Those Who Oppose

The morning was swell. The early afternoon was lovely. The later afternoon has turned overcast and the possibility of early evening rain looms above us. Most of the boats have abandoned Streeterville Bay as the threat of rain has risen. I believe this is what, back in school, was referred to as an inverse proportional relationship. The number of boats in the bay is in inverse proportion to the number of clouds darkening the sky, thus creating higher probabilities of precipitation. The Streeterville Weather Service tells us that it is currently 77 degrees and rain is imminent (though, not eminent).

One thing that does not appear to be imminent is the passage of a universal healthcare bill for the United States. President Obama has set a goal of August for the passage of a comprehensive healthcare reform bill. Foot dragging has commenced. Predictably, Republicans have begun a vocal opposition to healthcare reform on two fronts, one from the fiscal conservatives (aka Rich Dudes with ties to the healthcare industry and Rich Dudes with no conscience who can afford healthcare and don't care about anyone else.) and the other from the Christian Right (aka Abortion is Murder anti-abortion activists)

Support for Mr. Obama's healthcare reform push is sagging just now, as one would expect. The Republican Party with its two front assault in the media has begun a serious campaign of disinformation, misinformation, and just plain propaganda to defeat any meaningful healthcare reform. On the one hand they are claiming that the plan being pursued in Congress will cost us millions of jobs by requiring employers to provide health insurance. Then they are screaming that it is socialism and will further cost us millions of jobs by putting a tax on the wealthy to pay for it. Such scare tactics have an effect. They make undiscerning Americans think, "Oh my God! Obama is sending us to hell in a handcart, and I won't be able to choose my own doctor and me and everyone I know are going to lose our jobs." Thank you Rush Limbaugh and company.

The second prong of the media attack on healthcare reform is the suggestion that government reform of healthcare will require all insurance to cover abortions, and baby killing will run rampant as a result. One article from a Christian News Media source suggests that the government is even now out recruiting abortionists and is planning to mandate the provision of abortions in hospitals and clinics across America. This is uniting large numbers of Christian Right groups across the country to oppose any effort to provide universal healthcare in America.

Then there are the so-called "Blue Dog" Democrats in Congress, the conservative Democrats, who in many cases have more in common with the Republican Party than they do with their own party. These Democrats are dragging their feet, claiming that Congress, at the behest of President Obama and his woman in the House, Nancy Pelosi, is moving too fast. Mind you, it would be of great interest to me to find out how many of these individuals are taking donations from the insurance and healthcare industry. At any rate, they are making the argument that we need more time to consider what exactly needs to be done to fundamentally reform our healthcare system.

As if this were not enough, I encountered something at a party the other night that I did not expect. What I encountered was opposition from the far left. Apparently, the far left in this country feels that any healthcare reform coming from Congress will not go far enough. There are those who want nothing less than the total takedown of the insurance industry as it exists, to be replaced by a single-payer government run system. Nothing else will do for these.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party, recently reported to be in disarray and seriously lacking in respect from the American public as a whole, is gleefully licking its chops. The inner circle has been heard to say that if they can take out the healthcare reform, the centerpiece of Obama's agenda, they can send the whole Obama package down to ignominious defeat, just as they did Bill Clinton's agenda in the early 1990's. Then we can all get back to business as usual, which means the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and the U.S. continues its spiral down that hole that leads to 3rd worldization of our country.

This is one agenda that we, the people of the U.S., need to get behind. It is time to draw that line in the sand. It is time to support the needs of the people and the economy of the U.S. against the wants of a privileged few who benefit from keeping things the way they are. Can we change our country for the positive. In the words of President Obama, "Yes we can."