Why Politicians Fail (like on Medicare)

Obama and GOP leaders were squabbling today at the White House. Wow! Is this some wacky completely outlandish Hollywood movie idea that is just so removed from reality that it ruins the movie? No, it’s the same old political posturing that the Democrats and Republicans engage in because it is their most sophisticated strategy. “It’s your fault because you didn’t tell me how to do it.” “Your idea won’t work because it’s just stupid.” Imagine the mental power that must be behind the planning that goes into this elementary school playground ploy. Is this any way to run a country? No, it isn’t.

The reason that the Republicans and Democrats cannot find a mutually acceptable solution is that they are ignorant of at least four factors.

First: neither has any idea of how to actually solve the problem.

Second: each side believes that it’s either they win and the other loses, or they lose and the other wins.

Third: both are incapable of looking beyond their own view-points to find options and alternatives that would be superior to their own feeble efforts.

Fourth: you don’t solve financial problems in a political arena; you solve the political problem of demonstrating how the solution aligns with your political perspective.

Considering these failings on the part of politicians of either stripe, is it any wonder that they flail and stumble around desperately trying not to get caught in the light of day where it would be clear that they don’t know how to demonstrate the soundness of their position. Instead of developing a viable strategy to deal with issues like the sustainability of the Medicare objective, they seek to garner enough of a voting majority to just push through their version of a catastrophic approach. Yes, one side may want to provide what you can’t afford and the other to prevent you from getting what you need; but either way you wind up in the same sorry state.

Do you really think it’s as hard to fix Medicare as they are showing it is for them to do it? Maybe they should just put out their own explicit plan for how they are going to deal with Medicare, and let the voters decide. If you can’t elect representatives that can solve the problem once put into office, then maybe the voters can pick the plan they want to live with/under. Put the plan on the ballot, structure it so that it is not alterable by the politicians once the plan is chosen, and let it rip. I wouldn’t recommend this myself, because there is a much better way to fix Medicare. But the politicians haven’t got a clue and you don’t want them tinkering with the plan after you vote for them. You want it in writing before you do.