For a year and more, Senate Republicans and conservative Democrats have blocked and delayed legislation that would benefit our state and country. Republicans have made it clear from the beginning that they see the health care reform debate as an opportunity to “break” President Obama. Our Senator Jim DeMint said it could become Obama’s “Waterloo.” Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who was one of the main negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee, told Roll Call that unless the compromise legislation received a majority of Republican votes — a virtual impossibility — he would vote against it.

That is not bargaining in good faith! The need for health care reform should be self-evident. Health care spending is increasing at unsustainable rates, especially as baby boomers retire and become eligible for Medicare.

In addition, the current system of employer-provided health care leads to multiple problems. It locks workers, afraid of losing coverage, into jobs they might otherwise seek to leave. The increasing costs are a competitive drag on American business and industry. At a time of rising unemployment, workers must also fear losing their jobs and their health care coverage.

This insecurity explains why support for reform is broad — broader than you might think if your only exposure to the debate is from the Sunday morning talk shows or the rowdy town hall meetings you’ve seen on the news.

Most South Carolinians know that a major illness could wipe them out financially, even if they have what passes as good insurance. Most of us understand that even what passes as good insurance is hard to come by these days, especially if you have a pre-existing medical condition. And if you are lucky enough to get coverage there is no guarantee of keeping it.

The current system simply doesn’t work and must be fixed. Republicans have proven they have no interest in assisting in that effort. Fine! President Obama and the Democrats can — and must — do it without them. And it can be done. All that is needed is a simple majority of senators to support common sense changes —including eliminating the tax on benefits — to the current health care bill as already approved by the Senate. A super majority (60) is not necessary, only a simple majority (51).

The process for this is known as budget reconciliation. A reconciliation bill would first have to be approved in the House of Representatives, where revenue bills must originate. A vote in the Senate would then follow.

Some Senate Republicans have already began to howl in outrage at this possibility. Sen. Jim DeMint referred to efforts to use budget reconciliation as tyrannical, but these howls are coming from the same Republicans who used budget reconciliation to move President Bush’s tax cuts for the rich through the Senate in 2001 and 2005.

If a majority vote was good enough for George Bush’s tax cuts, a majority vote is certainly good enough for comprehensive health care reform.



Gerald Meadows

Newberry