I was of two minds when deciding what to write about this morning, especially since without my publisher (brother Neil) to post this blog to facebook very few eyes are likely to see it. However, I will persevere. The first topic was health care and the republican push to take it away from anyone they feel doesn't deserve it. Although I have not researched the dawn of the social security era in the 1930s, what reading I have done indicates to me that the GOP was hell bent on destroying what is arguably the most popular government program of all time. They continued to try to undermine the program until the mid 1950s and still scratch around the edges in an attempt to make it less available. They are trying the same game plan with health care. People have finally come around to if not love then at least like the ACA as it has inched toward the goal of universal health care coverage. If not destroyed now it may be the precursor to a Medicare for All program which will join social security on the third rail of American politics, i.e., touch it and you die!
The second point I wanted to make is the role of aging and what it means in politics at this time. As Joe Biden contemplates joining Bernie Sanders and tRump as septuagenarians running for the presidency, I think most Americans who have crossed the threshold of Medicare wonder what he is thinking. While I am still working, I can't even imagine taking on the 24/7 demands of the modern presidency. I am not talking about the present occupant of the oval office who spends more time watching Faux News than fulfilling the duties of his office. We need a vision of the future from someone who is still closer to his or her birth than to their funerals. Yes, there are plenty of older folks who defy the ravages of time, but do we want to gamble our future on the ability of a 76 year old to keep it together for 4 stressful years?
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