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September 1, 2009

Anonymous The News and Tribune Tue Sep 01, 2009, 07:52 PM EDT

My husband has a partially-torn muscle in his leg. We have no idea what this means right now except that he limps and has more trouble than usual chasing our 1-month-old son.

Tomorrow he is taking his MRI films to a specialist and we will know more. Tonight, I asked him if he could take our kindergartener to school the day after his doctor’s visit.

“Sure, unless I have to have surgery,” he told me.

I, being a less-than-sympathetic wife at the time, responded with a roll of my eyes and a slightly-under-my-breath, “Whatever.” My thought was that of course they wouldn’t schedule surgery the very next day. I mean, they could, but really; it’s a partially-torn muscle, not a malfunctioning kidney. We don’t even know if surgery is necessary.

His answer and my reaction led to one of our more heated kitchen discussions. His stance: I can’t believe you would ask me to put-off surgery so I can take our daughter to school while you get coffee with a friend? My stance: Why do you always have a, “yes, but ... ” reply when I ask you for a favor? Yada, yada, yada.

And so goes the health care reform debate.

For political pundits, it’s not about the bill. The debate is more about debating (and ratings) than it is about health care. Ideologies, buzzwords and insults are being thrown back and forth, with words like “socialism,” and “death panels,” and references to Nazi-Germany infecting the airwaves.

Where is the elevated discussion about how the bill will affect our immediate health care situation? All I hear is rhetoric meant to scare audiences and grow viewership.

While the cable news shows spend their programming throwing mud at the Capitol Building, the politicians inside appear to be standing staunchly on opposite sides of the table; one side demanding, “We’ll get this through without you,” with the other side raising their fists and yelling back, “Not on our watch.”

The pundits and politicians may as well be in our kitchen with us fighting about whether or not I think my husband should put off surgery so that I can go to coffee with friend. The fact is, it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong in either of these debates because there is no right or wrong. We are all arguing completely separate points.

This is why the fight keeps going. How can there be a resolution when you are arguing two totally different details? Democrats keep yelling about health care, while republicans keep yelling about costs. Both sides want what’s best (or what they have determined is best), but one side wants what is best for our health care policies and the other side wants what is best for our economic policies. Two equally important, but equally separate agendas.

Former democratic senator and once-upon-a-time professional basketball player Bill Bradley wrote an op-ed column about the health care debate for the New York Times last week. Mr. Bradley confirmed that he believed, “ ... a grand bipartisan compromise is still possible with health care.” His answer was clear and made sense, “The bipartisan trade-off in a viable health care bill is obvious: Combine universal coverage with malpractice tort reform in health care.”

Wow, I thought when I read his column; his commentary made sense and in no way scared me that I may or may not be put in front of a death panel one day (not that I was ever that fearful). So what if I’m a bleeding heart liberal? I respect that my fellow conservative republicans want to keep an eye on the money.

The legislative process is messy and not for the weak at heart (or stomach). If everything works the way it’s supposed to, the bipartisan negotiations within the legislative process can be a successful means to an eventual end somewhere in the middle.

The fighting and fear-mongering being perpetuated by extremist and talk show hosts work against the greater good for all of us. If we could hear this debate without the hateful, sarcastic, and often false rhetoric, more of us might be showing up to town hall meetings to listen and speak our concerns instead of staying home to avoid the bullies who are showing up with pictures of Hitler and semi-automatic assault rifles.

Amy Gesenhues is a freelance writer in Floyd County. You can read her daily commentaries at www.AmyWroteIt.Wordpress.com or email her at amy@amywroteit.com.

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