Thursday, October 27, 2016

Hillary Clinton: The Issue around Healthcare and Why She is Overly Qualified to be POTUS


I understand why there has been a lot of controversy about Hillary Clinton. Many use the arguments of Benghazi and her email scandal as a legitimate reason to avoid having her become the next President of the United States. Regardless of those admitted faults and wrong doings, it can’t POSSIBLY be worse than the things Trump has said and done. She may not be as likable as other figures in politics – while constantly being made a mockery of – her track record speaks for itself. Although many have demonized Hillary Clinton and pointed to the public why she should not be President, lets look into why she should be President.

Avoiding the immediate reaction of, “Anyone will be better than Trump” from the more sensible people, Hillary Clinton has been involved in Politics and Government for the last 3-4 decades. Constantly considered a “flip-flopper,” many do not realize that Clinton, during her time as a US Senator, Secretary of State and a First Lady, was able to make huge strides in politics – from imposing new forms of Health Care to negotiating legislations. During her 8-year tenure as a senator, Clinton has had her name, as a sponsor and cosponsor, on over 400 pieces of legislation.[1] Clinton has for many years been a great negotiator and has attempted to find common ground with every situation she has been in. Consistently mistaken for flip flopping – like in the topic of same-sex marriage – Clinton has had to negotiate with endorsers, institutions and political elites in order to get amendments passed. Before you attack her changing her perspective on these issues, why has no one brought up these flip flopping accusations on both Barrack Obama and Bernie Sanders? Yes, Bernie Sanders has flopped on the subject. Until 2009, neither 3 of those figures had publicly stated that they were for Same Sex Marriage. While Sanders generally opposed measures to ban gay marriage, he did not speak out in favor of it until 2009.[2] Sanders had not voted on amendments or tried to pass any pieces of legislation himself for the legalization of Gay Marriage – and neither did Obama. Why? Because they would have lost their favorability and quite possibly their jobs if they did. Many endorsers and elites that would otherwise be required for their reelections and political careers would have been lost. Remember, this is their job, not just a hobby.

The issue of Health care has always been a large and possibly a deciding factor in elections. It is safe to say that everyone liked Bernie Sanders for a handful of things - one being his stance on Universal Healthcare. However, what many Americans never understood is that Hillary Clinton was an advocate and supporter for Universal Healthcare during her 2008 Presidential Campaign. Clinton tried to explain to voters that her Healthcare plan made it a requirement for States to pay for insurance – meaning universal healthcare. During the primaries, Obama had attacked her Universal Healthcare by claiming that she was forcing everyone to buy insurance, even if they couldn’t afford it – which is ironic since that wasn’t the case and that’s exactly what Obama Care does. Unfortunately, Clinton’s universal healthcare didn’t work due a few reasons; one being how Congress was controlled by republicans. Who (1) hated that she drafted it, (2) hate big government, and (3) don't want to pay a penny more in taxes, or have the government pay for anything. They believed that health insurance should be an individual entity and not required by the state. Except the taxpayer ends up paying for it anyway if someone doesn't have coverage and gets sick. But at least with insurance you can prevent these diseases and treat them as opposed to having no insurance – going into a hospital and being treated for a huge surgery that is being paid by the taxpayer.


Video of Clinton speaking on her Healthcare in 2008:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_X-RoRghAY&app=desktop



Now, is it ethical to have “politics” in politics? That subject can be debated another day. However, we do need to realize that humans are the ones running our government, ones with their own biases. It is an extremely difficult task to have all of congress agree on the same pieces of legislation – which makes negotiating that much more important. Hillary Clinton has been heavily scrutinized throughout her life for issues that were not deserved. What she represents is progress as well as a great negotiator who the United States can benefit from. So for the “undecided voters” of this election, or the ones that are not entirely convinced with Hillary, you should consider all the facts surrounding her because she has represented progress that can be beneficial to our government.



[1] http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/09/only-3-of-clintons-400-pieces-of-legislation-became-law/
[2] http://time.com/4089946/bernie-sanders-gay-marriage/

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