On Wednesday I sent you an email about our meeting with the White House and what we can do to provide quality affordable health care for all Americans. Based on that meeting we created a simple, yet powerful way for you to take actions in the fight for health care: contacting your Senators, writing letters to your local papers, calling in to radio shows, and attending town halls.
But now I have some exciting news: everyone that signs the pledge by Wednesday night will be invited to participate on YDA’s Health Insurance Reform update conference call with Democratic leaders and elected officials.
Sign the pledge to receive an invitation to this important call
The fight for health care is an effort that will require our generation to exercise the same power we used last year to elect Barack Obama President of the United States. By pledging to take action for health insurance reform and encouraging your friends and family to do the same, we can show Washington that young Americans realize our work is not yet done.
Pledge to act for health insurance reform
The White House and Democratic Congressional leaders realize that our generation has the power to change this country for the better. We need you and your friends to take action on one of the most important changes we can make: real health insurance reform.
Visit yda.org/healthpledge and take action in support of health insurance reform
The dream shall never die.
Best,
Crystal Strait
President
Young Democrats of America
The problem as it lies with the current proposed legislation in which our president would like passed is the fact that there are many unanswered questions about how we will pay for increased coverage for all American citizens and non citizens. I would have to say that it is absolutely necessary that we have reform within our health care system, but in order to have real reform we must carefully review the proposal in its entirety and make the changes as needed so that it conforms to the concerns expressed by many Americans across our great nation. We need to slow down and focus on what works in reforming our health care system, and how we can still have competition among our private health insurance providers. One of the biggest problems that we face as a nation is understanding the concept of providing insurance to all, but yet keeping the cost low. One must ask oneself how that is possible without rationing health care, like they do in other countries that have a similar type of system set up. I am more of a blue dog democrat in that I am more fiscally conservative in my views, and I just wanted to share with my fellow democrats some other perspectives that exist on this issue regarding health care reform. The other questions that follow, is will other private health insurance providers be able to be competitive against a Government option? How will the bill change current pension plan benefits for retired Government employees? How will this affect the senior’s and the current benefits they receive from Medicaid and Medicare? I do welcome your comments and insight on this issue; please feel free to email me at rbrtbarchiesi@yahoo.com. Take care and God Bless.
If you want gov ran health care, why do you not mov out of your house and into gov housing? That’s working so well. Think about it.
Jamie Guffey
Mr or Mrs. Guffey,
After reading your comment, I must jump to the conclusion that you would rather have no Government run programs at all?
Okay.
I suppose we should kick all the homeless men, women, and children out of their government housing and instead point them to the nearest street corner…the one with a gutter to piss and shit in and a hot dog vendor who may give them food out of sympathy.
I suppose we should take away the Police Departments and Fire Departments. Those are government funded. Instead, we should just arm ourselves and carry water buckets at all times and try our hardest to protect our neighborhoods.
I suppose we should also eliminate Government funded schools. Who wants their kid to have a free education? That’s absurd! People should teach their own kids or spend thousands of dollars and send them to private schools.
I suppose we should get rid of VA Hospitals for Veterans. The Government shouldn’t pay for their health care. Not that they don’t deserve it, but, we shouldn’t have to pay taxes for them to be covered. They should pay themselves.
I suppose we shoud also get rid of the Miltary. That’s Government run. The military is useless!
We should also get rid of Public Libraries. Those too are Government funded. Have you ever tried to get a library card? It takes forever! Most of the time the title you want is at another library or it is checked out for a few days. Who needs a Government run program like this? Instead, we should have to order our books on Amazon.com.
We should get rid of Medicare. That’s Government funded. Old people should fend for themselves. Who needs seniors anyway? They don’t have any wisdom or use for young people anyway.
…..
Guffey,
Where is your humanity? Where is your compassion?
