Back to business...

...as usual? It remains to be seen, but it appears that way. As Congress reconvened today, the hot issue is exactly what we knew it would be, "repealing the job-killing healthcare law," or something along those lines.

In my last posts, in the wake of the Arizona shootings, I have, like many others, acknowledged the need for civility. I've also noted that when Republicans do silly things, we should call them silly.

So that's what I'll be doing now. It's a reality that the House of Representatives will pass a repeal bill and that said bill will die as soon as it leaves the House. That's well and good for America since the CBO estimated that the new law will save over $100 billion while the Republican repeal plan will COST over $200 billion. I'm not sure how Republicans managed to come up with a repeal that is MORE EXPENSIVE than the new law, but my hat is off to them. It's quite a feat to make yourself look that silly.

I could spend the next few paragraphs laying out all the reasons we need the new law. It saves money, it helps Americans, etc, etc, etc. I can also freely admit that I'm not sure if it will stand up to the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, but that as a practical matter, the law is a necessity. I could talk about Republican hypocrisy and how they want to cut the budget with a repeal bill that will cost $200 billion dollars, and I could laugh and the irony that they're willing to accuse the CBO of unfair play when the CBO evaluated a Republican proposal and found that it would increase the budget.

I could do this, or I could look past this and try to find something important for our law makers to do. It has nothing to do with healthcare which is a fight that is going to end for good soon anyhow. The healthcare law was passed and will only grow more popular as time passes and people realize that the GOP complaints about it aren't true. While the law may need some tweaking, the idea is right and the economics - as laid out and tested - don't add to the deficit. This should be a non-starter, but politics are getting in the way.

In the meantime, America is doing nothing to create jobs and technology in the next great field, the one I've been harping about since I started blogging almost a year ago. But there are other things that can be done, consider this great piece, sent to me by a good friend, about the positive and money-saving effect of technology on government operations.

It's a new year, and it's time for a new conversation, the healthcare battle has been fought and won by the right side. Now that we've taken one positive step for America's future, let's find another area that we can improve rather than repealing the good we've already done.