Richard A. Stitt: I Belong to the U.S.A. and I Vote

BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY
by Richard A. Stitt

There are much bigger problems surrounding the debate over our much needed health care reform. But, the biggest one is not the message. It's the messenger. To begin with, the mainstream media presume that most Republicans actually care about having a debate. The truth is, they don't care one iota about health care reform, especially during Barack Obama's Administration.

A New York Times editorial today writes, "But any project as ambitious and expensive as health care reform must be robustly debated." Robustly debated, of course, assumes there are people who actually recognize the shameful lack of coverage for millions of Americans and want a sincere debate.

Serious debate cannot occur in an atmosphere where insurance company proxies pack town hall meetings and drown out anyone desiring to have an honest debate. Instead, all too many in the mainstream media have been complicit in focusing on the angry NRA fist-shaking, Obama-hating mobs who have only one agenda: tear down and undermine President Barack Obama.

The raucous mobs get their marching orders directly from Rush "I want Obama to fail" Limbaugh thralls who see the town hall meetings as a megaphone to spout their racism and bigotry. The MSM, as Obama correctly pointed out, love a knock-down, nasty fight. But they are abdicating their responsibility to present facts as facts when they buy into the Republican propaganda, refusing to name the euphemistically called "death panel" myths for what they should rightfully be called -- Lies.

The Times editorial adds, "Americans deserve to know all of the facts, including that tens of millions of their neighbors and friends have no health insurance coverage at all or insurance that is grossly inadequate."

Of course we know all this. The insurance industry and pharmaceutical giants tremble at the very thought of competition coming from a government-run option that allows average people to receive the same level of health care enjoyed by over 2 million U.S. military and their families. The totally U.S. taxpayer funded health care for the military and their families also includes full coverage for dental and vision. Even those of us who do purchase health care plans are not covered for dental and vision and must purchase those benefits separately.

Recently, former The New York Times columnist William Kristol was challenged by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show to explain why it is the efficient government-run health care for our military, fully paid for by the U.S. taxpayers, shouldn't be available for ordinary working Americans? Kristol's reply was that the rest of Americans don't deserve it. Those were his words.

Most, even half awake people, are aware that health care insurance premiums are out of sight for average working Americans. The most recent estimates reveal that the cost of an adequate health insurance premium costs over $12,000 annually.

Republicans see this as 1994 all over again when Bill Clinton's health coverage plan was resoundingly defeated and Republicans took over both houses of Congress. For Republicans, they don't give two hoots about medical care. They see this as déjà vu and once more an opportunity to deny Democrats, and especially Barack Obama, from receiving any credit for helping ordinary Americans who are experiencing one of the worst economic downturns in our history.

For Republicans who brought our country two wars and the economic collapse during their reign from 1995 to 2007 and 8-year tenure of Bush-Cheney, their message to Americans is: "We want to kill health care reform, break Obama and see him meet his Waterloo. You must put us back in charge in 2010 so that we can complete the assault against what remains of the middle class and hand out more trillions of tax cuts to the extremely wealthy. After all, as Dick Cheney replied to former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill when O'Neill questioned the size and wisdom of handing out $1.35 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest 1% of the population, "It's our due."

They sure got their due and then some. But, isn't it time that some of these so-called principled politicians cared about the American people for once?

While the National Rifle Association members point to their slogan, "I Belong to the NRA and I Vote," there are millions of Americans who also respect the 2nd Amendment who don't belong to the NRA. No threats of violence can keep us away from the ballot box, the NRA notwithstanding.

BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY

Richard A. Stitt
Austin, Texas