AZspot AZspot

blue bits. red rocks.
Monday 17 August 2009

It’s been 97 years since Teddy Roosevelt ran for a third presidential term on a Progressive Party platform that included as a key plank universal health care. And it’s been 64 years since Harry Truman proposed a government-run national health insurance plan almost identical to the “public option” currently under consideration. (“The American Medical Association (AMA) launched a spirited attack against theTruman proposal, capitalizing on fears of Communism in the public mind. The AMA characterized the bill as “socialized medicine”, and in a forerunner to the rhetoric of the McCarthy era, called Truman White House staffers “followers of the Moscow party line”.) It’s been 16 years since the last attempt at health care reform was killed through a campaign of lies and distortions. Meanwhile, our “system” has only gotten worse. And this time around, even the AMA is on board with reform. The AMA is certainly not a radical organization bent on nationalization of the health care system. It is also essential to compare reform proposals with the alternative – which is an untenable status quo. That is, effectively, the Republican alternative. We are the only industrialized country in the world without universal health care. The number of Americans without health insurance is approaching 50 million. Our current system is bankrupting the country and American businesses. Let’s preserve the best of what works and fix what doesn’t. daggatt

14 notes

  1. vivalakogge reblogged this from robot-heart-politics
  2. robot-heart-politics reblogged this from azspot
  3. think4yourself reblogged this from azspot
  4. azspot posted this

A GNT creation ©2007–2012