Some progressives and liberals are claiming the health insurance reform that was passed recently by the House of Representatives is a 'sell out' and/or an insult to working people, a slap in the face of women, the worst thing ever, and possibly the end of western civilization as we know it. They site the Stupak amendment, the fact that the bill is not single payer national health insurance, or that it didn't include something they thought it should, or that it included too much stuff they didn't want in it.
To those people I have this to say: get over it. Modern politics is all about compromise. And compromise means that you get some of what you want and some of what you don't want. In this age of hyper partisan politics we constantly expect that if our political party is in the majority then we get all of what we want enacted into law. Ummm, sorry to burst your bubbles but it doesn't work that way. In order to pass a bill you give away some things in order to get others. You and I may not like it, and I know I don't because I want European style single payer health insurance for all, but that's the way it is.
And you know what else? It's going to stay that way until you organize enough to oust the people you don't like and then you organize some more to elect the people you do like. But even if you do that then you still have to contend with the power of corporate money in our political system. Until we get rid of the tidal wave of corporate money that floods our political system and we go to 100% public financing for our elections then things will always be the way they are now. So what you people who want things changed need to do is to organize and work to oust politicians and judges who favor keeping the legal fiction that corporations are persons and have the same rights as you and I. And you also need to work to oust judges and politicians who say that political donations are a form of speech and therefore protected under the First Amendment.
There's another group of folks on the left who need to get over themselves too and that's those who say that the Democrats who voted against the health care bill aren't real Democrats and they should leave the party. One quick word to those that say that, and that word is, NO. You folks are sounding like Republicans. See folks, political parties are made up of all kinds of folks and some of those people are more conservative or more liberal than you. Do I like it that so many Democrats voted against the bill? No. But are they had their reasons, some like my man Dennis Kucinich voted against it because it's not single payer, and some like Heath Schuler and Rick Boucher voted against it because they represent heavily Republican districts and they want to be seen as 'tough' and 'standing up to' Nancy Pelosi. I guarantee you that those men would have voted for the bill if their votes meant passage or failure for the bill.
What those of you on the left who oppose this bill need to understand is that it is real reform, reform that we've needed for many many years. And like I and many others have said, it's a good start. Now please, before you leave me any long winded comments or write me off all together, go back and re read the previous sentence. This bill is JUST A START. And a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. I want single payer, but I am supporting this bill. And I know that if I really want single payer health insurance in this country then I need to get out and organize my neighbors, go door to door and explain why it will bring down the cost of health care and actually save small business, I could care less about big business and in fact, I hope big business fails and takes the corrupt financial system with it.
And to those disaffected Hillary supports out there who want all attempts at health insurance reform to fail because Obama is President and not Hillary, I say, kiss my ass. You people are lower than pond scum. You'd gladly see millions of your fellow citizens go without health insurance just so you can gloat about breaking President Obama. And if you idiots think that Hillary wouldn't have made the same concessions that President Obama has in this fight then think again. She'd have made the same ones and possibly even more. After all Hillary enriched herself while sitting on the board of directors of Wal Mart while it put hundreds of thousands of small businesses out of business.
8 comments:
Bravo, Monkey!
A reminder to all: what we know of as the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was changed through Congress at least 4 times to make it what it is now.
The Stupak amendment is a piece of shit, for sure, and was placed in there to appease a handful of would-be theocrats (be careful what you wish for!). There will be opportunities to change it or remove it. Bug the shit out of your reps and give the GOOD REASONS to fix this first step at health care reform in 70 years!
Bravo, indeed.
And for those who still don't get it, consider Social Security as an historical analogy to Health Care reform. When FDR first rammed it through Congress, it had a long list of people to which and conditions under which it was not available. Should progressives back then have pushed to drop the whole thing?
Same with Medicare, Medicaid, Women's Suffrage, Emancipation, and on and on.
The only successful "All or Nothing" in this nation's history was the War of Revolution. Everything since then has been compromise.
Amen, Doctor Monkey. Amen.
On a completely different note, I watched the premiere of the alien show "V" last week and when the alien leader (who we call know is a bad guy diguised as a beautiful woman)is asked by a reporter if their plan to share their medical technology with humans is actually, "universal healthcare" duh, duh, duh ... she creepily replies, "Why yes, I think that is what you call it."
I will never understand you guys, love ya to bits, but just don't get it.
I agree. Sometimes we have to accept a tiny victory with the large victory still in our sights. I'm also all for a single-payer plan, and I think once the wing-nuts among us see that universal healthcare in small doses does NOT lead to concentration camps, they'll grow complacent (and healthier) and eventually give way.
I'd rather have a full-on plan, but I'll take what I can get.
What I don't understand is why haven't the Big Guys like GM been pushing for Single Payer all along instead of whining about how much insurance is costing them???? I also don't understand how a handful of Cubans in Fla can dictate our policy towards Cuba, but that's another rant!!
There are a lot of things going on in this country that I don't understand and that's probably because those who run things think I don't have a need to know, so I am not in the loop.
kulkuri: Because if we had single payer universal health care labor--that's us--would feel more secure and then we might demand a real increase in wages. Every move from Reagan on has been to make labor feel vulnerable. The end goal? Slavery. With a meager salary.
Preach it brother Monkey!
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