George W. Bush won the 2004 election with a “mandate.” He did in fact have a mandate, just because of how close the election of 2000 was. No one could argue with the result of this election. The Democrats liked to point out at the time that it was the narrowest victory in quite some time by an incumbent, and that is true. Still, Bush was a legit President.
So what did Bush want to do with his mandate? He wanted to fix social security. Any economist will tell you that social security is going bankrupt and something needs to be done about it. The exact date is goes bankrupt is unknown and there was debate at the time of this issue. It was clear that Bush wanted to “fix” social security and make that a major part of his legacy. His solution? Personal Savings Accounts, where people get a portion of their own Social Security to invest how they want (well how they want is a little misleading, there were a lot a restrictions, point is they were open and able to be put to work in the market).
The idea was very republican at the core. It was free market, and it gave people choices. It was to be put in place to replace an outdated system that could no longer sustain itself due to rising cost. With the Republicans controlling both Houses of Congress and the Presidency, it looked like this third rail would finally be dealt with. In the end, it did not happen. The Democrats rallied around the idea that this was too risky. That people who were planning on retiring would lose their savings and then have to work the rest of their lives. They were able to kill Social Security Reform, which clearly needs to be reformed, by saying it was too risky and would hurt the average American.
Fast forward to 2008. Barack Obama wins the presidency with a mandate. One of his core issues, Universal Health Care. He claims, rightly, that the costs are going up and that the current model is unsustainable. Just like Bush and Social Security though, while there is a serious problem in the future, its just that, in the future. While many people dislike the health care system now, they can envision it being much worse. Sure, now I have to deal with insurance companies trying to screw me, but what if the gov’t won’t pay for a vital test my doctor says I need. Basically the same argument the Democrats made with Social Security, sure the current system sucks any gets such a low return it’s a shame, but we don’t want people making stupid choices and it resulting in people not being able to retire.
While the Republicans proposed Republican answers to a very serious problem in social security reform, and the Democrats proposed Democrat answers to Health Care reform, both are looking to be defeated in the same way. Basically, the garbage you have now is better than the possible results you can get in reform. I agree with the Republicans here, these Democrat solutions to Health Care are bad solutions. A public option is a horrible idea. The last thing we want between the doctor and the patient is the government. Still, there is a serious problem, and the lock insurance companies have needs to be dealt with. Let’s just not deal with it by having more government.
