Sunday, September 6, 2009

The Republican Medicare Myth

For Pretty Much the Whole Year since the world economy fell apart under the stewardship of former President George W. Bush, the Hot Air Force of Conservative American media combined with congressional and gubernatorial Republicans have taken what pleasure they can find in shooting slings and arrows at current President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress.

It's Like Shooting Donkeys in a Barrel, on the one hand.

But on the Other Hand, any self-respecting American elephant with a sincere interest in advancing the American Way of Life would find embarrassment in the economic and political state that those years of Republican Rule skidded America into. Such persons would have worked a bit harder to help put things back in order, and would have shown less relish in trying to foist their own failures onto their political opposition.

Listening to the Likes of the Republican Leadership such as House Minority Leader John Boehner and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor stand up and take partisan potshots at Democrats has been a transparent effort to make fun of Democrats for the mess that the Republicans made and left for the rest of the free world.

The Republicans Have Forgotten that the purpose of politics is not to score points, but to run the country. And sometimes that means putting ideology aside.

Since the Early Days of Medicare back in 1965, the Republicans have led the charges against this program essential for helping to keep senior citizens out of financial ruin in their twilight years.

“Socialized Medicine!” has been the Republican verdict all these years. “It's too expensive!” they have yelled. Even as this “socialist” program has grown to become one of the Nation's most-popular government programs ever.

In a Recent Posting on Our Companion Blog, Ideology Aside,
Gozo Usa analyzes how the apparent failures of Medicare on a fiscally responsible basis result from Republican obstructionism, and not from any flaw inherent in the system. Writes Usa,
[S]ince 1965, for almost 45 years, the Republicans have worked to keep it so that the most-expensive health care that can be paid for, is paid for out of your pocket and mine.....The Republicans have made sure that Medicare is almost-impossible for America to afford.....[They] have worked for almost 45 years to kill Medicare. It’s time to put this destructive Republican ideology aside.
The Problem with Being Reactionary is that you can only do your best work when the other side sticks its neck out and tries new things. Such as Social Security and civil rights and voting rights and Medicare.....AKA “socialized medicine.”

It's Time to Put “Ideology Aside” and include America's low-risk, low-cost population in the high-risk, high-cost health-insurance pool.

In the Long Run, America Eventually Will Join the rest of the developed world, along with the not-so-developed world, and provide universal health care that the whole of the Nation can afford.

In the Mean Time, America Needs a “Public Option.” We don't need to reinvent the wheel of universal healthcare coverage, when so many different plans around the world show us what works and what doesn't. We can pick and choose, learning from the rest of the world's mistakes. We will come up with the world's best universal coverage, combining capitalism's best practices to make healthcare affordable, once and for all. But in the mean time, America needs that public option.

Please Read the Entire Post at Ideology Aside:


And Then Let Your Elected Officials Know, one way or the other, what you think.