The holiday spirit exposes the politics of political profit
By Derek Joy
It is that special time of year. . .
This is the Holiday Season that makes it so. In rapid fire, December hosts Chanukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Right on into the New Year.
Yes. The Jewish faithful celebrate an eight day festival commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem. Christians celebrate the birth and legacy of Jesus Christ. And Kwanza is a 12 day harvest festival widely recognized in African American life.
Ironically, each of those holidays, more than most other holidays during the year, tend to inspire and manifest a spirit of giving and forgiving among mankind. They manage to bring about a greater level of recognizable harmony.
None of that seems so in the political arena. Seeing that point made crystal clear led to the recent partial government shut down. A significant number of federal employees were furloughed.
The GOP saw Tea Party radicals hijack the federal government with threats of a complete government shut down. They sought to gain a leg in their fight against the Affordable Health Care Act.
Didn’t matter to them that working people suffered financially, the economy took a hit and the majority wanted to respect the law of the land. The only thing that mattered to them was not the will of the people, but their own selfish pursuits of political profit.
The general public saw the destruction. It was a reality that such radical attempts to overturn the law showed the American public – and the world – that those disruptive Republicans did not have the spirit of harmony for the benefit of the masses.
Imagine. Shook down the American people and held the federal government hostage. All with the budget purse strings. Their efforts yielded a U. S. Supreme Court ruling upholding the AHCA, with states given the right to expand Medicaid if they choose.
Florida is one of 25 states that has failed to expand Medicaid under the AHCA. Republicans have an overwhelming majority in both Houses of the State Legislature. Governor Rick Scott is Republican.
So, with some 1.7-million uninsured Floridians, the radical Tea Party Republicans mirrored the dastardly deeds of their higher ups in Congress. Passed a Medicaid expansion Bill in the Senate and let it die in the House.
Some speculate that, like in Congress, the Republicans in the Florida State legislature don’t want to expand Medicaid simply because it is viewed as a win for President Barack Obama and the Democrats.
Seems not matter that the AHCA will benefit the estimated 17-million uninsured Americans. That number includes 1.7-million in Florida, an estimated 700,000 of those living in South Florida from Monroe County to Martin County.
The federal government pays 100-percent of costs for three years and 90-percent thereafter. That a-mounts to $51-billion this year alone. What a boost to health care with a financial relief to taxpayers.
Think of an injection of $51-bil-lion to Florida’s economy. More people will have access to affordable health care. It would improve the quality of life for many people.
Yet, without any reasonable and comparable alternatives, elected officials actually perpetrate coercion to effectively deprive Americans of their Constitutional “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Just a few points to ponder while having Happy Holidays.
