Commentary: The Misrepresented Cs

“Down with corporations!” “Give me change!” are battle cries of frustrated Americans and voters. Democratic candidates for president are spending millions of dollars arming their enlisted supporters with slogans and other imagery. Republican candidates are spending millions of dollars trying to camouflage their strategies for change. The only problem with these wars is that they are useless. Corporations are not inherently evil and some change will happen regardless of who is the next president.

Health care provides a good example of these points. During calls for universal health care, the wealth of insurance executives and the size of their collective campaign contributions often are used to argue for the need of some type of campaign finance reform. Yet, think of all the people who have difficulty with their insurance company or do not have insurance for a particular situation and call up their elected representatives for help. The elected official or, usually, a staff member, calls up the insurance carrier or health care provider and arranges for payment to be made. The constituent is overwhelmed with gratitude. The corporate executives want to keep good relations with the elected official so they agree to cover the medical costs. However, when the insurance company wants something in the future, an executive can call up the elected official and say, “remember when we helped your constituent?” The voter put the elected official in a position to owe a favor to the insurance company without the need for a financial paper trail that election observers could follow.

Exchanging favors is at the heart of compromise. Even if there is no quid pro quo, opposing sides will each give up something until they reach a mutual point that is jointly acceptable.

Another position that does not make sense to me is all the people supporting mandatory insurance coverage who also object to corporate participation in health care decision-making. Do supporters think that if everybody has insurance, then the insurance companies will pay for everything? The companies are not going to change their behavior.

As for other ideas of change, we’re already under assault. I want a president who can position the country to be a global leader throughout the next hundred years, with benefit for all Americans. Only fifty years ago, trolleys, buses, foot traffic, and other methods of transportation moved Americans. Then the Interstate highway system was started. Now, I regularly hear people opine that we will never be a limited-automobile society again because changing behavior just is not that easy. Yet, time after time, when the federal government puts its mind and money behind something, behavior changes.

I gave up trying to sustain myself on hope years ago. I want concrete plans and a solid vision for how America and Americans will come out ahead in these interesting times of global and domestic repositioning. Alas, mostly what I see is people trying to add some trim here or a new facade there and calling it change.

M.R. Field is editor of Leading Voices: Iowa.