Fiasco

Death Valley, California - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

The only benefit derived from the health care reform fiasco is that the American public witnessed in all its lurid details the manner in which Congress functions. A few willful and hopelessly dishonest politicians ramrodded a flawed piece of legislation through Congress that the majority of their constituents did not support. Yet to hear them celebrate one would think they fulfilled a mandate from the people.

This is an outrageous law, but its passage would not be so unpalatable if the process would have conducted in a transparent, democratic atmosphere. Quite to the contrary, bribery, extortion, and lying pervaded the process as the Democratic party leaders resorted to any means to prevail. In their minds the Constitution is a sieve rather than a barrier to protect our rights against such highhandedness. In the end Congress resorted to arcane, peripheral parliamentary rules to pass a poorly crafted law as long as they could claim victory. The prize was not another public works project in the Speaker's home district but 1/6 of the nation's economy.

For the most part doctors avoid politics and similar distractions. They will work 20 hours a day, seven days a week for much of their lives to care for their patients, but otherwise would prefer to be left alone to pursue their calling. They naively assume national organizations like the American Medical Association will protect their interests. Now a serious crisis threatens their way of life and their ability to care for their patients. A handful a senators and representatives defied the wishes of the public and most of the medical establishment to enact legislation that will quite probably destroy the traditional doctor-patient relationship.

How will doctors respond? Some will retire prematurely to avoid experiencing the collapse first hand. The majority will do as they have always done – complain then adjust and continue to practice to the best of their ability. Maybe it will not be so bad after all, and the government will choose not to enforce many of the law's obtrusive restrictions. At times it is too easy to intellectualize the problem rather than mount a vigorous campaign to contest and revoke a bad law. Politicians understand this dynamic and count on physicians to capitulate.

Imagine the response of the National Rifle Association and its members if Congress passed gun control legislation using the same shenanigans as they used during the health care reform process. It can be assumed with a high degree of confidence that this group would not acquiesce so readily.

Congress is la cage aux folles, and when they taunt us by making unjust laws by devious means, it is a time to resist them. As a good friend of mine says, “Maybe the wheels have to fall off the cart before the American people will wake up and elect capable leaders.”