Good Articles and Editorials on Healthcare Reform

"By Any Means Necessary" - The Nation (9/2/09):

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090921/editors

"How American Health Care Killed My Father" - Atlantic Monthly (September):

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200909/health-care

"Five Myths About Healthcare" - The Austin American Statesman (8/26/09):

http://www.statesman.com/search/content/editorial/stories/2009/08/26/0826healthmyths_edit.html

Robert Reich is Right On

I'm a big fan of Robert Reich, who was Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and is now a a professor of public policy at Berkeley. He frequently appears on MSNBC and writes a column on Salon.com. He has made a number of excellent posts on Salon recently about the healthcare debate, which I hope some of Obama's advisors in the White House are reading. Here are links to some of those posts:

The Public Option's Last Stand:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/17/reich/index.html

Why the Gang of Six is deciding healthcare for 300 million of us:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/23/gang_of_six/index.html

Beware "inside sources" who say the public option is dead:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/28/public_option/index.html

On healthcare, Democrats need to be like GOP:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/09/01/reich/index.html

Obama: Show Courage on Healthcare:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/09/03/reich/index.html

Real Voices for Change Forum

I just got back from the Real Voices for Change Forum that was held at the First United Methodist Church in Austin this afternoon, and it was a thoroughly uplifting experience. I have to admit that I have been angry and depressed in recent weeks. Like every other liberal Democrat I know, I've been furious at the lies and distortions being propogated by the right wing media. the health insurance industry, and their political allies (mostly Republican) in Congress, and depressed by how many of our fellow citizens have been taken in by them. But I've also been both disillusioned and angered recently by what seemed to be signs of surrender on the Public Option by the White House and some key Senate Democrats. The White House has since tried to reassure us about this, but I won't be happy until President Obama takes a much stronger position on the Public Option than he has to date. Still, today's Forum made me feel a whole let better!

The Forum started at 3, but my wife and I went a little early, and we were glad we did, because we were some of the last people that managed to get a seat inside the church. It was completely packed, as were two other "overflow sites" the organizers had made available, one at the AFL-CIO Hall and the other at the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. It was a huge turnout and the organizers (MoveOn, Organizing for America, Gray Panthers, Texans for Obama, Texas Democratic Party, Travis Country Democratic Party, and Health Care For All Texans) have every reason to be proud of their efforts and ecstatic over the results.

One of the main reasons we went to this event was that we were expecting to see a large and well-organized group of "Tea Party" types there, trying to shut down the meeting, and we wanted to make sure that Rep. Doggett had plenty of vocal supporters on hand this time around. We needn't have worried. There were some Teabaggers there, alright, with their now familiar signs of "Keep your hands off my healthcare" and "socialist whatever," but they were vastly outnumbered by the pro-healthcare reform folks. Just seeing those angry "Just Say No-ers" engulfed in a sea of happy "Yes We Can-ers" was worth the trip, but what took place inside the church was even more encouraging. One speaker after another brought the crowd to its feet, from Jim Rigby (Pastor of the St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Austin), who talked about the ethical and moral issues of health care reform with wonderful clarity and humor ("It seems that talking about helping the poor makes you a Christian, but actually doing something to help the poor makes you a Socialist!"), to local physicians Nancy Binford and Andrew Weary, who spoke very movingly about their experiences with patients who have been victimized by the insurance industry, to the keynote speaker, our own Lloyd Doggett, who was extraordinarily eloquent and passionate about the need for real health care reform, and the importance of the Public Option, in particular. With all the noise about "socialism" and "death panels" and "government takeovers" that has been filling the news in recent weeks, it was tremendously encouraging to know that we have such bright, articulate, compassionate and capable leaders working on our behalf, and that there are so many good, committed people right here in this community who are willing to stand up to the bullies and loud mouths on the far right and fight for real change in this country. It made me believe that we can actually do this, if we work together and work hard enough.

Getting the facts about healthcare reform

The lies and distortions of the right wing media commentators and some of the conservative Republican politicians concerning Obama's healthcare proposals are simply beyond the pale. If you want to get the facts straight, I suggest that you go to this web site:

http://democrats.org/RealityCheck

And here's an email that was forwarded to me a while back that gives the lie to the common myth that Canadians don't like their health care system.

From: james dossa <james_dossa@yahoo.com>
Date: July 23, 2009 1:45:39 PM CDT
To: undisclosed recipients: ;
Subject: Debunking national health care myths
The following is from a friend of mine currently living in Vancouver. You may want to follow the link for more information about nationalized health care.
- Jim

- - - - -

Hi everybody,

As a transplanted American, I can tell you that the Canadian healthcare system is nothing short of remarkable.

Imagine healthcare considered a basic human right, not a privilege just for those who can afford it. Imagine visiting your doctor when you have a health concern, then simply waving goodbye to the receptionist instead of digging out your credit card. Imagine entire families not being financially wiped out as a condition of treating serious illness.

Sound unrealistic, impractical? I've been here for 15 years, and I assure you, it's neither. And it makes me ill how the powerful U.S. medical lobbies have sabotaged every attempt to initiate such a system in the U.S.

A friend just pointed me to a great news story that debunks the myths that have been perpetrated to keep U.S. healthcare private. You owe it to yourself, and those you care about, to read it. Then please contact your government representatives and push for change, because the U.S. medical industry has been pulling the wool over your eyes long enough.

Debunking Canadian health care myths
By Rhonda Hackett / The Denver Post

Best wishes, Andy

The Wages of Hate

I'm a big Judith Warner fan, and I think her recent editorial about how the right wing commentators are stoking the fires of extremism in our country is right on the money. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a link:

http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/the-wages-of-hate/?8ty&emc=ty

Wasn't it refreshing to have an American president make such a pleasantly anticipated speech to an audience of Muslims who received him with acclamation? It's time that we joined other countries in realizing we are not the center of the world, and not every world citizen wants to be like us. We need to tend to our great problems at home and start practicing what we espouse in caring for our most vulnerable citizens.

Welcome

Yes, we can! Well, why not? The Travis County Precinct 354 Democrats can have their very own blog. And now we do!

Enjoy!