Pass the Bill! A message to the left and the right

As one can probably tell, this post is going to be about the heated debate going on throughout the country, and that is healthcare reform. It has been close to a year now since the healthcare debate began in Washington, and we are finally getting close to the final up or down vote, that will determine if healthcare reform passes or dies. Neither side will stop at nothing to either kill the bill or pass the bill, and frankly, the difference between the two sides is simple: one side is full of ill-informed people, lead by the fear and scare tactics of the Republican party and the other side is full of people who know whats at stake, know that healthcare reform is essential, and frankly, are much more well informed about the issues. Lets take a look at both sides of the story, and I'll explain why I feel that healthcare reform is needed now.

The people that make up the opposition to healthcare reform, are, lets be frank, mostly white males and females of the over 35 variety. Not many of these people are well educated, and I can bet a truckload of money that these people are loyal Fox News viewers or Rush Limbaugh listeners. These people do not understand what this bill will do for them. First of all, this bill is not a government takeover of the healthcare system. This is nowhere close to be anything that could be deemed "socialist", which if you were to ask these people what socialism, communism, or fascism is, they would probably draw a blank, and continue with their pathetic nonsense about how all three are the same thing. Next, with this bill, if you like your current health insurance plan and doctor, you can keep both, whereas the only thing that would change, would be that your premiums stay the same or are lowered. Secondly, this bill would stop the health insurance industry practice of dropping people from coverage when they get sick, which, I really hope would of happened to most of these just so they can see what its like to have to decide between paying for their daughters cancer treatment or the mortgage. Third, this bill bans the practice of denying people health insurance coverage due to a preexisting condition. What these people do not realize, is that the health insurance industry is against them, not for them. The poor is this country have medicaid, the rich can afford their insurance, but its the middle class that gets the knife in the back when it comes to health insurance coverage. Majority of the people who make up this opposition, do not realize that they too, are being ripped off. And my favorite argument against this bill is that it cuts vital Medicare benefits for seniors, who when they scream they don't want a government takeover of healthcare, obviously are blind to the fact that their coverage is a government run program. Oh, and the fact that the cuts that Medicare receives will not affect them one bit, its actually cuts in the Medicare Advantage program which has been a failure and most seniors lose money from anyway. Lastly, this bill doesn't add one dime to the national debt, it actually eliminates over a 1oo billion from the national debt in ten years time. Now these are just the few reasons for those who are against this bill because of false claims, and now its time to address the far left and their worries that this bill could be a sellout to the insurance industry.

Many on the far left of the political spectrum are also against this bill, but not for misinformed reasons, but because they believe the bill doesn't go far enough. I personally believe this bill does not go far enough, I am in favor of the public option. But those who are pushing for a Single Payer type program have to realize that changing the current system to a Single Payer would be a catastrophic move to make considering the very fragile state of our economy. I am glad to say that Rep. Dennis Kucinich(D-OH) now sees this and will be voting for the bill. My far left liberal friends, you must realize that this bill is a step in the right direction and will cover an extra 30 million people when its fully enacted. Now, it might be a hard one to swallow for the time being, but it is a necessary step, and one that is far better than the status quo. And when this bill passes, and all the parts of the bill go into action, then that is the time to start thinking about the future and perhaps moving towards a public option type system. I strongly urge all my liberal friends and idealogues, urge your Congressman to vote for this bill. Stick up for this bill. Stick up for the party that shares your basic values and principles. And most importantly, stand up for the millions of Americans out there right now who just need a little help.


My next post will hopefully come this Sunday, when the House of Representatives votes on the final version of the bill. Until then, keep fighting for healthcare reform!



Mark


P.S- I strongly encourage all of you to watch this video and see what is at stake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_PX5L_v_7I