Let’s Fight the Just War
Let’s Choose the Right War
About 18 months ago, in the run-up to the 2019 State of the Union, I sent some ideas to the President’s staff. I was working with them on healthcare reform. In my letter, I suggested that the president start a war and that he make the declaration at the State of the Union.
It’s often said that during times of political strife, what a president needs is a good war. I think the saying is often used in jest, or as a cliché, or perhaps as a metaphor, though presidents have certainly been accused of starting wars for political reasons.
But I was serious. I thought the president was in political trouble (it was impeachment season) and I thought he could start a good war. I also believed that it could be a just war that all Americans would rally behind.
Generally speaking, I think this president has shown himself to not be a war monger. Even given the opportunity, he’s chosen to avoid shooting, in particular, with Iran. And launching an international war certainly presents its risks. We’ve demonstrated for 70 years now — since the Korean War — that winning a limited or controlled conflict is next to impossible. Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq…. perhaps throw Libya and Syria in there, too...if you are not willing to throw everything you’ve got at the effort — and sacrifice civilians in large numbers — winning a war is next to impossible. In fact, I’ve often scoffed at the idea of fighting wars without civilian casualties, as though they are more humane. It seems only the horrors of civilian casualties motivate ends to war. Perhaps that’s why we are still in Afghanistan 20 years on. Americans haven’t faced the horror — or even the threat — of civilian casualties; so we tolerate it.
The war I wanted wasn’t against a foreign power. And as for civilians — the war I want is to save civilians, which means people like you and me. The war I recommended was a war on big healthcare, namely the pharmaceutical industry and large hospital systems. The primary battleground I was promoting was pricing and the complete lack of transparency.
Well, it didn’t happen at the State of the Union; but it did happen.
While there was never a formal declaration of war, the healthcare industry has interpreted the executive order the president signed requiring much greater price transparency as akin to dropping a nuclear bomb. The industry — and in particular the American Hospital Association— has signaled that it will fight ’til it’s last breath to fend off real price transparency in healthcare. They challenged the rules that were published — as directed by the June 24, 2019 Executive Order the president signed, and they did so with the most laughable (and thus desperate) of arguments. The Federal judge that ruled against the industry essentially mocked the plaintiffs in a very clear and well written ruling. The appeal will come soon enough, but for now, we are on a path to much more price transparency in January of 2021.
By firing this explosive weapon, the president did declare war on the healthcare industry, but he didn’t make it clear to the American people and he did not enlist the Congress to do its job. By our Constitution, it is the Congress that truly has the power to declare war. The president should have challenged Congress to do so by backing up his order with law that ensures it sticks and avoids further legal challenge. By engaging in a just war, the president could have rallied all Americans around his cause. It was a lost opportunity…
With approval ratings down and Biden demonstrating a double digit lead, it’s starting to look more and more like the president might be looking for a war as I suggested he do. Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear to pursuing the war I suggested. Instead, the war the president seems to be marching toward is a war with the states. By pushing the buttons of Democratic governors and mayors, the war of words has already started. Is the president pressing for a more open and violent war to distract the public? That’s always been the cliché, but could it be true? A gunfight between federal agents and city or state police is virtually unthinkable, but the way things are going, it could happen. Does the president think it will serve his needs to rally the people around him?
There’s still the opportunity to make the formal declaration of war that the country truly needs. Already the healthcare industry, while begging for bailouts, is signaling its intent to raise prices and capture more of our tax dollars in the name of preparing for future pandemics. While the country reels from COVID-19 and teeters of the brink of economic depression, big healthcare’s war planners are scheming on how to capitalize on the chaos. If we don’t come together to fend of this threat, it could very well be the sleeping giant that overwhelms us in 2021 and the years that follow.
There’s still time to abandon polarizing policy in favor of a just and unifying declaration of war. And it’s not too late to ask the Congress to support it. Congress needs to figure out how to come together to invest in America over the coming weeks and months. Why not unify around a war against the greatest threat this country faces — its ever expanding and corrupt healthcare system? That’s a war I’m prepared to fight. I hope you are, too.
