Fear is their only option -- in more ways than one

John McCain’s so-called healthcare plan – the notion that all will be right if we can just slow down cost increases – is a complete joke that misses the essential problem: in this time when the percentage of Americans covered by health insurance keeps declining, and when management loyalty to employees keeps eroding, when that erosion of loyalty is driven in large part by the declining ability of corporations facing escalating costs to compete in a world economy, and when healthcare providers try to bump up their prices and applying typical (and exorbitant interest rates) to cover for late or no payments and greater administrative hassles --everyone today is paralyzed by fear.

The biggest by far is the fear of complete financial devastation for those without any insurance now, and for those who are covered by an employer’s insurance now, but know that could change in a flash with an unexpected Friday pink slip. But let’s not forget, too, that the employers are afraid of ever-escalating, unpredictable costs of offering health insurance to employees – and thus are hesitant to add manpower in the first place, with a leaning toward temporary workers without benefits when they absolutely must -- and fear their ability to continue competing in the global economy against companies whose governments relieve them of the burden of covering health insurance. Or that the healthcare providers themselves are fearful of not getting paid.

Is this a toxic atmosphere for business or what? Is the GOP decidedly NOT the “party of business” or what?