Goolsby on Health Care and The Failing GOP

Bucks are the Beef

Op-Ed by Sarah "Not-Palin" Goolsby
July 21, 2009

I was taught about analogies in the fifth grade. Back then, I used analogies such as “a curtain is to a window as a blanket is to a bed.” I’m heading into my senior year, and my analogies have advanced a little – one analogy that’s been on my mind lately is the following: Nancy Pelosi is to the left as Sarah Palin is to the right.

Over the past few years the right has taken some major beatings from the media. On top of Bush’s devastated PR by the end of his term, one of the most severe media lash-outs dealt to the GOP was the blatant mockery of Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential election (Tina Fey, anyone?). This media coverage was one of the contributing factors in the election of a Democratic president and a Democratic majority in Congress.

Given that Republicans suffered an overwhelming defeat and that they no longer hold the power to filibuster, Republicans don’t have much to cling to right now. Because of this, I can’t blame them for trying to fight fire with fire – they’re targeting Pelosi as a weak spot in the left and milking every blunder she makes for everything it’s worth.

One of the issues Pelosi’s been speaking out on lately is universal healthcare. Obama is pushing his healthcare plan as much as he can, and that’s got Republicans all fired up. Their biggest beef with Obama’s bill? Funding.

Several plans have been proposed as to how universal healthcare can be paid for. Pelosi released a statement about a so-called “millionaire tax,” meaning that part of the funding for coverage would come from taxing individuals with adjusted gross incomes of $500,000 and joint filers with incomes of $1,000,000. While there are some benefits to this plan, such as reducing the amount of people being taxed, the right is (predictably) infuriated by any mention of taxing the rich.

Although the GOP can huff and puff as much as they like about Pelosi, what they fail to realize is that Pelosi’s currently proposed plans are unlikely to materialize. From the New York Times, “The Senate … has shown little interest in such a tax to pay for the legislation. And House Democrats, especially more junior members elected in 2006 and 2008 from Republican-leaning districts, are reluctant to vote for a big tax increase if it is unlikely to be included in the final bill. Such a vote, they argue, would provide easy fodder for opponents seeking to paint them as tax-and-spend liberals.” And Republicans are seeking to do just that; they’re attempting to group all supporters of Obama’s healthcare plans with Pelosi and portray them as careless spenders.

Another factor the right conveniently chooses to overlook is that funding for universal healthcare wouldn’t come solely from taxing those hard-working, under-appreciated millionaires. There are multiple sources available for funding Obama’s healthcare legislation, such as increased savings via concessions from pharmaceutical companies and private insurers. Sleep easy, Republicans, your checkbooks aren’t entirely up for grabs.

But perhaps the biggest flaw in the GOP’s logic is that the current system is essentially universal healthcare. Consider this – if you’re an uninsured citizen in the United States that requires medical attention, you’re sent to the emergency room. This is an extremely costly procedure, but the hospital can’t refuse you – they’re required to give service to anyone in need. There’s no way you can pay for all of your medical expenses, but you can’t just write the hospital an IOU – so where do the costs go? That’s right. They go to the American taxpayer.

We as taxpayers are slammed with the uninsured’s costs. Whether we realize it or not, we provide healthcare coverage to those that will not or cannot seek it for themselves. At the point when we switch to universal health care (note that I say “when,” not “if” – Obama’s made this too critical to his campaign to not push it through) we will not see skyrocketing taxes. We will not see millionaires being robbed blind (don’t worry, Mr. Hefner, you can keep your mansion). Most importantly, we will not see a socialist government – that is, unless you think the current healthcare system is a socialist plot, too.

Republicans are outnumbered. The biggest weapon they possess in their arsenal is public criticism of the left. However, their arguments are flawed. When, not if, we have universal healthcare it will prevent costly ER bills shouldered by the American public and will be funded by multiple sources – excessive taxation of the rich won’t happen because Congress doesn’t support it. Sorry, GOP. Try another day.