Why the Republicans (and Democrats) are failing on health care...

If all goes well enough for Senate Democrats, a health care bill will soon be introduced to the senate chamber for debate and a vote. Assuming this passes, or doesn't pass, every Senator will look bad. Yep, bad.

The Republicans have failed America. Plain and simple.

Once again, their answer to fixing the gigantic discrepancies which have left millions and millions of people without any sort of health insurance is to do nothing. No, I'm not suggesting that they latch themselves to any sort of democratic plan, but would Abe Lincoln have been okay with our system today? The fault that led to our financial crisis seems to have been a lack regulatory enforcement; the health care debacle seems to be caused by a lack of regulation. Nevertheless, the GOP seems uninterested in doing anything to reform the system. This is not an issue of big government, but an issue of price-setting and protecting the people which the GOP seems to intend not to do. "The Democrats option is bad" is certainly a start but must be replaced with a "better option" alternative. Not nothing.

The Democrats, on the other hand, seem to be simply failing themselves. They seem to be cutting back and cutting back for the sake of concessions to an opponent that refuses to compromise. The democrats, at this point, seem unsure of what they want. Sen. Reid says one thing will most certainly happen, and then members of his own party knock him down. What a perfect situation for the Republicans to take advantage of; but of course, they're not.

If a bill passes, both parties will probably declare victory, as usual. The Democrats will declare whatever half-assed legislation that comes out of Congress to be a major step, and the GOP will say that they were able to wheeled back Senate Democrats to dropping X, Y, and Z. Yet neither party will look like a hero. Here's why:

Health Care has been one of the most divisive domestic issues this country has had in a long time. The opinions don't follow geographic or economic or politics lines (for the most part), and the effect of a chance is almost completely unknown, short term or long term. Everyone seems to have an opinion and the opinions are black and white: either you are for socialized health care or you aren't. There's really no middle ground.

If a limited bill is passed, people in both camps will be unhappy (either because too much or too little was done), and unlike most issues which result in no one being happy (which means a fair compromise was met), there is no real ability for a fair compromise here. All that would lead to is another underfunded over-saturated and understaffed government agency with no real power. In the end, no one likes that.

In my opinion, right now, the Democrats have the clear edge, but they need to step up and go for their goals. The Republicans have presented no fixer, no alternative, and no way to help anyone. The Democrats need to come together, capture that, and go forth with a plan they like. Americans are looking for resolve and change (based on the last election) and if the Democrats, with a filibuster-proof majority, cannot follow through on their promises, they won't have that majority very long, and they will only have themselves to blame.