BALANCING HEALTHCARE, PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS: Which Candidates are the Real Deal -- And Which are Counterfeit?

Balancing Healthcare, Public Policy and Politics with Linda de Seife

Tuesday, May 18th was Super Tuesday 2010, and pundits of all political stripes have analyzed the results of primaries and special elections held that day. Most seem to agree that there is a rebellion growing amongst American voters.

Basically, the poll numbers discussed in previous columns haven’t changed much, and if anything, have trended more negative toward incumbents. So, here I want to discuss one race in particular that Republicans need to learn from for the fall 2010. That race is the special election in PA-12 (Pennsylvania) to replace the late John Murtha.

The situation is that the district has an overwhelming Democratic registration majority. John Murtha represented the district and “brought home the bacon” for decades. The Democratic candidate, Mark Critz, was a Murtha staffer, and is therefore well known in the district. Despite all these factors, right up to election day, most major polls had the race a dead heat. Yet, Critz went on to defeat Republican Tim Burns by an unexpectedly large 8-point margin.

Republicans were understandably disappointed, but they need to learn from this. Critz ran as pro-gun and pro-life, said he would have voted against health care reform, and is opposed to cap-and-tax. These are Republican issue positions, yet Critz was able to co-opt them. Thus the question: Who is the real deal and who just talks the talk? Will Critz go back to Washington as a Member and vote with Nancy Pelosi as his mentor did, or will he truly vote based on what he told his constituents in order to get elected?

The Republicans need to know that this is a tactic that Democrats will use in November, and they need to nip it in the bud. PA-12 showed that simply running against the national Democratic establishment doesn’t work. Candidates need to know their district and know the folks and what they’re thinking. As this column has mentioned several times, all politics is local; that hasn’t changed. The Republican positions are in tune with the majority of Americans’ views, but they need to take it district by district. PA-12 gave Democrats a blueprint for November, which is basically, if you need to run to the right to get elected, do it. At the end of the day, if they do that, they could still end up with the majority. The question then will be, will they still try to govern from the left, or will Nancy Pelosi no longer be able to control her members?

For the Republicans, they need to stop a repeat of PA-12 by challenging Democrats who attempt to outflank them. They need to challenge the voters to choose between “the real deal” and a counterfeit. In 2008, and today, Barack Obama continues to say one thing that people want to hear and to reel them in, and then do another. The American people cannot fall for this again.

So, before you vote in November think: Real deal or counterfeit?

The Center for Health Transformation (www.healthtransformation.net) has a daily “news you can use” post relating to the implementation of the health care reform law. On May 23rd, they published an article from thehill.com (http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/99387-study-healthcare-law-encourages-small-businesses-to-stay-small) which reports on a study by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) showing that tax credits in the new law could negatively impact small business hiring.

The new law provides a 50% tax credit to companies with fewer than ten employees who offer health insurance and whose employees’ average annual wages are $25,000. The tax credit is reduced as more employees are added to the payroll.

Pamela Villarreal, a senior NCPA analyst says, “If a business can make a decision to substitute capital for labor – say, contract the procedure out or automate it – I believe (losing the tax credit) will play an important part in the reluctance to hire. It’s puzzling that we have this perverse incentive not to have business grow by not encouraging them to hire additional workers.”

This column will continue to provide updates on the implementation of the law and their impact. Stay tuned.

Quote of the Month: “Society is infested by persons who, seeing that the sentiments please, counterfeit the expression of them. These we call sentimentalists – talkers who mistake the description for the thing, saying for having.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson


For more information, please visit Linda's TNNWC Bio.

---

The National Networker Companies™ and TNNWC Group, LLC

“Empowering Emerging Enterprises”

Membership in TNNWC’s Global Interactive Cooperative Business Community is free of charge and entitles you to receive both The National Networker Newsletter and The BLUE TUESDAY Report, as well as access to our unparalleled Suite of Business Services.

Join Us! Simply click on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Visit our website at http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com
Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:

BALANCING HEALTHCARE, PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS: Which Candidates are the Real Deal -- And Which are Counterfeit?

BALANCING HEALTHCARE, PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS: Why the Tea Party Movement Makes the Left Nervous

Balancing Healthcare, Public Policy and Politics with Linda de Seife

On April 15th, tax day, I attended my first Tea Party in front of Town Hall in my community of about 60,000 residents. All in all, it was a pretty sedate affair. It drew about 200 people, some from neighboring towns. Mostly, it was comprised of known Republican activists. Many of the speakers were Republican candidates for statewide office. We were welcomed by our First Selectman (the New England equivalent of mayor). Both my friend and I were surprised that he would publicly support the tea party movement. And, there were a couple of known Democratic leaders who quietly listened, but were subsequently quoted in the local paper, defending their President’s policies.

