Nearly a year ago, the economy of our world was turned upside down. Much of what we believed to be true wasn't true. Not since the Great Depression has so much anxiety about our personal lives become commonplace. For a moment, we have lost our way and need to regain our sense of direction.
Against this backdrop, we elected a new President who promised change. We all agree a lot of things need to change. But at what speed, at what cost and with how much government involvement?
I have a friend who purchased a Dodge dealership recently. Chrysler mandated that he construct a new facility. After spending several million dollars, he was open for less than 30 days and the now partially government-owned Chrysler Corp. revoked his dealership agreement. He didn't even have a chance to demonstrate what the new location could do. He received no compensation and to add insult to injury, Chrysler took the Dodge franchise to another local dealer and simply handed it to them.
The government vowed to turn the auto industry around in a matter of months. Every business owner in America knows that nothing happens that fast, unless thoughtless decisions are made with reckless disregard for the outcome.
The anger over healthcare reform is not really about healthcare. It is about the arrogance of government, an arrogance that believes that even with everything around us seemingly falling apart, our entire health care system can be overhauled in a matter of weeks.
The focus on legislative approval before the August recess and a strategy to marginalize people who vociferously expressed their views is a recipe for disaster. This is why the Town Hall meetings throughout America over the August recess were such debacles.
The vast majority of people throughout America are happy with their current healthcare. Yes, we need some reforms in order to control costs and to expand coverage. However, these reforms should be carefully considered and discussed. Healthcare reform will be one of the biggest social changes in decades.
Trying to "do it all now" will guarantee bad decisions, with unimaginable costs and unintended consequences. My friend, and millions of Americans like him, have already been victims of bad government decisions over the past year.
Politicians who don't understand that healthcare reform is only the tip of a very angry voter iceberg will be turned out of office at the next opportunity. It's time for them to slow down, to think before they speak and to carefully consider voters divergent viewpoints. Most importantly, they need to insure that in a quest for "change" they don't create more problems than they solve.
