Wednesday, four Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives joined a united Republican effort to repeal President Obama’s controversial health care bill. The measure passed by a vote of 245-189.
It appears that the repeal effort will stop with the House, however; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has already announced that he will not consider bringing the bill to the Senate floor. Essentially, the repeal effort was a symbolic one that stands no chance of advancing further.
“This is nothing more than partisan grandstanding at a time when we should be working together to create jobs and strengthen the middle class,” Reid said in a statement.
Despite personal views on the health care bill, a fair minded assessment would have to conclude that Reid does have a point – wasting time on symbolic victories at a time when our economy is still in crisis is no way to run government.
Yet, aside from talk of death panels and attempts to label it the “kill granny bill” by some, Republicans have raised some valid concerns. Questions about how the health care bill will be paid for, what kind of impact it will have on our national debt, whether its Constitutional to force citizens to buy health care, and how it will affect small businesses are all legitimate.
But even most Republicans are willing to admit that at least some parts of the bill are good. Provisions like the one that prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions are generally well received.
A more effective approach by Republicans would be to actually make an effort to work with Democrats at answering genuine concerns about the bill, and to see where improvements could be made. But expecting that kind of cooperation between the two parties is probably expecting too much.
Wednesday was a day that should have been spent working on solutions to our economic situation. Instead, it was wasted on a fruitless effort that was no more than a 2012 election rallying cry. So maybe our leaders should just drop the health care debate for now to focus a more immediate issue – jobs and the economy.