Prior to rally day, the national tea party movement sent e-mails containing instructions on behavior and warning about potential rowdy infiltrators seeking to paint the movement in an unfavorable light. By preparing, and outing these hooligans, the tea party organizers almost guaranteed that they would not show up. Good for them!

Whether through infiltrating rallies or trying to marginalize the movement, as the President and his supporters have, my question is, “why do they feel it necessary?” What are they afraid of?
Maybe they’re afraid of these statistics:

• An April 13th Rasmussen poll indicates that 24% of U.S. voters say they consider themselves part of the Tea Party movement. Another 10% say they have close friends and family who are.


• 48% of voters now say that the average tea party member is closer to their views on major issues than President Obama. 52% believe that the average tea partier has a better understanding of the issues facing America than the average Member of Congress.


• Just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government now enjoys the consent of the governed.

Add to this the results of a new Pew poll which finds historic levels of unhappiness about the federal government and its role in Americans’ lives. Only 22% said that they can trust the federal government always or almost always, the lowest level in 50 years.

While this level of discontent is a worry for all incumbents, two factors should cause more worry for Democrats: first, they have the most to lose; and, second, the Pew poll also found that the discontent runs more deeply among Independents and Republicans. Those who are highly dissatisfied say they are absolutely certain to vote. Historically, passion and intensity are strongly correlated to turnout and results, especially in mid-term elections.

What else are the tea party bashers afraid of? Maybe what they’re afraid of is that a majority of the American people is not buying in to their culture of dependence. Michael Barone’s April 19th commentary in the Rasmussen Report nailed it. “The Obama Democrats’ vast expansion of the size and scope of government is really not just about economics. It is really a battle about culture… (they) see a society in which ordinary people cannot fend for themselves. They are trying to permanently enlarge government and increase citizens’ dependence on it.”

The tea partiers, on the other hand, believe in the culture of independence which motivated the Founding Fathers and which has enabled America to become the most productive and prosperous nation. We believe in American exceptionalism, Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on the hill.”

Barone further points out that Obama won election in 2008 with a “top-and-bottom” coalition – those dependent on government transfers and benefits, and those in what David Brooks calls “the educated class.” Obama barely exceeded 50% among those between the two extremes. These are the believers in the culture of independence who are fueling the tea party movement.

Although the tea party movement is a grass roots, decentralized one, their message comes together in the “Contract from America” (See www.thecontract.org for more details.) The #1 plank in the contract is protect the Constitution. This is followed by: reject cap and trade, demand a balanced budget, enact fundamental tax reform, and restore fiscal responsibility and constitutionally limited government in Washington.

George McGovern learned the power of the “silent majority” in 1972. When almost half of voters say that the average tea party member is closer to their views than the President is, today we are a not-so-silent majority who support the moral values of the culture of independence and the constitutional values of limited government based on the consent of the governed.

Archibald Mac Leish said, “Criticism in a free man’s country is made on certain assumptions, one of which is the assumption that the government belongs to the people and is at all times subject to the people’s correction and criticism.” The criticism has been loud and clear. November should bring the correction.


Quote of the Month: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
-- Ronald Reagan


For more information, please visit Linda's TNNW Bio.

---

The National Networker Companies™

“Empowering Emerging Enterprises”

Membership in TNNWC’s Global Interactive Cooperative Business Community is free of charge and entitles you to receive both The National Networker Newsletter and The BLUE TUESDAY Report, as well as access to our unparalleled Suite of Business Services.

Join Us! Simply click on http://bit.ly/JoinTNNWC

Visit our website at http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com

Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:

BALANCING HEALTHCARE, PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS: Why the Tea Party Movement Makes the Left Nervous

BALANCING HEALTHCARE, PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS: MIA (Missing in Action) - Leadership in Washington

Balancing Healthcare, Public Policy and Politics with Linda De Seife

Here are some headlines that I read over the last few weeks that have inspired this month’s column:

• “Snow Adds to the Political Drift”
• “Why Washington Is Frozen”
• “America’s Candor Gap”
• “A Year Later, Where did the Hopes for Obama Go?”
• “No Deficit of Cynicism”
• “Stimulus Created Jobs, But No Real Optimism”
• “Debt Ills, Rate Plan Knock U.S. Stocks”
• “Fudging Jobless Statistics”
• “Reid Puts His Bill Before Bipartisanship”
• “White House May Abandon Civilian 9/11 Trial”
• “Economic Data Stirs Fears”
• “America’s Greek Tragedy – Greece’s Crisis Holds Warning for Us”

Now this is quite a list, and I could go on, but you probably get the idea. Is it any wonder that Americans are angry? Is it any wonder that, although technically the economy is in recovery, Americans don’t feel it, and so are not spending on houses, cars, or anything else other than the necessities? Is it any wonder that fear and uncertainty are paralyzing our country and holding back the recovery?

