NY Times, 8.2,4Who is to blame on Health Care Reform? Collins, Brooks

255. September 4, 2009
Two articles, well written by times columnists have attracted my attention. “Democrats Go on the Road to Revive Health care Push”, by Kirk Johnson. David Brooks added some valuable insight to the debate in his recent column entitled “Let’s Get Fundamental.” Particularly, in David’s piece his citations are worth noting if healthcare reform is the real challenge for the administration. He reminded all of us that the report “Bending the Curve, Steps to address Long-Term Healthcare Spending Growth” was produced by a bi-partisan group of ‘battle tested experts.’ The clear implication was that these reports cited in the article, could help with healthcare reform issues. Yet, they fail to address the real problem.

David’s use of the word ‘fundamental’ is worth serious examination in understanding the President’s coming, top of the ninth inning presentation, analogy. ‘Fundamental’ as a noun literally means ’something that is an essential or necessary part of a system’ an interesting component for any chief executive to have on his side of a debate, whether a University President or the President of the United States.

It’s obvious, that Speaker Pelosi, and the house healthcare reform bill (3200) has failed to provide fundamental incentives for reform to a majority of future voters. The house healthcare bill, coupled with the administration’s lack of clear communication forces us to deal with a second word, another noun, ‘credibility’.

‘Credibility,’ as a noun basically means ‘the quality or power of inspiring belief (trust).’ When credibility is lacking in a presentation, we are led to something called the ‘credibility gap’, another noun literally depicting a ‘lack of trust, lack of believability, ‘ in the words being presented for our acceptance. Therein, I believe, lies the real problem with presenting citations to help clarify the current healthcare reform efforts. Healthcare reform is a serious issue for study and improvement and yet this is not the problem the administration must address.

The problem which has caused a nationwide debate on heath care, is a much larger more insidious perception than healthcare reform proposals. The administration, through rhetoric and action, has caused great concern, in a traditional values electorate, that the nation itself is at risk. Perceptions are always varied and emotional in our nation, but today, the fear of individual Americans, losing their businesses, banks, corporations, Constitutional freedoms, freedom of speech, and a government of and for the people, is a growing perception,

Healthcare reform though important in some minds, is not the huge problem currently facing the administration. ‘Credibility’ has been eroding during this administration, and if a change does not come relatively soon, the President’s words will fall on deaf ears, due to a credibility gap.
— Dr. Alan Phillips