Newswise — “The health care reform debate has often descended into the realm of fantasy. Both political parties are promising to prevent the introduction of practices that are already widespread in the United States. Democrats and Republicans promise that there will be no rationing, no limits on choice of doctors and no bureaucratic interference with the patient/physician relationship. Yet, all of these alleged dangers are commonplace for all but the wealthiest of Americans,” said Donald Beachler, professor of politics at Ithaca College.
Beachler went on to say that it is extremely unlikely there will be a bipartisan health care reform bill because of the way the parties are structured.
“The Republican Party is now rooted in the deeply conservative states of the South. For example, 19 of the 40 Republican Senators are from the South. Democrats have their base on both coasts. Of the ten Senators from states that border the Pacific Ocean, nine are Democrats. Nineteen of the 22 Senators from Northeast are Democrats. This regional division of the parties reinforces a growing ideological divide over the role of government in providing social programs to Americans,” said Beachler.
Known as the encyclopedia of Congress around the politics department, Dr. Beachler has published numerous papers and articles on Congress, elections, voter turnout, as well as two books on presidential elections: "Winning the White House, 2008" and "Winning the White House, 2004."
Beachler covers Congress, public policy, social security reforms and proposals, social security as the third rail in politics, the long-term viability of social security, federal taxes and the budget, elections, voter turnout, and politics and race.
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