Let's turn back the clock to January 2009. Let's pretend that John McCain won the election. Come on. It will be fun. You betcha. As he takes over the Oval Office, the Dow is headed under 8,000. Banks are coming up craps. Auto and home sales are plummeting.

With no help from the Democrats, President McCain initiates programs to rescue the economy. The Democrats conclude America as we know it may come to an end. An economic Armageddon is predicted.

But wait. A year later, the Dow almost reached 11,000 and is well over 10,000. Banks have recovered, paid off their bailout money, are starting to reward themselves with millions and millions of dollars of bonuses. (In my humble opinion, borderline criminal, but I digress.) Auto sales are through the roof; home sales are recovering.

The Republicans would be talking about a coronation; perhaps canonization.

But, John McCain was not elected president. Barack Obama was elected president. The Republicans screamed bloody murder that President Obama's programs would take us deeper into financial abyss. And despite great successes, they are still screaming. There is still much to be done, but there was a lot to do. Hope is alive and well.

Which takes us to health care. Not one Republican vote could be found for any health care proposal. Nary a one vote from the right side of the Senate aisle could be found.

But the strangest part of this health care thing is the support garnered for the current system. At one time, some polls showed 60 percent to 70 percent Americans thought we needed major reform. Yet, the Teabaggers cries called for the status quo. They wanted their premiums to remain highest on the globe. They wanted their providers to be the most expensive anywhere on earth. They wanted their claims to continue to be denied. They wanted their prescription drug costs to continue to skyrocket.

On a story I read on BBC News, author Thomas Frank describes it like this, "It's like the French Revolution in reverse in which the workers come pouring down the street screaming more power to the aristocracy."

What happened?

You see, a whole bunch of folks get all their information from Fox News (an oxymoron extraordinaire). Climate change? Nope, the "scientists" at Fox say there is no global warming, so there isn't. And that's how a tax credit for small businesses to provide healthcare for employees becomes a tax hike. The Congressional Budget Office reported the health care bills actually would lower the deficit by $900 billion, but the Fox "economists" claimed it would add trillions. We just have a lot of people getting expert advice from Rush, Bill and Glenn (Beck, not me).

Washington, D.C., always has been partisan, but long-term politicos have said they can't remember it ever being this nasty.

President Obama has tried to reach across the aisle from the very beginning, but every time he reaches across all he gets in return is a bloody hand. The latest being last Friday when he accepted an invitation to speak to Republican lawmakers. In an hour-plus question-and-answer session, he refuted every argument; every false accusation. There were no-teleprompters in sight. He did so well the Republicans immediately called a news conference blasting the president and his policies. So much for reaching across the aisle.

So what would the Republicans have to lose by working on health care reform with the president and those folks on the left? And, it is broke. This week, I had someone call asking me to refer him somewhere to get a quote. He and his wife and teenage daughter were paying $1,700 a month for their health insurance!

If the president's economic policies continue to be successful, the Republicans may not have much to run on this fall. A successful health care reform package would make it even more difficult for them.

And one final thought, I think every Republican, Democrat or Independent lawmaker who nixed the public option of the reform bill should do the right thing and give up their health care insurance that we provide for them and purchase it from the private sector. Fair is fair.

Glenn Staab, a lifelong Hays resident and former city commissioner, sells insurance and real estate and is the Democratic Party chairman for Ellis County. glenn_staab@yahoo.com