Who would ever have believed that health insurance companies would have become a symbol of all that is good about America?
Sound crazy?
Listen to some of the people fighting against any health care reform and you'll believe that they're fighting to protect the right to have a family or to believe in God, not massive corporations who have turned health care into a cash cow.
In fact, they're fighting to hard to protect Big Insurance that they're telling out-and-out lies. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she's worried that under a reformed system, she would have to go before a "death panel" to fight for the rights of her special-needs child simply to stay alive.
That's the new lie -- that reform would result in euthanasia, or even worse, eugenics.
As you can see from the cartoon, conservatives feel more comfortable surrendering constitutional rights than they do giving up any part of unfettered capitalism. By now we've all heard about the congressman who went back to his district for a town meeting on health care only to hear one of his constituents say, "Keep your government hands off my Medicare."
Then there's the woman who followed Obama around to town hall meetings until she got to ask the question "Name one thing the government does well."
Her question was straight out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth, and she seemed genuinely surprised by the answer. Obama named Medicare and Veterans Hospitals, but he could just as easily have named national parks, the interstate highway system, Social Security and a host of others.
Medicare works and it works well.
That's why conservatives have been trying to gut it or repeal it since it was passed in 1965.
The only way they can stop health care reform this year is to lie about it and scare the daylights out of people.
No, Sarah, there are no "death panels."
Just health care for folks who can't get it.
Any problem with that?
Posts
6 comments:
Mike, you obviously haven't studied the issues.
I'm a fair weather Democrat, but I do know some things simply because I have encountered problems.
Medicare is a disaster.
It's abused daily, hourly by hospitals, doctors, drug companies, and patients.
The Interstate Highways system is falling apart. More than two-thirds of all bridges and tunnels need substantive repair and restructuring.
Roads are "fixed" with inferior materials and corrupt, incompetent state and private contractors.
The Veterans' hospitals are a sham and a national shame. Don't take my word for it -- ask around and veterans and veteran families will tell you their innumerable horror stories.
No, I believe that government should help people, but unfortunately, we've evolved into a system with government is so corrupt and morally bankrupt that I would entertain alternative ideas.
Mike, you're great writer and probably a good and decent man -- judging from your comments though the last year on a variety of subjects.
But here's one moderate Democrat who is lining up squarely AGAINST President Obama and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's programs.
We need LESS government.
At least less of the type we've been getting for a generation.
Jeff, in Pomona
Mike, you appear to be open-minded.
I would challenge you to go live in the Great Britain or Canada.
I have.
Their systems are far, far inferior to what you have here in America. Yes, in theory any one can get free care, but in practice it is rationed out and getting a simple appointment or getting a family doctor can take weeks and possibly months.
Please don't think the fever-pitch anger regarding President Obama's initiatives are the result of right-wing propagandists or ill-informed people.
I ama neither.
There appears to be a hidden agenda in all this.
The "left" has been every bit as crazed and improper in this heated discussion with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi calling everyone opposing the plan a "criminal" and branding them as wearing Nazi emblems.
The rhetoric is too shrill for me.
I will continue to attend town halls whenever I am in an area sponsoring one.
I will continue to write my representatives and send emails.
This has all the earmarks of socialized medical programs Harold Wilson sold (and Edward Heath supported) to the unsuspecting public in England during the 1960's.
On paper, they seemed good ideas. In practice, they have been horrible.
I am glad I became an American citizen, if not for the liberties that seem in jeopardy now, but also for the superior medical care.
Jeremy L.
i just want to know what will become mandatory, with the passage of this bill.
nan.
Are you still searching for answers?
Hank Windell, Chevy Chase, MD
when i got my divorce 7 years ago, my lawyer reminded me that it really didn't matter about my lack of hospital insurance.
this same group of lawyers also represented insurance companies.
in fact, i met them thru a law suit i had against american family for refusing to pay for my daughter's emergency chopper ride to children's hospital !
that ride saved her life !
i sued and represented myself in court. i also won.
insurance companies do their very best to not pay.
so, yes, i believe we need change.
yes, i believe not all change is for the better.
nan.
so, you take others ideas...
form an article...
get 'acclaim'...
feel satisfaction.
wow.
somehow, i think my high school senior english teacher, would be rolling in her grave.
i forget her name, her husband was my dad's govt employer.
she closed the door one day, and told us NOT to believe the newspapers !!
she truly asked us to tap into our unique inner knowing.
what the heck was her name.........
[oh well]
just nan.
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