Like most people not running for President on the Republican line and like most people not named Coulter, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, or Malkin, I believe that basic health care is a right not a privilege.
Because of this fundamental belief I
A. Oppose corporatized medicine;
B. Oppose having HMO bureaucrats or insurance companies making medical decisions;
C. Favor eradicating the role insurance companies currently play in health care decisions;
D. Favor keeping health care coverage separate from employment; and
E. Seek to guarantee basis universal health care coverage for all Americans.
When a child is in an unfortunate car accident and needs spinal surgery, I do not ask myself whether the kid's family is Democratic or Republican. I do not ask myself how many hours a week the kid's parent(s) work, what job they hold, whether they own a house or not, etc... I simply believe that society (a.k.a government) should pay for whatever health care necessities the child needs to get healthy again. Guess it's part of my pro-life platform.
When a two year old child needs heart surgery to save her life, I do not ask myself what the child's family income status, politics, work habits, homeowner status, or lifestyle choices are. I simply favor having society paying for the heart surgery to save her life. Guess it's part of my pro-life platform.
But Republicans seem to have a different philosophy. Simply put and in all practical terms, Republicans are saying that unless a child is the offspring of very wealthy parents, then any child that needs an expensive medical procedure should simply die quietly.
What do Republicans expect families like the Wilkersons and Frosts to do? Should they plant a money tree outside and hope several hundred thousand dollars grow on it overnight? Should the parents work 120 hours a week and leave a two year old home by herself to make her own meals? Is the Republican solution to have 1 year olds setting up private medical accounts in case they have some catastrophic illness at age two? Do Republicans want families to choose between losing a business and losing a child? Do Republicans want families to choose between losing a home and losing a child?
In a normal world, it seems that a statement such as "Basic health care is a right not a privilege" would be universally accepted and not mischaracterized with propagandistic shrieks of communist, socialist, government health care, or socialized medicine. But to give you an idea of how extreme the Republican Party has become and how out of touch the Republican Party is with the basic needs and values of the supermajority of Americans, there is not a single Republican running for President who supports the Frosts or Wilkersons. It's enough to make you sick.