Health Care Reform v Political Reform

We need health care reform. In the eighties and nineties as an independent contractor, I paid $10-20K out of pocket every year for my family's health care.

At one point - even though I had insurance - I owed more than $500,000 for health care costs. Each and every year I had to find health insurance, because after one year of coverage, rates would skyrocket. I commiserate with the millions of Americans who cannot get insurance or who are underinsured.



But I cannot understand the political process in Washington. Even if President Obama manages to pass health care reform legislation which doesn't include special deals for residents of Nebraska, Louisiana and Florida, there is still too much behind the scenes manipulation. Most Americans will feel immense buyer's-remorse after this legislation passes.

As Congress has evolved, it has created rules, alliances, hatreds and expectations that have resulted in inherent organizational flaws. No matter who goes to Washington, the system overpowers them. Regardless of the intentions of those who get elected to Congress or to the Presidency, they soon succumb to the special interests, self-interests, inertia and insider clubbiness that ultimately taints all their work.

 It's hard to trust anything that comes out of Washington, even something that we all need. We're already bracing ourselves to hear about the usual sweetheart deals, corruption, and cronyism that seems to mark every legislative initiative. We need health care reform. It would sit better if it came about as a result of political reform.