Do you think before you say things? Do you understand the situation of our country? Do you know anything about the history of this country? Do you know the historical timeline of rich vs. poor? Do you understand the true role of Government and why it is necessary? Do you understand why the Articles of Confederation did not work? Do you understand the premise of the United States Constitution and it’s founders ideas? Do you understand the significance of the late 1800s and early 1900s? Why it was important for government to regulate out of control industries? Do you understand that Government is the only thing protecting you from the rich?
I don’t think you do.
I know I do. I’m a Government Major. I’ve memorized the Constitution. I understand its history.
People like you would rather get on their knees and pleasure Corporate and Insurance Giants than actually reading books, listening to people’s cries for help, attending public debates, etc.
You may not want to believe it, but you probably have more in common with people who live in Government run housing than you think.
You have more in common with Democrats than you do with the CEOs of Insurance Industries.
Why are you defending Insurance lobbies? Why aren’t you defending the American people?
It makes no sense.
What amazes me is that people are so afraid of legislation that will help the entire country based on the emotion that Democrats are evil communists waiting to spring a trap on average Americans. It’s absurd.
If anything, the biggest problems which I think people need to seriously look into are the actions of Republican members of the House and Senate.
Most of them are corrupt.
They are being paid off by special interest groups, and they are lying to the American people about the most important issues of our lives.
They want to block anything that stops the money flowing into their pockets and campaign funds.
They will do anything in their power to scare the American public into submission.
They are succeeding.
Sadly, millions of Americans are in debt because of Insurance Companies. My father is one of them. When he had his heart attack in 05, he was given stints, medications, etc….but, after a month or two, blue shield wrote him a letter saying his health insurance would no longer cover his heart condition because it was pre-existing. He is now over 100,000 dollars in debt. Even worse, his company laid him off.
My father, who has been working since the age of 18, has never been on unemployment, and has never been sick, is now getting the metaphorical dildo shoved up his ass by Health Insurance Conglomerates of the likes we have not seen since the late 1890s when Big Steel, Big Oil, and Big Electric owned our country.
But this whole debate is not about my father. It’s about all of us. We’re all a part of this. Each of us knows someone who has been affected by this problem.
What angers ME is that Republicans in this country have the intellectual equivalency of sheep.
They didn’t care about the election fraud of 2000.
They didn’t care about Cheney’s abuse of Constitutional Powers under Article II.
They didn’t care about the billions of dollars wasted in Iraq, the thousands of dead American soldiers, and the mutilated ones rotting away in rat invested VA hospitals, and the countless civilian casualties which will result in blowback against us in the future.
They didn’t care about the failure of FEMA’s response to Katrina and the countless people losing their homes, lives, pets, and security.
They didn’t care about Bush’s tax cuts for the rich, his unnecessary skyrocketing defense budget, or the unregulated banking/housing industries which have brought us into this recession.
They didn’t care about the environment, melting ice caps, deforestation, pacific garbage patch, whaling, or the extinction of vital species throughout the world. George Bush did not do a single thing to protect the environment or endangered species.
They didn’t care about the racism in education and how millions of Black, Hispanic, and Asian children will never see the true American dream unfold before them because a fat rich white politician is paid off by his/her greedy fat white constituents in the more affluent areas of his/her districts.
They didn’t care that Fox News lies on a minute-by-minute basis; hell, that’s all they watched in the first place.
They didn’t care to pick up a book once in a while, read a newspaper, write their local congressman/woman, attend school to better their lives, be involved in the political process on a daily basis, etc.
They didn’t care that Fox News lies on a minute-by-minute basis; hell, that’s all they watched in the first place.
They didn’t care to pick up a book once in a while, read a newspaper, write their local congressman/woman, attend school to better their lives, be involved in the political process on a daily basis, etc.
BUT NOW
Now there’s an African-American Democrat as President.
Now they care.
Overnight, millions of white-red-faced-assholes have become health care experts. They are involved, “informed”, and ready for battle.
