Tag: elections

Do we improve the healthcare law or repeal and replace?

Do we improve the healthcare law or repeal and replace?

Posted on by Jack

Now that the healthcare law or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been upheld by the Supreme Court, the ball is once again in the hands of Congress.

Should we improve the law? Many people support aspects of the law but may oppose others. Perhaps they should encourage Congressmen to try for improvements. I will use the term Congressmen to include women just because “Congress persons” sounds awkward and I cannot think of a good inclusive term (Comments to suggest alternatives, anyone?) Maybe even replace those Congressmen who are not interested in improving the current healthcare law.

There are those who like the idea of repeal and replace. They would reject the law because there are parts they disagree with and trust Congress to replace it with something better. Not a very bright idea, in my opinion.

There are those who just want to repeal the law. Are they really happy with the current system? Do they think it is a good idea that many are uninsured, we have the most expensive system in the world, and certainly far from the best results? Not a good value in my opinion but then I don’t own an insurance company.

Annoying political phone call on Sunday morning

Annoying political phone call on Sunday morning

Posted on by Jack

For the past few weeks, we’ve been getting phone calls on behalf of almost everyone running for office. Now we usually check the CallerID and if we don’t recognize the number, the machine answers. Some one caught us half-asleep this morning and we answered. The call before 9 on a Sunday morning. Of course as soon as we heard the beginning of the “Hello Pennsylvania” call, we hung up. So we don’t know who did it. Could be candidate X or the opponent pretending to be candidate X to make us annoyed at candidate X. I guess we will never know. Anyway, I think a good number of folks are tired of the calls, the mail, and the negative ads and may end up not voting or voting for the least annoying candidate. Kind of a shame as there surely are real differences.

The candidates

The candidates

Posted on by Jack

Why are most of the candidates afraid of being positive about their positions on the issues? It is not like there is nothing important happening. But most do not seem to take a strong position of the issues or if they do take a position it is so vague as to be meaningless. Yes, candidate X stands for lowering taxes and cutting all that unnecessary spending. Is there anyone who likes unnecessary spending? Be specific. Which programs would be cut and why. If we don’t dramatically cut spending, how will we pay for things and cut taxes at the same time. But rather than face real issues, everyone seems to be running negative ads against the opponent. I guess the reasoning is that if you make the other guy (or gal) look so bad, people will vote for you to keep that other person out of office. But because both sides do it (and there are usually 2 sides), the voters merely end up disgusted with both candidates.

I’d really like to see someone who says “I better than my opponent” and backs it up with some positive stands than might convince us to give our votes with pleasure rather than disgust. Lets see some positive ads for a change.

If it is too hard to get a convincing positive spin on your ideas in 30 or 60 seconds, refer to a position paper on your website to more full explain your position.