For Health or for Votes??

While The United States has stood at the forefront of economic and technological progress for the past century she seems to be lagging behind in policies and services other nations would consider basic. Most pressing at the moment of course is the issue of Health Care. The United States stands alone among the first world nations in her administration of health care and the success of the privatized industry.  For decades now while most of Western Europe has adopted socialized medicine and a blanket care system for their citizens the United States has remained strongly rooted in the largely privatized system…that is until now of course.

                Four Years ago when the Obama administration stormed the white house and began their administration they preached a single word, “Change”.  The world and apparently the country for that matter had not been pleased with the Bush administration, an international war on terror, the invasion of IRAQ, and not to mention a massive deficit.  With all these weights slung across the Republican Party it was inevitable to predict the Democratic landslide in the Election and the eventual super-majority in congress. The country was ready for change, but that was four years ago…and this is now.

                 When we ask the average American Joe today “Has anything changed?”, by and large he’ll tell you the same thing…”not really”. That’s not to say nothing is different, under the Obama Administration there were significant cutbacks on the war in Iraq and Osama Bin Laden was finally killed. However I am partial to believe that this had more to do with a stagnant Iraq and the elite men of the US Navy SEALs than the powers of the Obama administration.  

                For the average American, life in the United States has not changed all too much over the past four years. Gas is still expensive, the BCS is still partial, and we hear more and more about the colossal national debt we have acquired over the past decade. Could it be that the sudden and incredibly public push for Obama care is nothing more than a political stunt? The possibility exists and is something I would like to entertain.

                The Obama administration is up for their second term of office and needs to evoke significant change to retain their votes. Is it just possible that the recent hype and controversy over “Obama-care” is nothing more than a political cruise missile aimed at the American Media?  In my opinion the strategy is an incredibly risky but rewarding gamble by the Administration to win the upcoming election. Should the bill finally pass into law and survive the gauntlet of political opposition it currently faces not only would the administration have exacted “Change” every American voter could understand but it will have created such volume that you would be hard pressed to not consider the upcoming election. Should it fail however, the Obama administration has handed the Republican Party a silver bullet (their capability to use it is another topic entirely), without Healthcare the Obama Administration enters the election season with bitter failure on the mind and momentum permanently lost.