Where is the political party of the Small Businessman and Entrepreneur?

Tying health care coverage to employment is a disaster for entrepreneurs, the self-employed and small businesses. But these are the people who drive the engines of innovation. Today, inability to get affordable and comprehensive individual health policies is a huge disincentive to people contemplating building a new business. Without this disincentive a whole generation of new American entrepreneurs and self-employed workers might arise to improve our economy, create new greener power sources and transportation, reduce C02 and other national and world problems — entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals no long fettered by their inability to acquire affordable, comprehensive individual insurance for their families.

Where is the political party of the Small Businessman and Entrepreneur that is taking the lead and fighting for portable and universal affordable health insurance on their behalf? Entrepreneurs and the self employed take big financial risks but provide most of the employment and economic growth this country enjoys. Yet they also disproportionately face health insurance risks which hamper their efforts to do so. It seems to me that such a political party would not only the party of compassion, but also the party of American individualism and the party economic growth.

Who are the members of this party?

We will recognize them not by their words but by their actions.

I’m sure that millions of Americans like Terri and I would like to find that party and help it succeed in the upcoming mid term elections. But we won’t recognize its members by their partisan posturing or post election promises. We will know who really represents our interests only by what these representatives are able to accomplish on our behalf before the next election, regardless of whether there is an (R) or a (D) designation next to their name.

They get it done

When we see the actual senators and congressional representatives who are able to reach across the aisle to make the compromises necessary to make coverage for all americans an immediate reality, we’ll know that those are the incumbents we will want to re-elect to fix the unforeseen short comings that turn up in the first few years after the establishment of any major program.

They don’t participate in stalemate

And we’ll be able to distinguish them from peers who pontificate and create stalemate and perpetuate both our health care woes and economic woes. We’ll know that those are the incumbents that we want to send packing.

We don’t need immediate perfection. We just need a start!

I don’t know what are the best provisions to put in a bill that ensures that all americans have health insurance all the time. I doubt anyone ever does.

We are not omniscient, we are humans and we make mistakes. We elect human like ourselves as representatives and senators, not omniscient petty gods.

We rarely get these things right the first time, and we know from experience that our representatives don’t either. Luckily, congress doesn’t just vote in such massive programs and then disappear forever. We’ll have years to come to refine and perfect our uniquely American health care program.

But this refinement and perfection can’t start until we have passed at least some plan. In this case, the striving for unobtainable perfection is the enemy of the imperfect, yet achievable good.

For those without, any solution is better than the persistence of no solution

ANY solution that enables ALL Americans, to receive adequate health care throughout their entire lifetimes, regardless of age, marital or employment status, current employer or pre-existing conditions, or any other condition beyond legal residency is preferable to a status quo that effectively denies any of our citizens access to the quality health care available to some of their fellow Americans.

Has Congress No Shame?

That any elected representative should, through their inaction, allow the evils of the status quo to persist and create havoc in the life of any one American is unfortunate. That it should affect hundreds of Americans is unreasonable; thousands of Americans, disgraceful; millions of Americans, intolerable; tens of millions of American is outrageous. That tens of Senators, and hundreds of Members of the House have allowed this problem to persist unaddressed for multiple terms of their incumbency is a scandal.

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, establishing this country, reads:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Our Senators and Congressional Representatives have been entrusted with maintaining these rights, and the health of this great country that we have inherited from our fore-bearers. Each generation has improved the general welfare of all Americans, and the amount of suffering and uncertainty faced in life that existed in the time of our founding fathers has been steadily decreasing. Yet, like all human endeavors, our nation has not achieve perfection in this regard and there is still room for improvement. While today Americans over the age of 65 need not worry about whether they will be able to get the health care they need, hundreds of millions of other Americans may face that uncertainty at some point in their lifetime. No member of congress truly serves his or her state’s or district’s entire populace as long as there remain citizens within that state or district facing this uncertainty.

The Health of the Nation is Intertwined with the Health of All Americans

Congress has been entrusted with the health of this nation and to ensure these labors continue, ever increasing our enjoyment of the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the very rights which this country was formed to guarantee.

