Senator Kyl Defies Reality
Senator Kyl from Arizona appeared on Meet The Press two weeks ago to talk about health care reform and put his foot in his mouth again. In his desire to defend the health care status quo, he stated he wasn’t “sure that it’s a fact that more and more people die because they don’t have health insurance”. This directly contradicts both common sense and a recent Harvard research study that estimates over 44,000 Americans lose their lives every year due to inadequate access to health insurance. In fact, the study states that uninsured Americans are 40% more likely to die than those that are insured. Anybody who believes there is no link between adequate health insurance and better health is either hiding their head in the sand or playing politics with the truth. The worst part for Kyl and the rest of the obstructionists is it leaves them wide open for the proponents of reform to further attack both their compassion and credibility.
As passage of a bill becomes inevitable, Republicans like Kyl find themselves desperately searching for an effective argument. Their “death panel” propaganda has been rejected. The anger of the summer town halls has fizzled out, and their lack of constructive ideas to solve the crisis has been publicly exposed by Representative Grayson. Just saying “no” has gotten them nowhere and is actually reducing their standing with the voters. A recent Washington Post poll indicates that for the first time, more Americans would like to see a strong public option over a weak bi-partisan bill. This is proof positive that the Republican obstructionist policies are actually pushing support towards the Democrats and the passage of a bill.
Republican Senators like Kyl will vote no on health care reform and go back to their conservative voters to claim victory even in defeat, but what kind of image does their strident and irrational opposition to health care reform bestow upon the National Republican Party? Most Americans recognize the need to do something about health care and are beginning to see The Republicans as simply another obstacle to be overcome. Individual politicians like Kyl may be able to continually get re-elected in Arizona by standing in the path of progress, but the Republican Party will never salvage its national standing unless it is seen as a constructive part of the process. In other words, hiding your head in the sand is never a good strategy for long term survival.
