Conservatives could have slipped in a few reforms of their own...

A lot of conservatives are wining about how the Democratic majority "slipped in" the Health care reform bill and ushered in a new era of communism. If conservatives chose to engage the Democrats in debate, rather than be obstructionist, they could have slipped in a few reforms of their own.

1. Tort reform
The HCR bill was largely about cutting costs. Malpractice insurance is a large part of the cost of medicine. Republicans could have "slipped in" tort reform and at least got the ball rolling in making our society less litigious. If medical malpractice tort reform were "slipped in," this could have paved the way to tort reform for all of society.

2. Reforming the Civil Service Culture
The Republicans complained that having the government take over health care was bad because the government has a reputation for providing poor services. There is merit to this argument. Civil Servants like DMV workers do not have to work as hard as their private sector counterparts. Their employment and benefits are virtually guaranteed for life. There is no reward for civil servants that work hard or do a good job.

The Republicans could have addressed this concern by making government employees under the HCR bill more like private sector employees. These new government employees would get fired if they did not meet performance standards or if they received complaints from customers. These employees could also get bonuses and promotions solely on their performance, but they could also get fired if their existence is not justified.

Again, if the Republicans slipped this in, they could get the ball rolling so all government employees would be treated like private sector employees. This would ultimately lead to a cheaper government.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


I suppose they could have hired Blackwater and kicked the doors in to gain admission into the closed door meetings where such items were added.
Reid might have had them shot on sight though. Pelosi would throw that damn gavel at them

You are engaging in satire? Of course you are.

Dang, I thought you were talking about the financial reform going on.

I will have to agree with Blaine, you cannot add things to a bill if you are not allowed to play.

I have actually heard some on the Dem side saying it is the Repubs fault for how the bill ended up. Almost funny that type of sentiment, if it was not so politically motivated. The Dems own that bill. Period.

Now, I thought of a basic reform for the financial. How about actually pressing charges when fraud is committed instead of just a fine.

You know, that old thing called law.