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The election of Scott Brown, a Republican in the most Democratic state in the Union, as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts, should serve as a wake-up call to President Obama -- a warning that he needs to shift his emphasis.
The issue in Massachusetts was not health care reform and don't be persuaded by those who said Brown's victory was because he promised he would vote against the health care reform legislation in Congress. This election was a case of the voters of Massachusetts sending a message to the President of the United States that his focus should not be on health care reform, but on job creation. Health care reform is necessary, but it doesn't do anyone any good if they feel they can't take advantage of it.
I am convinced most Americans think there are only one of two ways they can purchase health insurance, no matter how "affordable" that insurance might be. The first way is that it is offered by an employer; the second is that they purchase insurance on their own. Both ways, Americans feel, require an income and that usually means a job.
The previous administration inherited a healthy economy and destroyed it. What makes matters worse is that the economic policies professed by Sen.-elect Brown and other Republicans would guarantee further economic deterioration. So now, President Obama doesn't have the 60 votes needed to prevent Republican filibustering on health care. Fine. Then put that on the back burner for now (especially since the health care reform legislation currently being debated is so watered down it's not worth fighting for anyway) and focus the administration's efforts on job creation and force Brown and his cohorts to oppose that.
The issue in Massachusetts was not health care reform and don't be persuaded by those who said Brown's victory was because he promised he would vote against the health care reform legislation in Congress. This election was a case of the voters of Massachusetts sending a message to the President of the United States that his focus should not be on health care reform, but on job creation. Health care reform is necessary, but it doesn't do anyone any good if they feel they can't take advantage of it.
I am convinced most Americans think there are only one of two ways they can purchase health insurance, no matter how "affordable" that insurance might be. The first way is that it is offered by an employer; the second is that they purchase insurance on their own. Both ways, Americans feel, require an income and that usually means a job.
The previous administration inherited a healthy economy and destroyed it. What makes matters worse is that the economic policies professed by Sen.-elect Brown and other Republicans would guarantee further economic deterioration. So now, President Obama doesn't have the 60 votes needed to prevent Republican filibustering on health care. Fine. Then put that on the back burner for now (especially since the health care reform legislation currently being debated is so watered down it's not worth fighting for anyway) and focus the administration's efforts on job creation and force Brown and his cohorts to oppose that.
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