It has become more and more obvious, to the point of employing the descriptor patently; the Republican Party is the party of “no.” The current overheated debate involving health care insurance reform has illustrated quite clearly that the current opposition party is in no way inclined to allow this (and particularly this) Democratic President to sign a bill that would permit Democrats to claim a success. Proponents on the left have bandied this theory about for some time but now it seems (oh, what the heck) patently obvious.

Conservative pundits have been more than happy to pursue this agenda, to the detriment of the furtherance of any legislation authored by Democrats. This type of obstructionism from Republicans is nothing new. They employed similar logjam policies during President Clinton’s first term particularly during the 1993 health care reform debate. The more things change the more they stay the same, as they say, sad but true.

Back then, they labeled it HilaryCare in an attempt to capitalize on the perceived ambivalence toward the then First Lady. This abhorrence of all things Clinton reared its ugly head during the past Presidential campaign, which turned out to be a good thing for Barack Obama, not so good for Hilary Clinton. Fox News Channel, in their rush to denigrate Ms Clinton pushed hard for the nomination of Barack Obama in lieu of Hilary Clinton, now they seem intent on dismissing all things Obama; they should make up their minds, small as they may be.

It is time for those on the right to get out of the way of the inevitable. Health care reform has long been on Progressive agendas and it seems the time is right for passage if right wing obstructionists would just desist in their obstreperous ways. The right has consistently misrepresented Obama’s policies and the public’s misapprehension of most of his policies is a direct result. He will have to get by conservative attempts to deliver misconstrued versions of those policies if he is to realize his singular vision.

As I write tonight, I sit and watch President Obama address a rare joint session of Congress outlining this aspiration. His oratorical abilities, notwithstanding, he has assumed a momentous task; whether or not he is successful remains to be seen. His first task is to get by the current obstructionism. Republicans should put up or shut up and this does not mean tired old ideas trotted out by the usual opponents to health care reform, i.e., insurance companies. I labored long and hard in the insurance industry and I know too well their profit motive as well as their unerring eye on the bottom line.

During his speech, he mentioned the late Senator Ted Kennedy, his lifelong pursuit of the health care reform ideal and his call for an appeal to the “character of our country”. It is hard in these partisan fueled times to determine the exact nature of this “character.” Republicans are certainly not displaying their best side during this debate. In fact, the Republican response by Congressman Charles Boustany (La) was rather weak, focusing on medical liability tort reform (a favorite of insurers) and insured’s ability to purchase insurance across state lines (again another insurer favorite, albeit national not local.)

To be sure, the right will make much of Obama’s long-windedness (surely, his oratorical excesses hardly challenge those of former President Bill Clinton.) During his own push for health-care reform, then President Clinton made a similar address to a joint session with predictable results. We can but hope Obama’s efforts will not go similarly unheeded. Health insurance reform is needed now, as most Americans are agonizingly aware. At this juncture, we do not need anymore of the right’s obstructionism but rather a spirit of cooperation in addressing a national problem that would be in the best interest of all instead of pursuing solutions that appease special corporate interests (i.e., national insurance companies)