Less than a month ago, you looked out through your champagne-induced haze (OK, it was an André-induced haze, recession year cuts…) toward the horizon of a new year, a new decade. Your pulse quickened, a smile etched its way onto your inebriated face and warmth emanated from the chambers of your heart.
“What is this funny feeling that is overtaking me?” you asked. “Could it be? But I haven’t felt anything like this since November of 2008. I thought it never would return. But here it is! Hope! A new hope for a new decade.”
2009 was a calamity parade. The recession. Swine Flu. Michael Jackson. “Transformers 2.” The Yankees. Tiger Woods. Moving on to the new decade seemed to be a daunting task, but drawing upon your newfound hope, you made a solemn vow to turn fortune around and make 2010 the Best Year Ever!
And so Jan. 1 you wrote a list of two New Year’s resolutions and posted it on your refrigerator. Neither was out of the ordinary, just two simple Dr. Phil-approved steps to rebuild your life that 2009 had shattered.
1. Live a healthier lifestyle in the New Year.
2. Take greater control of your destiny.
These were not overly ambitious resolutions. Indeed, you thought your two potential plans of action—giving up drinking Sunday through Wednesday or abandoning the pre-med track—would have put two big check marks on your list. Surely abstaining from alcohol would be a healthier option than the alternative (though perhaps not for your mental health), and sobriety would undoubtedly give you greater control of your life. As for dropping pre-med, you don’t need to take physics and organic chemistry to know that sleep is good for you, and now you, not your parents, would finally decide your future.
A week into January, and you were feeling pretty good about your resolutions, and you were ready to make two changes that would have fulfilled them. 2010 was yours for the taking.
Fast forward to the present day, and here you are, cold and ashamed, lying naked on the floor, discarding the torn pieces of your resolutions. “What did I do wrong?” you ask yourself.
Nothing. It’s not your fault. Listen to me son, it’s not your fault! And I do not say this merely as a platitude like Robin Williams did in “Good Will Hunting.” It really isn’t your fault; blame can be shared by the Democratic Congress, the voters of Massachusetts and the Supreme Court of the United States.
The House of Representatives passed a health care reform bill in November that included the so-called “public option”—the jewel of the reform plan that President Obama outlined and that the voters accepted. A bit more than a month later, the public option became one of the many casualties of the Democratic Senate’s circular firing squad (Senate integrity became another) when the Senate passed its own version of the bill. Health care industry stocks, including those for insurance companies, rose. Resolution No. 1 was in jeopardy.
Last week, in what Democrats still seem to think to be some sort of terrible mistake, the voters of Massachusetts elected an upscale bachelorette party private dancer to fill Edward Kennedy’s senate seat, though to their credit, the alternative candidate’s campaign was a case study in how to throw away a 46-year legacy. Health care stocks rose again. Now we are told “health care reform” is going to spend its days on a big farm where it will have plenty of room to roam. But maybe you can have “health insurance reform” for Christmas next year if you promise to be extra good.
RIP your first resolution.
But perhaps you can salvage resolution No. 2 if you help get these guys voted out of office. ¡Que se vayan todos! Let’s get these flunkies of the corporate fat cats out of office? Right comrades? Unfortunately, no. The flunkies are here to stay.
Last week the Supreme Court banged the gavel to open corporate bidding on elections by declaring unconstitutional laws limiting political spending by corporate entities. En route to putting Washington on eBay, the Court overruled multiple precedents and relied on bogus First Amendment arguments that extend the rights of individual citizens to corporations. In so doing, the Court paradoxically encroached on the rights of individual citizens by turning Democratic elections into bids.
Complaints that elections can be bought and that corporate interests control Washington are already commonplace both on the right and the left. Expect in 2010 for this Supreme Court ruling to increase the volume of such complaints. In other words, forget about fulfilling resolution No. 2.
Jordan Rice is a Trinity senior. His column runs every other Tuesday.
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