They are on the internet absorbing health care talking points given to them by Health Insurance Conglomerates disguised as “grass-roots volunteers”. They shut down debates at town halls by screaming obscenities, racist rhetoric, and misguided historical references equating Obama’s desire for Health Care Reform with Hitler’s Jewish Holocaust.
They consider themselves to be Constitutional Law experts, claiming, among many other things, that Health Care Reform is Un-Constitutional; while ignoring the basic fact that the President’s duty is to uphold the Constitution, which states plainly in the pre-amble, to “insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity [future generations]“.
They have become immigration experts. They believe, without a single piece of physical evidence, that Obama is NOT a citizen of the United States even though the Hawaiian Government has produced his original Certificate of Live Birth.
They are now literate; and in numbers! Quoting texts from racist media whores such as Bill O’Riley, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Sean Hannity, they claim that Obama’s secret plan is to get back at the Anglo-Saxons for their cruelty and abuse against the black nation. They claim that liberals are disgusting evil creatures that need to be stopped at all costs. “Liberals” want to kill babies. “Liberals” want to take away the 2nd amendment. “Liberals” want to raze American civilization.
Because of this, they are arming themselves in historic numbers. Gun sales have increased by more than 50% since Obama became a candidate for President. As I speak right now, people are parading around town halls with semi-automatic rifles, glocks, .42s, .357s, .9mms, etc. They are even bringing their weapons to Obama’s speeches.
It seems extremely suspect that now, all of a sudden, these people give a shit about a President trying to save them from Insurance Companies, but instead of thanking him or trying to help the debate with logical and applicable ideas, [like our founding fathers in 1788], they are labeling Obama as a racist, a Nazi, a foreigner, a Muslim, and an opponent of the Constitution of the United States.
And yet, I’m not allowed to label these folks as racists?
Am I not allowed to suggest the possibility that maybe they are not mad at the President’s party affiliation or agenda, but in fact, his skin color?
I do not wish to convey the impression that I believe that all of the opponents of Obama are racists. I know many Conservative people, of all ethnicities and demographics, who genuinely disagree with Obama’s agenda on an ideological standing. These are the people who we need to find common ground with. Unfortunately, these people are not really a part of this debate. They have been pushed to the side. Their voices are not being heard.
But, THERE IS something underneath the surface of this debate that is being projected from people who question Obama’s citizenship and label him as an enemy of the Constitution. These are the so to speak “fringe” of American society who would shoot the President dead on sight without a moment’s hesitation. They are a hysterical group absent of intelligence and reality. These are the people I am speaking of.
These are the people who are keeping the rest of us down. They are destroying the progress of America towards a more perfect union.
These people want to abolish Gay Rights, Civil Rights, Women’s Rights, Scientific Research, Heatlh Care Reform, Peaceful relations with other nations, funding for College Education, etc.
Sadly, I would probably bet that an immigrant could beat them on a Citizenship test any day of the week.
It’s pathetic.
No wonder the rest of the world views us as uneducated and brutish.
We’re the only western country in which a majority of its citizens view college educated individuals as elitist assholes worthy of suspicion and contempt vs praise and encouragement.
But I don’t care.
I am so happy that I am University educated. I would rather be a nerd than a beer guzzling hypocrite.
At least I have my own ideas. At least I don’t have to read a racist book by Mark Levin or Rush Limbaugh to feel empowered.
At least I don’t have to get on my knees and “pray” to an invisible force in the sky for guidance and prosperity. At least I’m not a superstitious and irrational slave to a mythological narrative. At least I love other people without caring about their ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference. At least I don’t have to live my life in fear and paranoia. I am educated enough to analyze what people say. I may read a lot of books, but I don’t let their words turn me into a dogmatic and senseless being. I research what I read. I piece together the timelines myself. I make educated decisions, not emotional ones.
I am an individual and I am proud of it.
So for all of you who don’t support Government paying for necessary programs that benefit the whole instead of the privelaged…fine….I hope you enjoy living in a third world nation…because it’s coming and you don’t even realize it.
This post has everything I need to get going much thanks.