I just responded to an email that veered from upsetting to disturbing. However, some points were worth addressing.
I try very hard to remain apolitical here. This means I spend little time telling you which bills you should support or which politicians you should vote for. However, I don’t believe that being impartial means that I have to agree with each political party an equal number of times.
I’m giving you my fair assessments of different policies. I’m telling you why I agree or disagree with that I see and hear. It’s up to you to judge if I’m right or wrong.
If you feel that I’ve been harder on Republicans than Democrats here lately, that’s probably not untrue. That’s not because I think that one group fails on ideology. It’s because one group isn’t playing at all.
I don’t much care for the Democratic solution. I think it’s too costly for the benefits it’s giving out. I think it’s a gift to pharma and the AMA and AHIP. I think it does almost nothing to contain costs. But it’s a good faith effort and it’s trying.
Until a few days ago, there wasn’t even a Republican plan. Now that there is, it’s not really reform. Find me any serious wonks who take it seriously. You want malpractice reform? I’ve been for that repeatedly. But it’s not health care reform, and it addresses none of the core issues. The only other real idea in that plan is not a viable solution to what most of us see as the critical problems in health care.
Our health care system is horribly broken. If you disagree with that, then nothing else I have to say will mean much to you since most of what I write about is centered around trying to fix that system. One party (at least its leadership) is acting like we can wait on reform. I disagree. That doesn’t mean I always agree with the other party. I’m an equal opportunity criticizer. If you’re coming here to see (what I hope are) clear arguments and explanations, then I will continue to try and not disappoint you.
But if you’re coming here with a partisan mindset looking to lump me into one of two teams, and criticize me for not being on yours, this isn’t the blog for you.
