Welcome to my Nightmare

Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, which is a fairly accurate depiction of this blog and my life.  At least my insanity is completely non-violent, and usually keeps me smiling.  Just make sure my crayon box is always kept full and we won't have any problems.

It would appear the Republican Party is suffering from the same insanity.  I hope they have burnt umber, I ate mine.  Last month, the GOP controlled US House of Representatives, for the 37th time, voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly referred to as "Obamacare".  That comes out to once every month.  I would think after 15 or 20 times, they would either come to accept the reality of the situation, or just get bored with doing the same  silly thing every month.  Maybe they need a better selection of crayons.

Here's the $2.99 primer on the legislative process:

A bill is presented.  The bill may be something frivolous such as the Idaho law making it illegal to give your sweetheart a box of chocolates weighing more than 50 lbs., or it may be something as vital as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Typically, the bill is simple, providing one solution or remedy to one problem.  The bill leads a brief normal life, and most of them die.  A few however, make it to the next phase, where they go into a cocoon (or committee) for their metamorphosis.  When they come out, instead of the beautiful simple solution they are an ugly conglomerate loaded with pork barrel project funding, special interest appeasements and all types of ridiculous legislation.  After a lengthy process, the original intent of the bill is removed, so the only trace of its original purpose is the title.  The bill is then used as a shuttlecock in a Congressional badminton tournament, until both sides have agreed upon everything contained in the bill.  The bill is voted on, passed and unless the President actually reads the bill, it is signed into law.

The end result:  less than perfect laws that require improvements and changes.  If a law is something very bad, then it might need to be repealed.  For a moment, let's assume ACA is such a law.  If an attempt to repeal fails (which it did, 37 times), there is another option, modify the bill.  Find the most offensive part of the bill, enact legislation to modify that part to something more acceptable and move on.  After a few changes (probably less than 37), an offensive or bad law can be made into an unoffensive or good law.  This creates a win-win cliche moment.  By taking something bad from the other party and making it good, you can claim any benefits from the altered legislation, while still blaming any downside on the originating party.  By sitting on their thumbs and stonewalling any attempts to implement legislation, the Republican party is showing they are more interested in taking shots at the Democrats than dealing with the country's problems.  Now we have the lose-lose situation.  If the ACA turns out to be a great thing, the Democrats get all the credit, and if it's a failure, the Republicans get all the blame.

 Granted, it is much easier and a lot more fun to throw insults and exaggerate minor issues into major scandals, but it serves no purpose, other than to make the Democratic party look better.  It's hard work to address the issues and find solutions to problems, but isn't that why the people voted for you?