Reinventing the Wheel

I believe that President Obama is trying to make America a better place. I think that President Bush tried to do what was right for America (in my estimation, failing more often than succeeding, but still). However, in both cases, and with the Congress in general, they seem to be adamant about reinventing the wheel rather than seeing the wheels already made and picking one or two to serve as a model for what will work in America.

Take health care. There are, literally, a dozen or more examples of universal health care that American leadership could copy. Each of these examples has been proven over many years of successful use. We could send experts to Japan, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Hawaii (yes, it has had a form of universal health care since the '50s which works great), and other nations, learn what works and what doesn't, and implement a plan based on those countries with a proven track record. Easy, right? No, instead we are going our own way, recreating the wheel in a hodge-podge of ideas that involve kick-backs and concessions to insurance companies and specific state lobbies. It will likely fail not because it is a bad idea but because it was poorly implemented.

Take banking reform. A number of banking systems were barely affected by the recent economic crash. Why not model the changes to the American system after the stable and secure systems of these nations (Canada, for example, et al) rather than making it up as we go and being reactionary to what happened, rather than proactive to making the system safe and secure? So far, at least, it looks like the changes being implemented aren't doomed to failure; I'm just not sure they will make the system safe and secure against the next threat to the economy.

Energy is another example where America could take notes from the rest of the world. Germany and Canada, for example, have multiple, much safer nuclear power plants using deuterium as their water source and which don't create the same weapons-grade cake that standard nuclear plants do. These plants have a great track-record and provide power to millions cheaply and efficiently. In America's quests to be energy independent, why aren't they looking at these types of power plants?

America has always been a leader to the world. However, in some areas, other nations have the proven track record and have discovered the efficiencies that America has not needed until recently. It would make the most sense if the country would take the best ideas around the world and implement those, rather than spending years and millions (billions?) to reinvent what already works.