Sometimes we do not give the GOP enough credit for what they have contributed to the debate regarding healthcare reform.  This post is a starting point to list some of the outstanding things they have provided to what is likely going to be the most dramatic legislation to personally effect the American people this century.  Yes, I know, there's a war going on and a few thousand Americans have been killed, and then there are those million Iraqi dead to consider, but that is why I qualified my declaration.  I am talking about personally effecting the American people, in an intimate way, regarding their own healthcare.  I'm not talking about soldiers halfway around the world, or Iraqis who have a vague resemblance to the terrorists of 9/11.

Here are three examples of GOP-initiated aspects of the pending healthcare reform.  I'm going to take the easy and obvious ones:

First,thanks to the GOP, we can be sure that Americans will not be able to take care of each other, by using their government, which is responsible to its 300 million citizens, to faciliate providing healthcare services.  We are abdicating that power to corporations responsible to a relatively few shareholders for making profits by rationing the least amount of heatlhcare possible to us, that can be provided with a straight face while taking your money.  In short, the GOP abhors the thought of Single Payer and it's vehement opposition has led many Dems to agree, although many Blue Dogs were already there. 

Second, we can be grateful that end-of-life issues will not be addressed by patients while they are coherent and can speak for themselves, but rather we will avoid this issue in favor of letting someone other then the patient, most likely the government, decide how much longer a person should have their life sustained artificially.  Think Teri Schiavo, but without the benefit of having an after-life in the mainstream media, or any heart-pounding rhetoric in Washington, DC. 

Finally, [Well, not finally.  There are other instances, but I will leave them to the readers to add as comments] we can thank them for making very damn sure we do not allow any illegal immigrants to obtain relief as a result of these efforts to improve the delivery of healthcare.  Sure, we already have employment laws without real enforcement letting these people work in the most menial jobs that are physically demanding and poorly paid, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't hold helathcare reform to a higher standard.  let's leave thos eold laws as they are and fight to have the new ones made impenetrable.  We're spending our money here, people!   We should spend it one something that's worth it.  We do not need a healthy worker to have a healthy economy, we just need another worker.  [These last three sentences were totally snark, in case anyone wants to suggest this writer does NOT feel immigrants are worth helping, this descendant of 20th century immigrants.]

The ball is in your court.  What do you see the GOP has contributed to the healthcare debate?  I know there's a Republican Congressman right now being quoted as saying we need to start from scratch with reforming helathcae, but this latest effort at reform was started months ago, and the GOP has made many contributions to the process already.   I have named three.  What can you contribute?  it's not time to start the debate.  It's time to finish it!