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.