February 09, 2010
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August 11, 2009

Laws, Sausages and Healthcare

By Tom Suhadolnik
As Democrats and Republicans seek advantage in the current town hall brouhaha, neither side grasps what is driving this political phenomenon.  These crowds might be shouting about healthcare reform, but it's the sausage that has them fired up.

The 19th century German statesman Otto von Bismarck is to democratic (small "d") politics what Sun Tzu is to war and Machiavelli to despotism.  His extraordinary career gave us many insightful quips about modern democratic politics.  Even if you have never heard of Bismarck you know some of his observations; "Politics is not a science, it is an art" and "Politics is the art of the possible" are cardinal rules for professional politicians.  Another quote oft-attributed (possibly wrongly) to Bismarck: "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made...", is one of the most incisive comment ever made about legislative politics.

This week, Democrats point to polls showing Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of healthcare reform and willing to pay more in taxes to help the uninsured.  Republicans point to polls showing dwindling support for current reform efforts and antipathy to a public option.  Obama's approval ratings are dropping.  The New York Times refers to these poll results as a paradox.  Short of diagnosing the American electorate with collective schizophrenia, it is impossible rationalize these opinions without looking beyond the current debate on healthcare.

During the 2008 presidential race, a major thread in Obama's campaign rhetoric was a promise of substantive and procedural reform.  He promised to be transparent by posting legislation on the Internet before he signed it.  He promised to end earmarks.  He promised to be bipartisan.  Sensing the mood of the electorate, John McCain promised much the same. 

These calls resonated with an electorate that reflexively distrusts politicians.  While most American's do not understand markups, cloture votes, or conference committees, they would agree with Bismarck when he said "Politics ruins the character."  By inauguration day they had listened to years of "Bush lied, people died" and rants about Halliburton (or Blackwater, or Exxon, or the cable companies or some other firm) fleecing the American people.  The vast majority of Americans opposed TARP and the GM/Chrysler bailouts.  To paraphrase Obama they were hoping for change.

The Obama Administration's first order of business was passing the $787 billion Stimulus Bill.  To be fair, other than the size of the bill the hasty effort to pass an unread bill was not extraordinary.  Horse trading, strong arm tactics, pork and staffers reading bills are not new to Washington.  But many Americans who found Obama's promise of reform appealing were watching the process for the first time.  It was their first peak into the sausage factory.

Next, the administration pushed a $410 billion Omnibus Spending Bill filled with 9,000 earmarks worth $7.7 billion.  There was a little more Republican support for this but this bill was hardly bipartisan.  The White House responded to criticism of the president acquiescing to the earmarks by saying it was not the time to pick a fight.  Reform seeking Americans had opened the door to the sausage factory and found it to be filthy.

Then the Waxman-Markey Cap and Trade Bill moved into the center ring.  Americans watched Chairman Henry Waxman hire a speed reader to overcome procedural calls to read the bill in committee.   A video showing Waxman and ranking member Joe Barton chuckling about the speed reader did not look good for Republicans or Democrats.  Not only was the sausage factory unsanitary but the shirtless workers were joking about it.

Eventually the Cap and Trade bill was rushed to the house floor and a vote held before the bill was committed to paper.  There was a written 1000 page bill and 300 pages of incomprehensible amendments, but the bills language and the amendments had not been reconciled.  No one could produce, let alone read the bill.  Minority Leader John Boehner addressed this on the House floor shortly before the bill passed on a largely party line vote.  Americans had found a pile of rancid bratwurst ready to be shipped to the neighborhood grocery store. 

Had reform not been such a driving factor in the last presidential campaign many Americans would likely have missed these procedural shenanigans.  As Steny Hoyer, John Conyers, Arlen Specter, Henry Waxman and others have matter-of-factly stated: no legislator ever reads the entire bill.  Earmarks and opaqueness are how things get done in Washington.  For the first time, many Americans had toured the sausage factory and they were repulsed by what they found.

While these three pieces of legislation were in the center ring, the side show was pretty ugly too.  The AIG bonus scandal, the appointment of 40 plus czars, former Governor Blagojevich's indictment for trying to sell a senate seat, Timothy Geithner's tax problems, the Chrysler and GM bankruptcies and the fleecing of senior creditors and bond holders were stellar examples of a political process run amok. 

As newly passed (but unread) legislation was parsed for the first time by average citizens they found billions in questionable spending and dozens of provisions that would directly impact their lives.  The emails spread and news cycles were filled with stories on the absurdities and the ensuing frustration of average Americans.

One particular example was the GM and Chrysler dealer closings.   These decisions, which were made behind closed doors, directly affected small businesses employing approximately 100,000 people. Rumors about political considerations filled broadcast and print media. Although none was truly substantiated they were not debunked either.  This single example of the political process provided millions of people with firsthand knowledge of someone's livelihood being affected by a seemingly arbitrary or vindictive decision made in Washington.

All of which brings us back to the floor of the sausage factory as the Democrats, Republicans and Obama haggle about healthcare reform.  Wasteful government spending, the loss of a neighbor's job to government fiat or politicians not bothering to read a bill makes for rancid sausage.  But unless it's your job the sausage is on someone else's plate.  Unlike other recent acts of legislative malpractice healthcare reform will directly affect every American.  This particular string of sausage will be shared by everyone.

If politicians could point to a bill, demonstrate that they had read the bill by discussing specific language, and explain why they oppose or support certain provisions the vast majority of boisterous opposition at a town hall would evaporate.  But when John Dingell admits he does not know anything about Massachusetts's experience with healthcare reform or Kathleen Sebelius defends Arlen Specter by pointing out the bill he advocates has not been written the crowd gets ugly.

I wish the current uproar over healthcare reform were grounded in the principles of Federalism or limited government.  It would please me to know Americans having peered into the abyss of socialism had decided the free market was in fact the more moral and practical option.  But I am not naïve.

Unfortunately, the opposition to healthcare reform is neither partisan nor principled.  Most Americans support the concept of more government control in healthcare.  Older Americans have no objection with government run healthcare; they oppose a half trillion dollar cut to their Medicare.  The majority of Americans who wanted to see AIG executives hung from the nearest lamp post probably would favor a government option if it meant putting health insurance executives in the unemployment line.  A law banning insurance companies from considering pre-existing conditions would have overwhelming support of the electorate despite its anti free market pedigree.  Remove funding for abortions and Catholic bishops would rally support of the faithful for a European style single payer system.

While the town halls show Americans are agitated, they are not against the prospect of healthcare reform.  What you are seeing is middle America's visceral reaction as it realizes its faith in the political system has been misplaced.  This is no cause for celebration. 

Today, Americans are simply worried a dysfunctional political system that will produce something which will make matters worse.  For this reason, what is happening at the town halls is not necessarily beneficial to Republicans or Democrats; nor is it to Conservatives or Liberals.  Barring a major change in the political tides, whoever exploits America's repugnance with the recent visit to the sausage factory can advance almost any agenda. 

To quote Bismarck again, "A statesman... must wait until he hears the steps of God sounding through events, then leap up and grasp the hem of His garment."   God's tap dancing on the second floor and whoever recognizes it's Him will have the support of the "angry mob".  Let's hope the politician who recognizes God's soft shoe does not take us down the wrong path.

Tom Suhadolnik is a serial entrepreneur, management consultant and writer living in Kent, Ohio.  He can be reached at tom at suhadolnik.com.
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