Incompetence Continues In DC

Speaker Paul Ryan may be just as bad as his predecessor, John Boehner. His failure to deliver a health care bill to repeal and replace Obamacare certainly casts major doubt on his instincts, judgment and legislative competence.

And President Trump, for his part, cannot be considered blameless. For too long, he has been disengaged from the nagging details and has failed to brush up on the issues. It was a shockingly naive and callow observation when Trump stated, "Who knew that healthcare could be so complicated?" Oh, only about 200 million people, give or take a few million.

As for the staunch conservatives who objected to Ryancare on reasonable grounds, but were unyielding during negotiations, a pox on your house! Isn't it better to get an imperfect bill with some redeeming qualities and the hope that incremental improvements can continue in the future, than to get nothing at all? This "all or nothing" mentality is bullheaded and ultimately unproductive.

The news media, Democrats and Never-Trumpers are gloating, and acting as if this is it. There will never be any more attempts to "reform" the carcass of Obamacare. I use quotation marks around "reform" because it's sort of like saying you're going to save and nurse to health a corpse found in the middle of the road. You can't fix what is utterly an irreparable piece of garbage.

But with that being said, Trump and many other Republicans are sadly mistaken if they think their failure to move forward with a solution absolves them of responsibility for improving our healthcare system. They believe the Democrats still own the failing healthcare system, but that's wrong. Yes, it was Obama and misguided Democrats who marched in lockstep to pass this albatross, but Obama and many of the Dems who voted for it are long gone. The Republicans control all branches of government, and if they don't implement improvements to our dysfunctional healthcare system, they will be held accountable at the ballot box.

I'll make the same observation about healthcare reform that I've said repeatedly about immigration reform: It ought to be done in smaller increments. Because attempting to wrap everything into one ball of wax just mucks things up. It ends up being a Christmas tree grab bag for special interests. Okay, enough with the mixed metaphors...

Let's also remember that Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price can probably implement some effective reforms simply through the regulatory process. Allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines and eliminating asinine policy requirements such as maternity and OB/GYN coverage for men would be a start.

And let's be clear: This business of trying to wave a magic wand and do away with pre-existing conditions -- allowing people to wait until they are sick or have an accident until they begin paying for insurance -- is nonsense. What would your home insurer think if you never had insurance, but then after your home was destroyed by fire you suddenly called and said you'd like to start up a policy ("How much is my first premium? Just send me the bill!") and expected the insurer to pay for a new home? Utterly preposterous. Catastrophic coverage ought to be available to all who cannot afford big premiums, but want protection from devastating bills should they become sick or sustain a serious injury.

The Republicans had better get their act together, or many of them will be bounced from office in 2 years, and the damage they do to an already weak-ass brand name -- "Republican" -- will be irreparable. Wake up, Trump. Look alive, Ryan. Get ready, Mitch. Time's-a-wasting.

RIP CHUCK BERRY -- It's been a week since I last posted, so I am a few days late with my R.I.P. tribute to the late, great Chuck Berry. I have long said that Berry was the true father of rock-n-roll, and far more talented than the vaunted Elvis Presley. For one thing, Berry was a composer as well as a singer and guitarist. Elvis had a great voice, good looks and major sex appeal, but I have always felt that good singers are a dime-a-dozen compared to great composers. In other words, composing excellent music is a talent far more rare than singing beautifully. Just as important, Chuck Berry's music was heavy with rollicking guitar licks during an era when much of rock was vocal-oriented.

When I think of 50s acts, I think of a lot of silly made up words like Doo-Wap, Ya-Ya, and the "A-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh, a-weema-weh" of the Tokens' lovely "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." But while others were shoving packs of Marlboro up their sleeve, greasing their ducktails and working on their falsetto harmonizing, Berry was jamming with never-before-heard, amped up/sped up fusion of blues, country and rockabilly. He patented the famous "duckwalk" across the stage. The raucous, irreverent nature of his music was underscored by the fact he was black. The Klan must've been shitting bricks!

And Chuck's lyrics were witty and clever. "Roll Over Beethoven," "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B. Goode" were just a few of his huge hits. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and many other major acts credited Berry as a strong influence, and covered several of his tunes.

When I was 14 years old, two years after Berry's novelty hit "My Ding-a-Ling" (obviously not among his better tunes), I saw Berry in concert at the Midland (Mich.) County Fairgrounds. And his warmup act was none other than blues legend Muddy Waters. Both were well past their prime, but put on a great show and were well received by a predominantly white audience.

My older sister reminded me the other day that I brought along my Panasonic tape recorder and recorded a cassette tape of some of the concert. That was the best we could do in those days of primitive technology. My family didn't have a video camera, and even if we had owned one, the concert security folks probably would not have allowed me to bring it inside the gates. Looking back, I am surprised my parents even allowed me to go to the concert, but I guess they had their hands full with "bigger fish to fry," as the saying goes.

Chuck Berry had a few run-ins with the law, and some dalliances with other women before reuniting with his wife. He was a flawed individual, as we all are. But his talent and bold persona were especially impressive when one considers that his heyday was an era of Jim Crow laws, rampant discrmination and blatant bigotry against blacks. Chuck knew that his genius and charisma would transcend the hatred, and he was right. R.I.P., Chuck. You truly could "play guitar like ringing a bell."

 

 

Comments

[K.N. McBride]

Trump is irrelevant to the discussion. This is entirely the fault of the Speaker.

The minimum standard of competence for House Speaker is the ability to draft a bill that your caucus can pass. Add in the fact that your party has been running on the issue for four election cycles and this should be an amazingly simple task.

Choose your sports metaphor - easy lay-up, open goal, low hanging pitch - however you want to describe it, this should have been an easy win.

That it was such a botch is why I think Ryan and his cronies never want to fix the problem - it's too good of an election issue.

Trump's role was merely to serve (as he frequently does) as a clarifying lens, a mirror to reflect the truth of how Washington works. He told the GOP Congress to put together a repeal bill - a bill they've voted to pass dozens of times over the last six years - and they promptly fell flat on their faces.

[T-Mo]

I like Judge Jeanine Pirro, and usually agree with her. But I think she's wrong on this one. Trump is no dummy; he's been around the block a few times. He knew all about the backstabbers, phonies and self-serving elitists in DC when he stepped into this job. If he thought he needed counsel and guidance on how to navigate the treacherous waters, he ought to have brought on board aides who are more shrewd and perceptive than the ones he has. Reince Priebus is most likely to blame for this fiasco, as he's supposed to have the President's back.

[Nurglitch]

“I want to be clear, this is not on President Trump. No one expected a business man to completely understand the nuances, the complicated ins and outs of Washington and its legislative process. How would he know which individuals upon which he would be able to rely?”

Jeanine Pirro, quoted on Breibart.

Agree?