I remember a terrible time, when we were being attacked by terrorists. When people were on edge and far too frequently looked disparagingly on the “Arab looking” families down the road. Who was next? Should I drink the water? Is that baking soda or the next Anthrax infection waiting for me on the counter? Amid all this chaos and retribution we were seemingly willing to be led into Irag on the shoulders of supreme douche numero uno, George W. And now, years later and $674,866,655,642 (as of 8:38PM Eastern August 18th, 2009), we’re still cleaning up his mess. And all for what? So we could sustain our addiction and not have to worry over Saddam? It surely wasn’t for the Iraqis’ freedom. Bill Clinton once was asked why the U.S. didn’t intercede in Rwanda, to which he replied, “it wasn’t in our best interest”. Very telling statement. Simply put, it seems that in these times, we too frequently use our military to get involved where American business is entrenched in profit taking.
And now, when faced with a truly American problem—healthcare—these same people that stood in line behind one of the most foolish men in history and marched us into a war on false pretenses, now stand in line behind the very corporations that are causing Americans to die and then claim that a public healthcare system is “un-American”. That the costs of helping Americans sustain reasonable healthcare insurance is too much for us. That socialism is taking over “their” country. It amazes me how conservative politicians and corporate interests can continuously hoodwink people into voting against their own self-interests.
So here’s a trillion dollar program that actually makes sense. 47,000,000 uninsured Americans use emergency rooms for their primary care. This can cost 100x more than had that uninsured American had an insurance program that allowed them preventative access to a doctor. Now the hospital jacks it’s rates to cover the uninsured. The insurance company jacks it’s rates to it’s current subscribers to cover the hospital’s rates, and we, as subscribers, pay 100x more for their care than we needed to. That saves money, but as I’m sure many conservative ideologues will continue to spew, it’ll hurt corporate profits. Who are these people working for? Not us.
