Santorumcare

Ok, I admit it, there is no such thing as Santorumcare. I just made up the term in the hopes that you would be intrigued by the title and read this. Truthfully, Santorum doesn't really seem to have any forward-looking ideas. His "plan" to fix healthcare in America is to repeal the current law. The same cannot be said of Mitt Romney who is essentially the law's architect but is now playing the role of Dr. Frankenstein, racing about trying to kill his own creation.

All of this may be moot as the Supreme Court may very well rule individual mandate unconstitutional months before the Presidential election takes place, which is what this post is actually about, not Rick Santorum's lack of ideas.

After Tuesday, commentators were telling us that Obamacare - specifically the individual mandate - was on the ropes. It may very well be that the Supreme Court ultimately votes (along partisan lines) to overturn the law or at least the individual mandate. Though I support the law, I have acknowledged that it may be unconstitutional to require Americans to purchase healthcare. However that really isn't the point, and it is certainly not up to me to decide.

The point is that if the Supreme Court does strike down all or part of Obamacare, America will be back at square one, facing rising and unsustainable healthcare costs. Once again we will have a choice between differing ideologies on what needs to be done, but with Obamacare out of the way we will be faced with the Republican alternative: Santorumcare, or, put more bluntly, no plan at all.

This is the real problem facing America, and it applies to more than just healthcare. One of our two political parties has retreated from reality, and the only solutions it proffers are repealing laws designed to fix problems. There are no ideas to address the issues. Obamacare may very well be unconstitutional and so be it, but Obamacare was an attempt to fix a problem. A flawed attempt, but a good one nonetheless, and certainly better than Santorumcare which was and is the status quo.

If Obamacare is deemed unconstitutional whether in part or in whole, the nation will still need ideas and policies to extend health insurance to the nearly 50 million Americans who don't have it, both as a moral obligation, and as a national economic imperative. We cannot go on ignoring the plight of nearly one in every six Americans, and we cannot afford the rising costs associated with the current system when unpaid healthcare costs are covered by the taxpayer both in the form of government money and as reflected by higher premiums for those who have coverage. There is a lot that needs fixing.

While I still remain cautiously optimistic that the Court will uphold Obamacare, I am nervous enough to ponder next steps, especially because during the last round of healthcare debates, one side contributed ideas, the other side screamed death panels. One side tried to have a conversation, the other side spread lies and misinformation. One side presented facts and numbers, the other side wantonly ignored them. One side made an attempt to tackle the problem, the other declared that they would make the issue "Obama's Waterloo."

Until Republicans are ready to put their grown-up pants back on and begin contributing to the national conversation rather than screaming louder than the other team and spreading misinformation Americans will be faced with the choice between the flawed and the nothing. Obamacare vs. Santorumcare. Which would you rather have: ideas and solutions or lies and demagoguery?