History will tell if Obama did right thing

President Obama may be guilty of several really naive mistakes:

1. Honestly believing that if you just try hard enough and give your opponents a huge opportunity to work together, they will.

2. Trust that elected Republicans can somehow rise above being corporate lap dogs to work for the health of all Americans.

3. Believing that so-called “blue dog” Democrats will see the light and cooperate without making them an offer they can't refuse.

I urge the president to borrow from Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt and in the language of Robert's Rules, “Call the Question” on the health care plan debate. I urge him to ram a bill through Congress if just by one vote in each chamber.

I urge him to go back to his democratic roots and force a strong public option as part of the plan and if the private insurers cannot compete, so be it.

I urge him to understand that he will be hated by the same people who hate him now. I urge him to trust that history will be his judge on health care, and that like Lincoln and Roosevelt, they passed the test of time when many of those around them vilified their courageous but unpopular programs to move America forward by ending slavery and dealing with the Great Depression.

You ask me who I trust, the government or corporate America to run my health care? The big G sure ain't perfect, but I'll go with Big Brother every time.

Ted Wernimont

Coralville