Health Insurance Plan and 2010 election – Dongsuk Kim

The senate’s restless holiday

On December 24th, Christmas Eve, the senate has agreed on the passing of the historic health insurance reformation plan. It was a dilemma that never seemed to be solved, after hundred years of efforts.

The health insurance reformation plan commenced in 1912 during the tenure of President Theodore Roosevelt as a part of his election pledges. President Franklin Roosevelt, known for his ‘New Deal’ policy, also made an attempt to reform the defects of the health insurance but soon failed. President John F. Kennedy once again challenged the health insurance plan in the 1960s during the African Americans civil rights movement, followed by another failure by President Clinton in 1990, even after his bold actions such as appointing his wife Hillary Clinton as the chief of the health insurance reformation plan.

However, in 2008 President Obama has managed to accomplish the unachievable by concentrating his first year of the tenure solely on the health insurance plan and passing the reformation plan both in the House of Representatives and the Senate. All members of the Democratic Party were in favor of the reformation, whereas all members of the Republican Party rejected the reformation. Even within the party, criticisms are being stated concerning the plan. The party leaders are asserting that the reformation plan strayed away much from the original plan in Obama’s effort to satisfy the both opposition and Democratic parties demands.

The initial purpose of the reformation plan by the Democrats was to alter the insurance policy into a national healthcare service. Therefore, the core of the reformation plan was the implementation of the public option. Public option was passed on the 7th in the previous month, however was soon eliminated by the senate. Furthermore, the plan includes the halting of the coverage for abortion for every health insurance, which goes directly against the Democrat Party’s platform policy.

Consequently, center-leftist of the Democrats poses a negative view concerning this issue. Negative comments are stated even to the extent of claiming a “Reform-Rather not”, along with the resistance by the center-leftist Democrats asserting that “There is no reason to enforce a shredded law.” Another conflict is to be expected among the two: The leader of the center-leftist party ‘Howard Dean’ and the center-rightist party ‘Rahm Emanuel.’ Dean focuses on the route policy whereas Emanuel concentrates on realpolitik, and sparks may fire during the 2010 midterm elections.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton began to loose support and soon his leadership was in question, broadcasted day after day. With the influence of the media on local constituencies, an air of anxiety was created against the Democratic Party. Public sentiments pressured an evaluation of Clinton to be held during the midterm elections, with the voters in power. The congressman started to keep a distance with President Clinton, understanding the local demands and atmosphere.

Politicians even refused Clinton’s campaign stump. Congressman who didn’t sense this atmosphere had lost during the midterm elections of that year. In 1994 midterm elections, the Democratic Party had undergone an humiliation of giving away the control of the congress to the hands of the Republican Party after 40 years of the domination of the Democrats. President Bill Clinton harshly evaluated the midterm elections, and set his priorities in his agenda and made various ways to communicate directly with the citizens. Two years after, President Clinton successfully regained his position. This break through strategy was planned by ‘Rahm Emanuel,’ who aided Clinton through the critical situation.

The support of President Obama is unpredictable. The media is giving out different explanations about success of President Obama’s election in 2008, whether the citizens gave him the full authority to change or was merely an animosity against the failure of the former President Bush. On the other hand, ‘Parker Griffith,’ the congressman of Alabama has declared to leave the Democratic Party although it was President Obama who suggested him to join the party. It is evident that his action influenced Washington, and it seems that with next year’s midterm elections ahead, the senators will not have a relaxing holiday after all.