Editorial: “The Devil I Know is Better than the Devil I Don’t”
This morning, the United States Senate voted 60-39 for passage of the Senate health care reform bill, a.k.a. the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”. As with Monday’s cloture vote, the bill’s passage was completely divided down the party line, with every single GOP member (with the exception of Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning, who abstained from voting) opposing the bill. The bill will now head to a conference committee, where it will be merged with the reform bill passed by the House of Representatives last month. Both chambers will then vote on the merged bill, which will then be presented to President Barack Obama for signature.
In the hours after the vote, defeated GOP Senators such as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) lambasted the legislation, citing poll figures which show a slight majority of the public is opposed to the Senate Bill.
“There is widespread opposition to this monstrosity,” McConnell said after this morning’s vote. “The fight isn’t over.”
Legislation which appeases everyone is, in most cases, impossible and there are bound to be dissenters in any Congressional action. However, given the unusual levels of misunderstandings, rumors and public outcry which has surrounded the health care reform debate, one can’t help but wonder – is the American public really opposed to the actual content of the health care reform legislation as it stands, or are they just opposed, period?
After the jump - reflections on the health care reform debate
I bring this up only because the news events of the past year have shown that a sizable portion of the American populace appears to be woefully misinformed about health care reform and what it actually means. Incidents such as the “Keep your government hands off my Medicare” town hall meeting, Sarah Palin’s tirade about death panels, and the "_blank">Massachusetts woman’s comments to Representative Barney Frank about why he supports Obama’s “Nazi policies” (to which he mockingly responded “Let me ask you – on what planet do you spend most of your time?”) indicate that although health care is an issue that impacts every person in this county, many are waging a war against an enemy they can’t visualize and don’t understand. However, because health care is something that impacts everyone, everyone has formed an opinion but few have taken the time to consider what it actually means.
President Obama made an interesting statement during an NPR interview broadcast yesterday . In response to a reporter’s inquiry on why so many agree the health care system is broken but so few agree on ways to fix it, Obama observed that many have the mentality that “the devil I know is better than the devil I don’t.” In other words, a bad situation which is familiar is still better to many than taking a risk.
I understand there are those who have legitimate oppositions to some legislative provisions such as how to pay for reform, whether a public option will work or not, etc. However, for the most part I am concerned that too few people have taken the time to really educate themselves on the problems in the health care system, listen to proposed resolutions, and form well-reasoned opinions about what needs to be done. Instead, I fear that many are content to parrot sound bites on the news about “socialized medicine” and “pulling the plug on grandma.”
Case in point – Monday morning’s cloture vote was a historic event acting as a gateway to one of the most significant policy changes in our county’s history. Certainly, the populace would be interested in learning about the next step and what health reform will mean for them and their families, correct?
Instead, the tickers on CNN.com and several other news sites showed that the Congressional vote was not the hot topic of the day – in fact, it was not even close. The day’s top story? The death of actress Brittany Murphy.
*The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other attorneys at Frank, Haron, Weiner and Navarro.
