Because it's obvious.

[ElboRuum]

Q: Why can't the people of this country get the things they want and need from their government?
A: Because what they want is obvious.

And it is.

Health care? Which is the better choice, a system where people can't afford their own health insurance without a job, and even if they have health insurance through their employer, if they ever decide to use it for anything can be dropped on a whim... or a system where ever person in this country can go to a doctor if they are sick, spreading the costs thinly over the whole of the people in this country, and guaranteed that they can never be dropped? Still undecided? The second costs the individual much less than the first.

See, it's fucking obvious. And this is why we will have to kick and scream and claw for it. It's the best answer and by a mile.

Iraq? Afghanistan? Which is the better choice? On one hand we can continue to throw troops and money at this, with no goal in mind, and no end in sight, or on the other, we take our ball, go home, call it lesson learned (this time for sure we hope), and spend the money on... oh, I dunno... maybe fucking health care?

Fucking obvious. And this is why we'll have to kick and scream and claw for it. It's the best answer and by a mile.

What else is obvious?

Well, for starts, our Congresscritters are on the take. Also, the lobbies are proof that "money talks". You take the money and influence away from the system, institute term limits, and I GUARANTEE, the only people who will run for office are those who are ACTUALLY INTERESTED IN REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE WHO ELECTED THEM.

Fucking obvious. Follow the money and you'll find the root of the problem. And this is why this will never change. In fact, they don't even try to hide their propensity for self interest anymore. Obvious... and brazenly so.

See, somewhere in the past century, we kind of ceded our curiosity about what the government does with our money and how our representation is voting where we are concerned. We stopped watching. While we weren't watching, someone made the interesting observation that transparency makes it damned hard to do lucrative things, and changing that's been the game all along. Obfuscate government. Shield it from the eyes of the constituency. Meet behind closed doors. Find excuses for secrecy. Hide the devil in the details of a 1000+ page bill, which if proper and just and what we wanted, might span 30. Never make it possible for a person uninitiated to political life to parse the reality in front of them.

This is why we can't get what we want. What we want is obvious. What we want would be transparent. What we want, therefore, is totally anathema to what government in this country has come to be about.

[ElboRuum]

1. One little kick before I let it sink.

For Aiur...

[truedelphi]

2. Too late to K & R but a great post.

Lately I am hearing far too much of "We have to forget about what is obvious and what we REALLY want and settle for what we are going to get and DAMN, let's all bless those politicians for even thinking about a Bill with Health Care in its title."