MARREN: If it’s Sunday, it must be politics

By Tim Marren<br><a href="mailto:tim.marren@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Tim</a>

You know, just this week I told former publisher Steve Hall, former reporter Mark Lindsay and current Tonawanda News Managing Editor Eric DuVall that I just don’t have the energy to write a column about politics every week.

This is New York after all, where if you wrote about state or national politics every day or even every week, you’d probably lose your mind.

My remark came after Steve, who is now working at the Canton Repository in Ohio, pleaded (somewhat jokingly) to me to stop running Eric’s column when I’m on vacation. I think it’s safe to say Steve didn’t exactly agree with Eric’s column last Sunday and his portrayal — in Steve’s interpretation — of Barney Frank in a positive light.

They had an animated back and forth through e-mail that I was copied on and which kept me thoroughly amused.

So here I am, the hypocrite who said he can’t stand writing about politics, about to praise a politician — and in turn — write about politics. I’m flip-flopping. I’m going back on my promises. Guess that makes me one of them.

Anyway, here goes.

We met with Congressman Chris Lee on Tuesday to talk health care, the auto industry and every bailout our government has given to several industries. It was a great visit.

Lee is making the rounds, meeting with social groups, newspaper editorial boards and doing tele-town hall meetings (on the phone). I think you can guess what side of the health care debate he is on, being a Republican and all.

That being said, he’s open-minded and seems to be listening to and working with the Democrats. Regardless, he’s adamantly against H.R. 3200, saying it does not reform the health care system.

I couldn’t agree more.

The system is broken. It’s cliché, but it’s true. Every politician agrees, but the approach is vastly different.

As Lee said, even if you were to add Americans to a government-run option, the system still needs to be fixed. And by system, I mean, the rigmarole you and I go through just trying to get decent health care. High prescription costs, back and forth with insurance companies, the ever-changing definition of “pre-existing condition;” these are the things we all deal with that have not been questioned by those in Washington. Instead, the best idea is to create a new system, which you and I will pay for. I don’t think so.

Why not hold those in the current system accountable and create standards they must abide by? This is Congress we’re talking about here. They should have the muscle to do so. The law is the law. Write laws that restrict or control the insurance and prescription companies. The same with doctors, specialists, etc.

Problem is, too many politicians are in bed with the medical interests, making it difficult to hold their feet to the fire.

The goal should be to reform the standards — or heck, create some — and make that a priority. Then watch the costs go down for you and I, and we will be able to afford private care.

Lee has called it liability reform. It makes sense. Fix the broken system and see where that gets us.

What I like best about Lee’s message is that it’s level-headed, calm and precise. He’s against the bill, but he’s not screaming from the rooftops or saying that old people will be left to die. Some of the craziness that you’ve heard in opposition of the bill on talk radio or watched at town hall meetings across the country, is not the game Lee has decided to play.

He has visited with people in the medical field, talked with the professionals, met with constituents and formed his own agenda. To sit down with him, you hear little to none from the Republican playbook.

That, to me, is refreshing. Maybe politics isn’t so bad after all.

Tim Marren is the managing editor of the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Contact him at Tim.Marren@lockportjournal.com

or 439-9222.