. Food cannot be too expensive as long as I can grow my own. What a dumb comment! Symptomatic of people who voted for Bush (twice!) and never apologized (once!).
Actually Lee's analogy is exactly correct and totally accurate. And it does show just how incredibly foolish the House plan really is. Good job, Lee.
My key point right now is all this has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to due with Universal Health Care, a goal we ALL want to accomplish. And it's easy to do and well within our grasp IF we can dispense with the namecalling and agree on just three or four simple changes in our current insurance laws.
The only thing preventing UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE is our government and the needless and costly and stupid infighting between political parties.
No, the only thing preventing universal health INSURANCE is the vigilance of the few remaining people in this country who believe that liberty is more important than a gigantic bill that will do nothing but harm. This fight is about preventing bad ideas from becoming law just so a certain type of person can prove how good and nice they are.
Vigilante: most people on the planet cannot grow their own food because they do not own enough land. In fact, there are far more medical providers than there are farmers. So really, people are more likely to be able to provide their own medical care than they are being able to grow their own food.
Awfully sloppy thinking for someone who considers themselves so intellectually superior.
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