Aug 26 2009
My father-in -law, Ted Kennedy, and Health Care
As I write this, I just learned that Senator Ted Kennedy died, one day after my fa
ther-in-law’s funeral. My fa
ther-in-law, like Kennedy, was a proud liberal. He was a union man who alos recognized that
the union’s leadership could sometimes be idiots, so you could not blindly follow
them. Also, he realized that you could not strike over everything and had to compromise with management. Holding out for
the “perfect” contract could destroy any chances of getting a good one.
Like him, Senator Kennedy understood you had to work with those who had different points of view to obtain something workable, even if it was not perfect from anyone’s point of view. Hence, he worked with Senator Orrin Hatch and President Richard Nixon to achieve good things for
the country. I certainly hope all of
the people who will now eulogize Senator Kennedy take that aspect of his career into
their hearts as
the health care bill moves through Congress. Health care was always Senator Kennedy’s major cause, yet he understood that
the “pure” bill he may have wanted would not pass Congress, so he had to work with o
thers. Indeed, working with o
thers could probably streng
then
the final bill, by mediating
the competing interests and putting out a workable compromise.
Historically,
the US Constitution is
the result of many compromises. Had any of
the purists had
their way,
the document would not have been ratified and our contry would likely be far different…if a single country would even have arisen without
the Constitution.
In
the spirit of
the compromises that began this country, Senator Kennedy, and my fa
ther-in-law, I certainly hope all
the Senators and Congressmen work toge
ther in good faith to craft a workable health care bill this Fall when
they return. The problem is only getting worse. My local paper (
the Philadelphia Inquirer) reports that health care costs continue to rise 10% per year even during
the recession. This is untenable and a solution must be found. Many ideas are out
there (including some of mine from a previous post). Let’s get to work to solve this problem!
