Well, The System’s Broken […] Certainly I don’t accept, in the richest county on Earth, that we should have 47 Million people without Health Insurance, and Millions of more people being bankrupted because of a Medical Bill.
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As President of the United States, what I’ve proposed to do, is to make sure that we got a plan that covers ALL Americans.
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The key to making this happen, is to overcome the resistance we’re going to see from Drug Companies, Insurance Companies, HMO’s. Over the last 10 years alone, Drug and Insurance Companies spent over $1 Billion, in preventing Health Care Reform from happening. That’s going to require then, a mobilization of energy among the American People, to insist on a Congress and a White House, that are actually going to deliver this time.
ACTION: Contact HHS and The White House to let them know that if there is a No Robust Public Option, there is NO REFORM! Contact Information provided below.
Al Hunt: “You’ve said, all right, you are willing to compromise on your notion of a public plan, you are willing to compromise on the employer mandate, you are willing to compromise on taxing benefits. What’s non-negotiable?”
Sec HHS Kathleen Sebelius: ” Uh, the, the bill at the end of the day has to have a comprehensive approach that lowers cost. That’s just non-negotiable. The status quo is unacceptable. . . ”
AH: “Most congressional watchers say any chance of any really bi-partisan bill is dead. No Republicans in the House seem to be signed up, in the Senate your talking about a hand full of Republicans, maybe four or five. Isn’t really any notion of a bi-partisan health care bill pretty much off the table?”
KS: “Well, I certainly hope not, and I hope, that, um, the Senate Republicans who have been working hard on this issue are genuinely interested in participating in the solution.”
AH: “How many Senate Republican votes do you think you can get?”
KS: “You know, I don’t know. Um, I, I would love to see them all.”
AH: “But how many realistically? Can you get to double digits? You know how to count.”
KS: “I, I know how to count. I think it depends on, you know, what, what we have, but I think there are 5-10 who may well be there for the final vote. I am encouraged by the number of people who say we need to do something. The status quo doesn’t work, and I think people know that. In the early nineties, again, not doing anything won at the end of the day. People thought that was an acceptable place to land. I don’t think anybody thinks not doing anything is acceptable for our current situation.”
While Democrats in Congress and the President’s cabinet carry water for the Republicans, real Americans are dying. They are dying from disease that can be prevented. They are dying from lack of emergency care. They are dying because it is more profitable to let them die than it is to cover their insurance. It is that simple.
And as the Democrats do all the heavy lifting for the Republicans in putting up road blocks to a Robust Public Option, the Republicans return the favor by attacking the Democratic President, the Democratic Congress and the entire Democratic agenda.
