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On the Matter of President Obama's - and the Peoples' - Health Care Win |
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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 15:41 |
If government is about seeking the greatest good for the greatest number of people over who it governs - and if money is invariably the vehicle for providing such good, and lack of it the root of all evil - then the best government must be that which commits irrevocably the greatest amount of money to doing that good.
That is what President Barack Obama has just done in fulfilling one of the major planks of his "Change" campaign and transformative presidency: health care reform. Next will come education reform, and energy reform, and immigration reform, along with the ongoing foreign policy reform which is already achieving success in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, with the Israeli-Palestinian palaver still a hard nut to crack.
Health, education and energy reforms - if and when they all are approved and ultimately succeed, for which we will shout "Three Cheers for Obama!' - will cost money initially, but the long-term social benefits will be enormous for the USA and the world that admires it. By committing money to these social programs upfront - and being flexible about how the quantum of money is actually managed - leaves less money for the war mongers and star adventurers in the American polity to squander money to please their pork-barrel and military-industrial complex appetite.
It was not easy to watch the level of animosity thrown in the direction of Obama and the Democratic Party as the health care debate unfolded, including from within his own liberal constituency, or especially from his Black constituency who wondered exactly what was in reform for it. It would be easy to assign it to serious racism against a Black President - but such rapidity was also directed against Clinton and his wife (and current Secretary of State) Hillary during their time. Obama did not help matters by seemingly waffling in what some thought a dereliction of duty in letting Congress dictate the pace. However, he has demonstrated time and again - particularly during his campaign - that he is a natural-born consensus builder, but that once a threshold for consensus is over, he is prepared to act and damn the consequences. He met with the Republicans at their retreat and shook their lions' mane in their own lair; held a National Health Summit and demonstrated an uncommon patience and brilliance; and then said "That is it...let us go...the die is cast."
With feisty Speaker Nancy Pelosi leading the charge, and pragmatic Rep. Bart Stupak dealing a final-hour coup-de-grace, a simple parliamentary maneuver with a promised Executive order by Obama merely to re-emphasise the Hyde Amendment ban against federal funding of abortion was all that was needed to get the 219-212 win in the House of Representatives, much to the Republicans' and the screaming rascal Texas Rep. Randy Neugebauer' chagrin. The steady hand of the avuncular Vice-President Joe Biden should also be recognized, a P-VP team-work parallel only to that of Clinton-Gore of yore, and a far cry from Obasanjo-Atiku or Yar'adua-Jonathan. Those 34 Democrats who voted with ALL of the Republicans demonstrated their independence - or one hopes the will of their districts, otherwise their own jobs are in jeopardy. That no Republican voted for the Bill despite almost 300 amendments put in to suit their whims and caprices is a testament to their ideological rigidity - and again their right to be.
Now that the Republicans know the stern stuff that Obama is made of, they will not be quick to invite him near them again, and he too will have to revise his priors.
One of the bottom lines of the health care reform is that 32 million more Americans will be brought in from the cold of lack of insurance. That is a huge number. On a personal note, I have five children, all of who, either because of their job situation and/or their ages, will now have their parents assisted and assured for a longer period that we can keep them on our job insurance for a longer period - up until age 26 (up from 21), and for a few years more beyond undergraduate college age. I cannot thank President Obama enough for that - and he has justified my campaign and vote for him.
There are still some devils in the details of the Health Care bill, but they will be exorcised in the coming days and weeks. I am confident of that. In our time, health care reform in the USA is a reality.
Now to Education, Energy, Immigration and Foreign Policy - and to Obama's re-election in 2012!
Best wishes all.
Bolaji Aluko
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