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After the second House Call rally today, I had the opportunity to sit in the House Gallery and observe a portion of the debate on the floor. Because of House rules, I had to leave my cell phone and flip cam with security. I understand the rules of decorum, but it was incredibly difficult to watch democracy live and not tweet it!
As I sat in such an historic room, I was truly awed by our government. A number of things crossed my mind. Frustration with liberals for pushing a bill that the majority of this country doesn’t want, and their complete unwillingness to consider anything beyond a government expansion. Anger at the willingness of Democrats to expand the federal government, increase subsidies and spend even more unimaginable sums of money. However, two thoughts crossed my mind that made me physically wince:
1. We’ve never seen such a wide gulf between the left and the right.
2. What we’re facing is such a gross perversion of the “democracy” that the Framers of the Constitution intended that it makes me physically ill.
I’ve written before that debate in this country is nearly impossible because of short soundbites and the 24/7 news cycle. Health care is only the most recent example. As a limited government conservative, I philosophically disagree with any expansion of the government’s power. This isn’t because I tend to vote Republican but due to a deep political conviction that bureaucracy is never the answer. Earlier today, my former boss accused me of using “hyperbole” on Twitter. (I think he forgot that he is the one responsible for teaching me to write that way.) However, I’m not being melodramatic or hyperbolic. I’m genuinely concerned for our nation.
Because of my views, I’m painted as a horrible person. Just tonight, I was called a “douche, nutjob, hate-filled and a “skankho” because I’m not afraid to express my political opinions on Twitter (Don’t want to hear them, don’t follow me). However, these views aren’t simply talking points but carefully developed views based on my education and experience.
1. We’ve never seen such a wide gulf between the left and the right.
At the rally on Thursday, John Ratzenberger noted that the Democratic party is not the party of Tip O’Neill. He is absolutely right. The party in power has been overtaken by extreme progressives who honestly believe that they know how America should be run better than those stupid people who live in the middle of the country. Believe me. I’ve worked with these types for years.

I never understood this difference until I read Who Really Cares by Arthur C. Brooks. I understand that the book is controversial, but I believe the author firmly establishes one thing–what drives people on the left and right.
People on the left honestly believe that it is the government’s responsibility to look after the welfare of Americans. They look at programs such as healthcare as moral rights. To them, the expansion of government is not bad. Higher taxes mean that more people are helped, and the government should be the ultimate answer for nearly every area of life.
Those on the right hold nearly opposite views. To us, the individual should be the highest power. When you create policies that govern extremes, you limit freedom. Smaller government and lower taxes encourage innovation and small businesses, which solve society’s ills. Individuals should have the option to give to nonprofits to help the less fortunate rather than having the federal government take that money involuntarily.
How can we ever create a plan that benefits the country when we look at issues from such fundamental differences? We have nothing in common with the left aside from living in the same country.
2. What we’re facing is such a gross perversion of the “democracy” that the Framers of the Constitution intended that it makes me physically ill.
Perhaps I read too many Patrick Henry biographies as a child and teenager. Maybe I took the John Adams series too literally, but I believe that freedom and liberty are incredibly fragile and should be defended at all costs. Nothing, absolutely nothing, should infringe our freedoms beyond what is written in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Liberals may view health care as a “moral right” but how can you be moral when I have no liberty to decide what is right and wrong? The state should not define morality. How is it right to tax or imprison me because I choose not to have insurance? That’s wrong on every level. Any bill that takes away my freedoms is wrong. It doesn’t matter if it’s Republican or Democratic.
As I walked out the Capitol, I cringed at the thought of our Founders reviewing HR 3962. Adams, Madison, Jefferson, Henry, Franklin and even Hamilton would be aghast at the power that Congress is trying to give the government in this bill. It’s truly frightening to watch. This isn’t hyperbole, but a true fear that we no longer live in a free country.
My dad works for the federal government. He’s a mid-level bureaucrat with a regulatory agency. From an early, early age, I witnessed first-hand the waste and mismanagement of our taxpayer dollars. While my dad tried to do the best job possible (I thank him for passing his work ethic on to me),  so many wasteful and absolutely ridiculous rulings came from DC offices. Beltway staff had no idea what it was like in the actual field, yet issued decrees  for those who had to administer and interpret vague federal regulations.
