I, for one, am tired of hearing the dribble about “government takeover of the health care system” and “most/the majority of people don’t want reform,” and “our Constitution is under attack and being shredded.”
When the government nationalizes hospitals, puts all the doctors on payroll and buys up or confiscates all the shares of publicly owned health insurance companies, then you can say the government has taken over health care. But the last time I checked we still have private hospitals, the private/publicly owned health insurance companies are still operating very profitably and the doctors are paid by their patients or health insurance companies or clinics they belong to. What the government has done is institute long-overdue regulation on the health insurance companies that have been running over so many of our citizens, increasing premiums astronomically, raking in huge profits and paying huge bonuses to their executives.
The government has not taken away any freedoms or individual liberties, or the right to own a gun, or even suggested changing/shredding the Constitution so it is not under attack. So all this dribble is silly. I object to being put in the category of “the majority of people who don’t want heath care reform.” I am glad we now have health reform.
We expect/demand the president to protect us from the ravages of international terrorism. And yes, there is no mention of health care in the Constitution. But what more noble domestic goal can a government have than to protect its citizens from the ravages of ill health and poverty amplified by the internal threats of big business’s insatiable appetite for profit and executive bonuses? Whatever happened to the Golden Rule: “Do unto others?” Societies are judged on how we treat the least among us. Most of the arguments made to date seem to me to come from talking points published by action groups with financial interests that will be affected by the health care reform and are being hawked by people regurgitating the party line without a rational thought about their stand.
It would be interesting to know how many of the protestors waving hate signs have a pension and/or sufficient resources to be comfortable and have health care coverage. I don’t hear of too many complaints about health care reform from poor folks who are sick and don’t have health care.
Democracy is a rule by the majority and the majority has finally spoken. In a lawful society the minority accepts the rule of the majority until the next election but is free to try to bring changes in the law through persuasion. We don’t need to spit on people, curse them, defame our government leaders and spout fiction, hoping it will fester into fact.
Instead of “I got mine, you can go scratch,” I submit a better mantra would be: “I have been blessed with a great abundance for which I am thankful and willing to share. Now, neighbor, how can I help you improve your life?”
D. Rand Hillier
Poulsbo