One day the headlines say things are getting better; the next day they’re not. One day we’re trying terrorists in civilian trials in New York City, and the next we’re not sure. One day we need a new agency to study global warming; the next day Florida is freezing, and Washington is literally buried in snow. (Although figuratively it’s been feeding us a snow job for years; that’s the problem!)

America is not working, in more ways than one.

Then we have a State of the Union address that is nothing more than a laundry list of legislative initiatives and a scolding of the Congress, Republicans, the previous Administration, and even of the American people by a President who is above it all, blames everyone else, and takes no responsibility for his actions, or inactions, over the last year.

Where is the clear direction, strategy and transparency that was promised? All we’ve gotten for the past year is drift -- from one issue to the next and back again. Tactics, tactics, tactics! Talk, talk, talk!

Now the Democrats are trying to say, and the media has picked up on it, that America is ungovernable. This is nonsense. What America lacks is leadership -- people who know what it takes to make the system work. We have an inexperienced President who, to use a business analogy, instead of being the CEO, is behaving like a functional vice president or department head.

The concept of leadership is very complex. There are many definitions, but there are some common traits of leadership. Some of these are: defining a vision and translating it into reality; trustworthiness; taking responsibility for your actions; inspiring confidence. The management guru, Peter Drucker, has said that “effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”

One of President Obama’s problems is that during the campaign he sounded like a leader, but, now after the campaign is over, he has not delivered. He seemed to have the attributes, but there have been no results.

The famous psychologist Carl Jung declared, “The true leader is always led.” Bill Clinton realized this after the 1994 elections and worked with the new Republican majority to reform the welfare system and end the era of big government. Obama, to the contrary, refuses to get the message. So it is likely, that he will get more messages in November. We’ll see if he gets it this time.

And the Congress is no better. The long time Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn, who was legendary for arm-twisting and jaw-boning believed, “You cannot be a leader and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow too.” Today’s so-called Congressional leaders find it easier to buy votes than to truly negotiate the issues by listening to their members and their constituents.

We all know that another key to leadership is trust, but as I look at Washington, where is the trust? Democrats don’t trust Republicans, and Republicans don’t trust Democrats. The people don’t trust the government, and the government doesn’t trust the people.

The President’s words say one thing, and he does another. Then he called a health care summit, but even before the event, he began posturing to paint the Republicans as obstructionists if they don’t just go along. During the event, he again became the lecturing professor. So, Republicans are right to be suspicious of his motives. Have we forgotten the concept of the loyal opposition? Their role is not to just go along; their role is to oppose that which they do not believe in.

Where are the adults in our country today? It’s not the President, much as he tries to play that role by chastising others. It’s certainly not the Congress. The adults, who are trying to lead their leaders and who understand the challenges we face, are the American people. But we can’t do it alone, especially when paralyzed by the indecision and lack of strategy and vision in Washington. We need to feel confident that our country has direction that we can support. Those who voted for Obama thought that’s what they would get, but they were mistaken.

What we have is paralysis, driven by a lack of strategic direction, confidence and optimism, which could tip us back into recession, or, at the very least, is delaying a strong and sustained recovery.

We need leaders, like Ronald Reagan, who had a vision for America and confidence in the people to make that vision a reality. We need leaders with courage, who fulfill their vision based on their passion, not their position. We need leaders who raise people’s aspirations and energize them to achieve great things.

America is not ungovernable, and government is not broken. America lacks leaders who know how to govern, who respect their constituents, and who can build consensus and work through issues for the good of the whole, the way the Founders intended.

What are your thoughts on the subject?


Quote of the Month

“All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.”
-- Moliere

For more information, please visit Linda's TNNW Bio

---

THIS ARTICLE--THIS AUTHOR--YOUR FEEDBACK

(1) If you would like to post a comment on this article for this author and for other readers to see, or if you would like to read the comments which have been posted by others, simply scroll down to the very bottom of this article (where it says "Posted by...") and click on the small text hyperlink that says "comments": a pop-up window will open which shows all of the comments posted by others. At the end of the other posts, there is a textbox for you to post your own comment.
(2) If you would prefer to contact the author in confidence, or to write at greater length regarding reciprocal links, special projects or professional issues, simply click on the button in this box labeled "CONTACT AUTHOR," and a pop-up form will magically appear for your use. It even allows you to include web and blog urls, downloads and attachments of all sorts.
(3) If you have not yet become a Member of THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES (there is no charge), you should do that using the buttons below. Click on FREE NEWSLETTER button to start the process; then choose either the RSS Feed or the Daily Email delivery option.

---

*Follow TNNW on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TNNW_BUZZWORKS
*Published by TNNWC. All rights reserved.*Join our GICBC and receive Your TNNW Newsletter and THE BLUE TUESDAY REPORT! - Click HERE
The National Networker Companies

Forward/Share This Article With Colleagues And Social Media:

BALANCING HEALTHCARE, PUBLIC POLICY AND POLITICS: MIA (Missing in Action) - Leadership in Washington