Prayer and Due Diligence Regarding Health Care

While the President makes his case for health care reform, Americans need to remember that “the devil is in the details.”  Make sure the calculated and impassioned rhetoric does not impair wise discernment and sound judgment.  What a proposal does not say is just as important as what it does say.  Heath care accessibility and affordability are the two main issues and both are addressed by both parties in Congress.  How health care is made accessible and affordable is the real issue and it is there that the Democrats and Republicans are polar opposites.  There is no bipartisanship when it comes to the details.  Proposed legislation is virtually 100% Democrat while Republican proposals are shut out of the deliberation process. Since the Dems and their proposals are getting all the press, I encourage you to give some equal time to the GOP proposals on their website (http://healthcare.gop.gov) before you make any decisions or recommendations to a legislator. On the website, be sure and compare both Republican and Democrat plans by clicking on their respective headers. (Yes, it is a partisan webpage, but you exercise some personal “fairness doctrine” and do your homework.) It is one thing for the government to protect our  medical decisions, it is quite another for them to direct our decisions. To preserve our personal freedoms and our free market economy, Americans and their congress must take the time for the evaluation and recommendation process.  We cannot make a mistake on this issue. Historically, what Congress enacts takes on a life of its own and becomes virtually irrevocable.  We must get this right–and that takes time.  Be wary of those who press for immediate action on ill-conceived and unread proposals! Politics gets down and dirty at this point in the debate.  Let’s have a civil debate and let’s get it right! To the Congress: Do your homework and vote your values, not the party line.  To the people:  Let’s be civil, informed, and articulate. We live in the greatest country on earth.  With all her faults and foibles, America can be even greater, BUT, she will only be as great as the character of her people and institutions.  “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” — Benjamin Franklin. In their hour of need, our founding fathers called for divine intervention, wisdom and discretion.   It is time for us to do the same.