I'm really sad for David Pepper. He stuck his neck out, he crossed party lines, he is a thoughtful person who isn't afraid to stand up for what he believes to be right. I truly believe that he lost not because of who he is or what he believes, but because he had a (D) by his name and people here vote blindly for anyone who has an (R) by their name.
I'm also sad for President Obama. He and the people he was elected with, were elected by a thoughtful electorate. People had hope for change. People had hope that congress would work together. President Obama reached out to those "on the other side." They said, "We will come sit down with you and hear what you have to say." Then they literally just did not show up--said they would come to a meeting at the White House and then literally did not show up.
President Obama, Steve Driehaus, and Governor Strickland are not responsible for the things they are being blamed for. For the short sighted, or short memoried, the economic melt-down started under President Bush before President Obama was sworn in. President Obama WORKED WITH the Bush administration to come up with a plan to keep the country from sinking into a depression. President Obama WORKED WITH President Bush. When President Bush took office there was a SURPLUS. When President Bush left office there was a DEFICIT. President Obama is not responsible for that, however, he has done a pretty damn good job of staunching the bleeding.
He's also passed healthcare reform. I do not understand why people are against this. Here's what Anthem told me I get as of January 1:
No lifetime maximum. My current lifetime maximum is $7,000,000. So when I get breast cancer, or if God Forbid, someone in our family became sick, we can't be kicked off our insurance because we've spent too much money.
Adult Dependents. My children can now stay on my health policy through the age of 27. This has so many advantages, I can't even list them all here. But when your kids get to be 19, think about whether you would want to just cut them loose to fend for themselves on healthcare.
No preauthorization for emergency services--especially out-of-network. This makes so much sense it's self-explanatory. When Mollie was a baby, she got sick every time we went out of town. When your baby is sick, do you take them to the doctor or do you call the insurance company to find out if you can please take them to the doctor. I ended up paying for every out of town doctor visit she ever had.
Women no long need a referral from their PCP to go to the gynecologist.
And coming soon--no denial for pre-existing conditions. Did you hear the one about the baby who was denied coverage because his heart defect was a "pre-existing" condition to his birth.
So now my confession. I did not vote for Rob Portman. I'm sure many people are not shocked, but the reason I didn't is not because he has an (R) next to his name. He is a great person, nice neighbor, has a wonderful wife and kids. I was prepared to vote for Rob Portman for the mere reason that I know him as a person and know him to be a thoughtful person. But then I went to his web site and read his positions. Did any of the other voters in TP do this? He clearly stated in his position that he plans to help dismantle health care reform. Look at the above 4 things that come into law on January 1. Why would anyone be against any of those? I plan to send him a congratulatory letter later today and ask him to rethink this position. Since that issue was buried in his position statement, hopefully he will.
I have one more question, which I probably won't ask him, but would like to know. Can Portman now finally take a public stand against the Martin Marietta Limestone Mine? It is part of the reason I'm sad this morning. The guy who did the right thing and stuck his neck out for us, was defeated. The guy who said he couldn't "because it would be about him" aka political, was elected.
Here's why I'm not totally sad. Here's why I still have Hope. If we have a split House and a split Senate, I hope that our government officials will sit down together and try to figure out what common goals we all have and how to work together to get them. All these guys running on "Washington is Broken." Yes because no one will talk to each other they are just interested in drawing lines in the sand. Fix what's broken by working together.
And here's my other hope. I hope that the people newly elected are truly committed to what they ran on, to fixing things that need fixing (like creating jobs) and not doing things like cutting taxes for the very wealthy (which is one reason Bush left us with the deficit that Obama inherited. I won't even mention his ill-gotten war that now no one believes in).
Here's my concern. That people elected will not work for the people, but for themselves and their party. See here's the core reason I'm a Liberal Democrat, because I believe that elected officials should work for the people and not for themselves or their party. I hope that John Boehner (who I believe is one of those people who has worked long and hard for himself) did mean his tearful I will work for you speech.
Because while I think it's completely ridiculous that people blame Obama or Driehaus or Strickland for job loss, the deficit and our current economic condition (see above--all inherited from the Bush administration), I'm hopeful maybe people will work together.
I'm forever the optimist.