In college, I interned for Congressman Wamp. Casework was the most heart-wrenching thing I’ve ever done. After that summer, I switched majors. I saw average Americans trying to navigate an incredibly confusing system with the INS, Social Security and Veterans Administration. They never understood the clerical mistakes or loopholes. They had paid their taxes and followed the rules. Why were they punished?
After college, I served as an AmeriCorps VISTA for two years. Don’t you ever question my willingness to help out the less fortunate. I literally “fought” poverty for two years in addition to extensive volunteer work in college. It makes me laugh to be called a “hard-hearted person” and even  a “racist” when I spent the first five years of my career working to either directly help people or pass policies that “helped” people. How many Democrats have done that?
My two years in VISTA only proved what I had observed from my father. Government programs are only creating a class of people dependent on federal programs. Poverty is much more a state of mind than an economic condition. Our “poor” have much more than the impoverished in other countries, yet Democrats want even more for them. We’ve fought the “war on poverty” with VISTA for nearly 50 years now, yet where are we? If poverty was going to be beaten, it would have happened by now.
Rather than help people, we’ve established a huge network of nonprofit organizations who closely work with government agencies to create a system that ensures the continued employment and growth of said bodies and absolute job security.
Over the past few years, I slowly reached a point where I couldn’t watch nonprofits milk the grant system, write about “crises and victims” for increased donation dollars and literally salivate at the passage of the stimulus because of the prospect of cushy government grants. (Seriously. People were jumping for joy at the prospect of so much available grant money. Forget the national debt).  I want to help people. I always have. However, our current system is simply not working.
A Facebook friend noted this week that she wishes we lived in a much more compassionate society. I agree with her. However, it is not the duty of the government to legislate compassion. Compassion comes from individuals, families and communities. Those should be the front line an security net to help people, not Pelosi-care, Social Security and Medicaid.
Government healthcare will only make these matters worse. Just look at my grandparents. My grandfather served in the Korean War and always went to the VA for healthcare. He was undeniably cheap and refused to purchase a private health care policy. In his early 70s, he started to have regular stomach pains. He repeatedly went to the VA for help but was always told it was gastric reflux. After two years, he finally went to a private doctor. It wasn’t gastric reflux, but colon cancer. The same cancer that killed his mother (my great-great grandmother). After fighting it for three years, he passed away, a frail skeleton and at least 100 pounds lighter than his pre-cancer days.
A few months later, the Social Security Agency sent a letter to my grandmother informing her that around $10,000 would be garnished from her. It turns out that a clerical mistake had entered my grandfather’s death in 2006 rather than 2007. They claimed that my grandmother had illegally taken my grandfather’s benefits for over a year. Thanks to my time at Congressman Wamp’s office, I knew how to call her congressional office and request their help. Within six weeks, the issue was resolved.
These are just two examples of why I’m so opposed to the expansion of the government. As I said earlier on Twitter, I want people to have health care and live the best possible life. However, this is better done through the private sector.
I read a lot of British press, and I’m always reading stories about the failures of the NHF. Experimental treatments aren’t allowed and cancer patients are assesed their chances of survival in order to get treatment. There’s a reason why breast cancer rates are so much lower in the US than Great Britain or Canada. If the two systems that are constantly held up as examples are actually quite bad, what is the answer.
In our technological society, I’m surprised that the American people can’t be entrusted to solve the health care debate through the market. We now have the capabilities of pooling self-employed and small businesses together to lower costs of premiums. In my lifetime, it’s likely that I’ll have at least 10 different jobs. Why can’t my employer provide a tax-deductible health care stipend and allow me to purchase my own policy that I can carry with me between states. (I’ve had 4 different jobs in the past 6 years and moved to different states three times. ) Portability makes much more sense for the modern workforce, especially as more people telecommute.
Other responsible health care measures would be to tort reform (imagine that!), specific policies for health conditions and catastrophic insurance for young people. If I’m young and healthy, why do I need a Cadillac plan that would meet the needs of my grandmother?