Spring Break and Health Care

Spring has sprung! My plans for spending the week in Houston with my sister changed suddenly when she was unable to make the trip. So, I find myself with the week off and no plans. Wow!!! Life is good.

Unfortunately, there is way too much policy wonk in me to turn off the news reports of the health care debate. But, more than the actual policy issues, it is the procedures being suggested that are captivating me. Like a train wreck about to happen, I just can't draw my eyes away from it.

One of the great disappointments of the American public is the perception that special interests and lobbyists are controlling what is happening in Washington. If only that were the case. At least I understand the motives of special interest groups. But what we are now seeing is procedural maneuvers which circumvent the Constitution and pork projects which are using our taxpayer dollars to bribe legislators to vote favorably for the legislation.

The House, under Speaker Pelosi, is proposing to use a rule to specify that the Senate health care bill is "deemed" to have passed. That means, that even though there has been no vote on the bill, they are going to pass the items to "reconcile" that not yet passed bill and in doing so, both the bill and the "fix" will be passed at the same time. Why would they do that? Because they do not have the votes to pass the legislation on a heads up vote. The process violates the constitutional requirement that a measure pass both chambers of the legislature to be sent to the president for his signature.

No one has a clue what is in the bill that is being considered. Speaker Pelosi even said that they need to pass the bill so they can see what is in it "without the fog of controversy." No. The legislative process should be a deliberative process where there is clarity on what is being passed and what the future ramifications may be. There has been no scoring on the fiscal implications of the legislation because NOBODY KNOWS WHAT IS IN IT!

Frederick Bastiat explained exactly the situation we find ourselves in when he wrote his essay The Law in the 1800's. "When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law."

It is apparent that our medical system as we know it will not survive the radical changes proposed to give the government control of that sector of the economy. However, as more and more citizens are rising up in protest over the health care bill, the even larger question may be whether our Republic and the constitutional rule of law will survive the current environment in Washington.

Now is the time to stand in the gap in prayer for our leaders. Pray that they will not lose sight of the bigger picture as they are in the trenches on this particular policy issue. Pray for wisdom in all of their decisions. And, pray that anything that is being done in the dark will be brought to light.

"But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." Luke 12:2-3