Shooting in Arizona should put spotlight on Health Care debate

By all accounts Jared Loughner was mentally ill and his attempt at assassinating Representative Gabrielle Giffords was not politically motivated. In an effort to explain this tragedy or use this incident for political gain, many have pointed to the particularly volatile political climate as the reason behind the attack. While the use of cross hairs as a political tool by Sarah Palin and claims like the one from Jon Kyle that the new Health Care legislation is a "stunning threat to liberty" are at the very least poor choices for political debate, they don't explain this particular incident.

What we should be talking about instead is the state of our health care system. Mr. Loughner may or may not have been treated for his mental illness but that treatment costs money that many mentally ill Americans can not afford. There are government systems in place to help people like Jared Lougher receive the assistance they need. These programs require tax payer money and are for the greater good. As this incident illustrates mental illness left untreated can be deadly.

Similarly, a full repeal of the new Health Care bill will cost lives. Ignoring all of the benefits of the new legislation and whipping up such hate for political gain is an ill-conceived idea. There are plenty of good things in the bill and plenty of things to fix, but starting from scratch helps no one. We need to make sure that Americans get the care they need both physically and mentally and ignoring the fact that the majority of Americans either like the new legislation as is or would like to see it go further is not the way to move forward. This mentality only serves to hold us back.

The worst result of this incident is for our political system to continue to look backwards on important health care needs and for politicians to isolate themselves further from their constituents. What we need now is more discourse not more rhetoric. Discussing ideas to eliminate the cracks that Mr. Loughner fell through not scoring points with your base. Tax money is meant to be used for the common good and hopefully this tragedy underscores how health care fits into that conversation.