The Party of Dr. No

You gotta love the Republican party right now. "You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

The latest debate over health care reform has truly taken a turn for the worse. As we get closer to the August deadline for a decision both sides are ratcheting up the rhetoric. Independents are starting to shift positions on this bill, H.R. 3200, and even the Bluedog Democrats are starting to waver.



By taking a turn for the worse, I mean that all rational discourse and debate has been thrown out the window by the Republican Party.

Instead of presenting their own plan for health care reform they have chosen to say to their followers and constituents that President Obama is trying to institute completely nationalized healthcare; otherwise known as "Obamacare." While President Obama is trying to institute a public option for those who don't qualify or can't afford insurance, in no way will the public option become mandatory for everyone. If you choose to, you can keep your old healthcare plan.

The republicans have been scoring points with this argument, however, and the public's opinion of H.R. 3200 has taken a serious hit in the past few weeks. The republicans must smell the blood in the water because they have begun to put on the full court press against the administration; and have increased the scare tactics and campaigns against this bill.

This is comical because initially there was some bi-partisan support for a bill of this type, but lately the "party of NO" has gone back to their old ways of fear mongering, negativity, and generally immature behavior in terms of framing this debate.

Healthcare reform, if done right, could be one of the most important things that our generation accomplishes. I think there are some in the party who have good ideas about how this should be done. However, it seems to me that the Republican party is far more concerned with having President Obama fail, than they are about the well being of the American people.

This is evident in Jim DeMint's recent quotation:

"If we're able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him"

When later asked if he would back away from that comment, DeMint said he would not and that:

"We have to stop his politics"

This is why careerism in politics was something that the founding fathers warned against.

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Mass Backwards!

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Jackson, "Enough is enough!"

I was born and raised in Massachusetts and love this state for many reasons, but I can't for the life of me figure out what our state representatives are doing for us. The latest offense is the MBTA rate hike throughout the state. The MBTA is all ready going to be receiving additional money from the state from the recent sales tax increase, which was raised from 5% to 6.25%. Thank you state legislature! Instead of actually coming up with some intelligent plans and/or budget cuts; you've decided to take the easy road and simply raise taxes.

One would think that the money from the state would be enough, at least for a little while. Apparently not, as they feel the need to raise the fares on everyone now. I understand that we're in a recession, and possibly even a depression, but consumers are hurting too. Maybe if the MBTA was managed better, and fixed the ridiculous pension system that it has, we wouldn't have to foot the bill as much.

In the past couple of months the Massachusetts taxpayers have been completely taken advantage of. The pension system in the Commonwealth has so many problems and loopholes, that it's no wonder we have such high taxes in this state. Also, Massachusetts is one of only 8 states in the entire United States of America that has a permanent legislature.

What's a permanent legislature, you ask? It means that our state representatives are full time employees of the state, and therefore are eligible for all of the benefits associated with that status. In contrast, New Hampshire does not have a permanent legislature and their representatives all have other jobs, and only get paid around $200 plus mileage for their two year terms. Think about how much money we could save if we did that!

No more excise taxes! I hate excise taxes! Quick tidbit, excise taxes were instated during the Korean War to support the effort and help the state. They were supposed to be repealed, or at least reduced, after the war but never were because we got addicted to the money.

So how do we change our legislature to a non-permanent one? Get ready for this, the state legislature has to approve it! Now, if you were a representative of our Commonwealth reaping all the benefits of your status, pension, and minimal job requirements; would you be eager to change that system?

But the problem isn't just the legislature, it's the people of Massachusetts. Where is the outrage? Where are the mass protests in the streets, or in front of Beacon Hill? If we don't hold our legislators accountable, then why would they change their ways? We sit idly by while they increase tax after tax (gas tax anyone?), approve pension loopholes (perhaps not even realizing it's in the bill), and don't truly fight for their constituents when it comes to things like MBTA fare hikes.

Enough is truly enough.

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