The Wild West

Beckel Admits To Hannity: Fox's Health Plan Rejected Me

Sean Hannity doesn't understand much about health care, and why should he? Disease has always existed, yet AMERICA has endured! Doesn't that mean that universal health care is just unnecessary? Hannity calls to mind a simpler time, where men were men, and women were respectful, and people with scarlet fever and tuberculosis had the decency to say, "No, no! Let me just quietly die in this alley! I don't want to be a part of some depressing set of statistics!"

The above is taken from an article on Huffington Post, and I could not have said it better. I remember listening to Harry Reid during a devotional at Brigham Young University. He spoke about being a Democrat and Mormon. He put his speech in the context of his family's life before the New Deal. He grew up in a coal mining community where people worked hard, but despite how hard they worked they still had a severe lack of health services, education, transportation service, among many other necessities. However, he spoke about how Democrats ushered in a wealth of government programs to provide equal opportunity for even the poorest of Americans. This is what I believe in as well.

And you know what? I would like to think that most Republicans think this way as well. When it comes down to it, they want poor kids to access to good education like rich kids, right? They want poor people to have access to health care, right? However, many Republicans paint a picture that would take the government COMPLETELY out of the equation.

This is the type of thinking that puts people like Hannity in awkard situations like this:

HANNITY: I'm on the Fox Plan and the AFTRA Plan. I have no clue what insurance I have. I don't have a special health care plan! I have the same plan that you do.

BECKEL: No you don't. I don't have a health insurance plan.

HANNITY: You work for FOX, you're on the FOX plan.

BECKEL: I don't qualify for the Fox plan, because I have a pre-existing condition.

Mormons are being DUPED by the Republican Party

It frustrates me so much to see that Utah is a red state. If I had to take a guess as to why this is, I would quickly point to classic social conservative issues such as Roe v. Wade and gay marriage. I would also point to free market-classic liberalism... even though Bush has been an even bigger spender on government programs than his previous successor Bill Clinton. Slate reports:

"Those conservatives who sincerely believe that government needs to spend less—a small but important Republican constituency—are furious at Bush right now because he's increasing domestic discretionary spending more rapidly than Bill Clinton did. During his two terms in office, Clinton increased domestic discretionary spending by 10 percent. Bush, in not quite one full presidential term, has already increased domestic discretionary spending by 25 percent. This according to the White House's own budget charts! (The numbers are adjusted for inflation.)"

So back to the social issues... I had a great discussion with a socially conservative Mormon who says he will ALWAYS vote Republican mainly on the basis of appointing conservative appointees to the Supreme Court. I have also had crap discussions with socially conservative Mormons that went something like this, "Gay people marrying... gross". I am not here to argue on either side of this argument but I am here to argue that voting Republican or Democrat based on these issues is absolutely, wholly, and completely irrational.

First: I have incredible difficulty recapitulating any memory of a Republican majority or President proposing any kind of legislation to BAN Gay marriage nationwide, OR to actually challenge Roe v. Wade. I am not saying that this hasn't happened. I also have a difficult time recalling any federal proposition from Democrats to make abortion easier, or force states to recognize Gay marriage. SURE I have heard the scare factor from my fellow Mormons "If Hillary was president she would make it so children could sue their parents over domestic matters." But I am here to say to my fellow, and sorely beloved fellow Mormons. Ditch the Republican Party and vote Democrat.

Let the social issues take a back seat, and think about what you would do to make our country better. If you think we should throw money in the pockets of rich CEOs because eventually it will trickle down to the middle class: by all means vote Republican. And what about the Marriot School of Business Libertarians and Constitutionalists: if you believe our government should run like a business, and that we are misinterpreting our constitution; by all means vote for them. However, I just want to remind people, life in the Wild West was crap. And I love cowboys! It's a romantic idea of America living on the frontier, fencing off our land, and relying on our own two hands. But break your hand, and life sucks. Ya, we can accept it as a trial and humble ourselves. But for some reason, and maybe it is due to my weird Mormon beliefs, that I would not mind having government programs in hand to educate, heal, and protect all citizens despite their economic situation.

So leave your circle of ignorance and realize the limits of a desperately free market AND of single issue voting (social conservatism). And another thing... WAKE UP! The Republican Party HATES Mormons. They hate us. The Religious Right hates Mormons. They hated Romney, and they hate us. On the other hand, Obama loves Mormons. And Apostles love Obama.