But the health of the nation cannot be increased when the future health of hundreds of millions of americans remains uncertain, and subject to the vagaries of economic turmoil, disease and accident.

Good Health is a Necessary Precondition

To enjoy the right of Life, we must have the health that comes from quality care in order to live it fully. To enjoy our Liberty, we must be free from the need to indenture ourselves to a lifetime of service to a large corporation in order to ensure our families can get the care they need to remain healthy — and we must also be free from the uncertainty that we may lose access to that care at any moment, through no fault of our own, but solely due to the economy, actions of our employer, or giant for profit insurance companies. We cannot pursue happiness as our founders intended, when we are constantly in flight to avoid the uncertainties of changing and evaporating health care coverage.

If All Men Are Created Equal Then Why isn’t All Health Insurance Equal?

The very first of the basic truths upon which a legitimate government must operate, according to the Declaration of Independence was that “all men are created equal”.

Indeed, each of our births is a genetic lottery and any of us, and any of our children, could be born with a congenital condition which could have lifelong affects on their health. Should we not have equal access to the health care needed to enjoy the inalienable rights to life and liberty that are birthrights?

And each day we each equally face the random risks of unforeseen disasters caused by forces of nature like Hurricane Katrina, from disease such a bird flu, from physical accidents in our homes, offices and automobiles, and from random acts of mayhem by criminals, terrorists and madmen. The aftermath of these events can have both short term and chronic health altering effects. Should we not all have equal access to the health care needed to treat us for the health consequences of these events?

Where is the equality and justice in an insurance and health care system where access can be terminated summarily through the death, divorce or loss of employment of a spouse, by the whims of large employers or for profit insurers or unavoidable pre-existing conditions, where a person’s health care coverage can vary dramatically from employer to employer, from insurer to insurer, and person to person.

Half a Loaf is Better Than None

Somehow, every other industrialized country has figured out at least some basic health care solution that covers all of their citizens. None of these other plans is perfect yet, and their countries governments continue to fine tune them as well. But they all ensure that every one of their citizens have access to the health care they need. And in that regard, every one of these other countries plans is preferable to the American status quo for each American who is without health insurance or at risk of losing such coverage summarily.

No Excuse For Delay

If Congress can figure out how to cover every American over the age of 65 and every Veteran with adequate health coverage, congress ought to minimally find a way to cover the 100s of millions of other American Citizens who will lose their coverage at sometime in their lives. And while that plan most assuredly won’t be perfect as passed, it will most assuredly better for uninsured Americans than they alternatives they have today.
Then they can begin work on improving it. In the meantime, millions of Americans will enjoy both less stress and greater health.

Fast Action is Possible: Rescuing the Nation’s Financial Health

When the worldwide banking system was on the edge of an overnight collapse and the financial health of millions of Americans was at stake, Congress was able to act instantly and then make adjustments as needed in subsequent legislation. When millions of American’s non-financial health and lives are threatened daily by lack of health insurance, obstructionist incumbent politicians cannot be tolerated. With midterm elections only a few months away, vigilance can guide us in selecting the most effective members to return to congress for another term.

Healthy Small Businesses Mean a Healthy Nation (and Healthy Campaign Coffers)

It is worth noting that entrepreneurs and self employed business owners — and their employees, not only constitute a large voting block that can be mobilized as a stick against incumbents who ignore this issue, it is also worth noting that they also possess a large carrot. Many of the wealthiest american, such as Bill Gates, have made their wealth by founding new companies that subsequently grew large and grew quickly. Recently, the supreme court struck down campaign financing laws that affected businesses. So looking after the interests of today’s new entrepreneurs might not only be good for re-igniting a growth economy, it might just also lead to the growth of wealth that these donors could contribute to future campaigns.

Will individuals in Congress step up to their responsibly to protect the health of the country? Will we see any health care legislation before the next elections? Or will minority parties attempt to stonewall in order to deny the majority a legislative victory?

Time will tell, and we are watching…