We've Lost Our Way

I think I finally get it. See, I was under the impression that our elected officials in Congress were supposed to be creating and modifying laws to keep this country safe and healthy, both physically and economically. I was clearly wrong.

It’s now apparent to me that the states within the Republic, we call the United States, have become nothing more than bureaucratic administrators for distributing the finances of the social welfare nation we call America. The Senate version of the Healthcare Reform bill, which was passed at 1:00am on 12/21/09, will go down in infamy as the moment in which it truly became obvious that this is all about money and not the welfare of the people.

The passing of this bill required many special deals. Here are just a few that we know about:

Sen. Snow’s (R-ME) vote allowed it to come out of committee, and in trade her home state of Maine will be receiving special financial treatment.

Sen. Nelson (D-NE) leveraged being the 60th vote to insure that Nebraska got more than their fair share of Medicaid.

Sen. Baucus (D-MT) has received special treatment for one small town’s health issues and an exemption on how Medicare will pay doctors and hospitals in his state. Only three other states received this exemption because those were the votes they needed.

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) was able to acquire between $100M and $300M in extra aid for the state of Louisiana for her vote.

David Axelrod said it perfectly, “…the provisions benefiting specific states, like Nebraska, and favored constituencies were a natural part of the legislative process. “

So, we have moved from arguing points of law and the general welfare of the United States citizens to negotiating federal tax dollar distribution for the benefit of a small subset of the constituency. If that’s the case, I suggest that my home state of Florida stop sending lawyers to Washington. I think we should start sending car salesmen. If it’s all about getting the best deal then there is no one better at cutting you for a dollar than an experienced car guy. Also, let’s eliminate the suits, and the formalities, and run it like an auction. It will be Votes for dollars. That way we could save the citizens a lot of time and drama listening to rhetoric on issues that really don’t matter. Congress should love this auction idea, since it will allow them more time to campaign, write books, and go on world wind junkets for private contributors.

The real issue here is that the federal government has become the overlord of the states, and this is in direct contradiction to the U.S. Constitution. Most states look like welfare crack addicts waiting for their monthly check, so they can support their habit of too many social programs and too much bureaucratic waste.

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