By Cameron DeHart

The American people deserve the truth about health care, and neither party is stepping up to the plate. Now, I would consider myself a fairly tech-savvy politico, and I’m having difficulty finding anything online that gives an impartial examination of the health care proposals currently in front of Congress. (To my knowledge, there isn’t a concrete ‘bill’ yet.)

                In this vacuum, Obama is doing what he does best: articulating his idealism in feel-good generalities, while his own party bickers back and forth over a few key points.  The Republicans, led by our very own Congressman John Boehner, are preying upon weakness on the Left by stirring the resurgent anti-government populism of Middle America. Few talking heads on either side are making sense, and no one is making any progress.

                The Left, where I sit, has yet to offer a straightforward plan for health care reform. Mr Obama certainly has his good ideas, but without a unified Democratic Party, he has yet to offer a physical plan for every American to hold and read. He needs to step up as the de facto leader of his party, and take charge. We need to know exactly where the money is going to come from, and how exactly a public-option would be made available.

                On the Right, leaders must step up and put an end to the propagation of the sensationalist lies. The comparisons to Hitler and Stalin, the Communist fear-mongering, and the high-flying rhetoric of ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ must stop. By preying upon The People’s fears, the GOP is not doing this country a service. If there really are death panels (there aren’t), then Sarah Palin needs to provide citation. If the Republican Party really wants to do well, then they need to quit throwing temper tantrums and sit down with Democrats for a serious discussion.

                I believe Americans need to take matters into their own hands, and I’m not talking about shouting paranoid, nonsensical one-liners at Town Hall meetings.. Shouting platitudes from a sea of angry people is no way to communicate ideas.  Both sides need to sit down and have a real discussion. Leave the hyperbole, Obama=Hitler posters, and AR-15s at home, and bring your thinking caps and genuine grievances.

                I beseech the people of Miami County, and American at large, to turn off the TV: stop listening to the Glenn Becks and Keith Olbermanns. Stop forwarding those chain emails. Go to www.factcheck.org, a nonpartisan examination of politics, and learn the truth.