Letter to the editor: Democrats should have focused on the economy

Talk about it

As a Democrat, I feel like President Barack Obama and the Democratic majorities have lost track of what the American people want from their government. As important as health care reform is to me, I also realize that we are in the largest recession we, as a nation, have faced since the Great Depression. From an academic point of view, I understand that there are limited actions that the national government can take to solve the economic situation quickly, but I also realize that solving the health care problem at a time of major economic crisis is also a terrible idea. Many Democrats will argue that by solving health-care problems they will help mitigate spending by the national government.

However, the savings that many of them say will occur is all speculative, especially without a public option, which Republicans avidly opposed.

My opinion is that Democrats should have taken their majorities and spent their first year in office solving the economic crisis with full attention, rather then taking advantage of their vast majorities and passing a bill that a large majority of Americans oppose. I completely support health care reform, but there are things that are more important to me, like my stepdad’s job at the Bobcat machinery plant in Gwinner, N.D., or my ability to pay for my education at the University of North Dakota and the job that I will receive after college. Democrats should have realized that Americans are going through economic distress, not an economic surplus where health care reform would have been a reality and justified cause.

Grant Hauschild

Grand Forks

Tags: opinion, letter, politics