Sometimes it seems like the healthcare debate involves.... well, just healthcare. But in reality, many other political and social factors manipulate the healthcare issue. I plan to overview some of these issues and hopefully shed some light on a few of these secondary components.
1. Abortion- the Stupak Amendment controversy highlighted the fact that, like almost every other facet of the political sphere, healthcare is deeply affected by the pro-life, pro-choice divide. Organizations on both sides of the aisle threatened to pull their backing of the healthcare bill earlier this year if they didn't get their way on the abortion wording. In the end, the Stupak amendment was not part of the deal, but President Obama promised to sign an executive order to the same effect. According to an article on The Washington Times website, President Obama insisted on signing the order without any media present- a sign of the controversial nature of the order.
2. Small Government/ Large Government- The issue of government size, subsidies, regulation, and intervention all came up repeatedly during the healthcare debates in Congress and in the media. Democrats pushed for a public, government run option, while Republicans raised the specter of big government socialism and government overspending (which, after the Bush years, made even this right-leaning moderate laugh out loud).
3. Race- like pretty much everything else involving our country's first black president, race was a factor in the debates. Older, generally well-to-do tea partiers carried racially provocative signs about President Obama. The idea that the proposed changes might benefit underprivileged minorities enraged some white Americans with more reactionary tendencies. Also, it seems that many ultra-conservatives were especially upset at the fact that a black man was "running the show" and imposing what they saw as excessive governmental regulation.
4. Party Politics- Democrats in Congress were expected by their party to vote for the bill, and Republicans were expected to vote against it. The Democrats wanted Obama to accomplish some sort of healthcare reform before next election, and the Republicans wanted to prevent him from doing that at any cost. These agendas clearly represented what was best for their respective parties in the upcoming elections.
In conclusion, while healthcare in and of itself is a big issue, it has been dramatically inflated by many secondary issues that influence peoples' thoughts and statements on the issue.
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