If at first you don't succeed...

...please don't shove your ideas in my face.

This post is about ObamaCare.  I am not really going to talk about the content of the bills (thought that will likely be coming) but about the process.  My article for reference for this is from the reason again.  I don't really think articles need to be referenced for this post though because it is common to read articles about this bill over the last year.  However I have words various groups:

Democrats:

Look, pushing through an unpopular bill is not going to help.  It won't help you get elected again, and if you don't get re-elected you have to actually use the health care you want to pass (for good or bad).  The biggest problems for you guys is that you have let the industry write your laws and this bill (which I can't even sit through and read) is just too complicated.  Too many exceptions and inclusions and specifics.  You don't seem to realize complicated bills have holes you can drive a semi through.  This is a problem.  Make the bills simple.  Also stop bending-over to cater to special interests.  I am hugely behind getting this health care thing figured out however bending over to unions was enough to completely lose my support.  If you want to tax 'Cadillac' plans then do it.  I have a 'Cadillac' plan I work my hard for it and my employer feels like I deserve it.  If the unions don't have to pay the tax on their plan why should I?  You have a perception problem where it seems like you favor people over others.  Perhaps you shouldn't give that idea fuel.  Also, meeting behind closed doors wasn't helpful either.  This bill could potentially completely reshape America, it is important to me to know what is going on.  Make it open or I will never support you.  As a final note, do not do some underhanded maneuver to pass any bill.  Start over and really attack the problem.

Republicans:

You are as much to blame for the failure of health care reform as the democrats, and it isn't something to be proud of.  Spreading false information is not helpful.  There were real and valid concerns about the bill as it was being crafted by special interests.  However fear-mongering, finger-pointing, and generally having nothing constructive to do is not helpful.  Additionally you need to stop the over playing 'core issues'.  For instance, health care reform should have end of life consoling and should provide benefits for abortion.  Like it or not in America you can get an abortion and not realizing this is not helpful.  Perhaps you should concentrate on helping educate people about abortion rather then force those who want it to pay for it out of pocket when you insure every idiot who does something stupid.  This isn't helping the public good.  Additionally children are expensive and providing abortion benefits could help lower the costs of this reform in the long run.  You do have good ideas on how to improve health care, like tort reform, lowering costs, however stop protecting your campaign contributors.  Do what is right.

The President:

Don't make promises you can't keep.  Letting your party off the hook with the closed door reconciliation of the two bills was a major problem.  Additionally playing up the fact that you would pass health care while president was just a ploy since you had nothing to do with the monstrous bills that were produced (however I applaud your efforts to let congress make the bills like it should be, I am just upset that you ran on a platform of passing health care without doing anything about it.  I would have preferred if you just expressed your enthusiasm for change and let it at that).  Unfortunately you inherited a situation where the economy is in bad shape.  However only quoting the most optimistic cost of bills from the CBO is a bad move.  It is going to cost more and we all know it.  Let's call it correctly here.

So I am going to leave off with my hopes for the future new bill (I hope):

• Tort reform.
• Universal Coverage of basic (and only basic) health care.  (If we want to believe that health care is a basic right we should cover everyone at a basic level, think physicals, nutrition consultations, broken bones, maybe dental cleaning, the things EVERYONE needs).
• Require all conditions covered for bought insurance.  The biggest thing for this is electronic records and a central database to query.  This will help a lot.  That way all conditions are known to all parties.  The reason different groups have different rates is because they have different cost/risk profiles.  You can't get rid of that or you won't have private insurance companies anymore.
• Cost controls.  You can't do this by just saying you will do it.  Allow more transparency in costs.  I should be able to know the costs before I get helped by a doctor.  Require it (for non-emergencies obviously and for emergencies set ceilings).  I shouldn't go in for a physical be surprised by the bill (both number and costs).
• Reduce the overhead.  The electronic records will do a lot for that.
• Make EVERYONE pay for it.  Everyone should pay for this.  Remember, when people stop paying for it even a little bit the incentives will back fire (remember that wall street thing... like that).  Make is a x% tax on all wages which is not reimbursable or something.  Everyone should pay we are in this together, act like it.
• Think about how to control medical training costs.  France has a really good system for paying for medical degrees, perhaps you could ask them about it.
• Fair taxation and benefits.
• Open source government sponsored research.  I am tired or the tax payers paying for the research that drug companies do and then them charging out the ass for the drugs.  If the research is partially funded by grants or money from the government then the papers and results are free and unencumbered.  The NIH did a good job when the opened up the papers funded by us.  Continue this.
• Stop letting university researchers make money off patents.  This creates bad incentives for universities.  Lets fix this as well.  While you are at it, stop letting them patent my genes.  Patenting life is stupid.  Stop it.  Now.

There are others but those are kinda big.  Please listen.  I am not the only one who agrees with these.  If you value your legacy and your country you should listen.