Keith Olbermann Special Comment on Hillary Clinton
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Talk abounds. Hillary Clinton, her campaign, and the comments made by Geraldine Ferraro are being discussed on every avenue. The former First Lady states we need to return to what is more real and relevant. I concur. Hence, I invite us to again consider Universal Health Care Plans or the prospect of what is not and will not be if we adopt the "Choice" proposal Hillary Clinton presents.
Rarely do I pen a missive with little research or one that relates more to the personal than the profound. However, today I wish to take a moment to muse of what is for me, a reality. Dear reader you may have read the intimate details of my life, or more accurately my history with medical insurance, or the lack thereof. In Health Care in America; Uninsured, Underinsured, Universal Woes I disclosed what has been true for me, as an adult for all but a year. Although I was, am, and intend to be a well-educated, professional person, employed, and by all appearances extremely healthy, I have lived life on the edge.
I am among millions of persons in the United States of America that is forced to think, "What if . . .?" When the unexpected occurs, I must face more than my fears of injury and illness. I need to gather the strength to heal a financial folly caused by the circumstances prevalent in a country that claims to care for its citizens, and yet, does not. I could go on and provide details offered in my earlier essay; however, there is no time today.
I need to scurry. As corporations make many necessary cuts, I again find myself among the millions affected. Most of my life, I was with those uninsured and I may return to that group. Threatened by the loss of health care coverage, I must quickly travel to the doctor's office, if only to ensure my peace of mind. The diagnosis I seek is validation. I hope to verify that for now, I am healthy. Thus, I apologize for being away most of today.
I offer what I think an interesting discussion stimulated by Keith Olbermann's tirade. Bombarded with a barrage of barbs in reference to Geraldine Ferraro and her racial, sexist, silly references, Presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton declared . . .
“It is regrettable that any of our supporters on both sides, because we’ve both had that experience, say things that kind of veer off into the personal.
“We ought to keep this on the issues,” Mrs. Clinton said. “There are differences between us. There are differences between our approaches on health care, on energy, on our experience, on our results that we’ve produced for people. That’s what this campaign should be about.”
Please Senator Clinton, let us have the conversation you think most important. May we chat about your approach to health care. Later, perhaps, after my doctor's appointment we can focus on the folly of energy and "experience."
Hillary Clinton, while what I am about to say may not seem to pertain to health care, it does. You continue to harp on claims that you are more qualified than Barack Obama. You state that he has yet to cross over the threshold of Commander-In-Chief. Silly and absurd as this assessment may be, it brings to mind your plan for "Universal" Health Care. Separate from the speeches you or Barack Obama offer, I find ample reason to question your supposed "correct" solution for Americans such as I that are uninsured, underinsured, or are about to lose the insurance they have.
Senator Clinton, you have yet to authentically address the concerns that affect the common citizen. To force me to purchase what I have never been paid enough to afford, and will once again forfeit, matters, at least to me. Be I a Black person, insulted by the remarks your close friend and a former member of your vast financial committee made or a white woman who is supposed to understand gender bias, either way, I cannot support your stance on Health Care.
Keith Olbermann may question whether you, Hillary Clinton, are affected by your advisors, and hence, have recently been led astray. I do not. My experience is that from the first Hillary Clinton, as a Senator, and as a First Lady, you have never provided the answers to what is a paradox for the American public.
Throughout this campaign, you have obfuscated, just as you did more than a decade ago in the White House. In meetings, closed to the community, you created a culture of conflict. It appears that is your history, your experience.
I invite you Senator Clinton to contemplate the words of Jamie Court voice long before the recent brush up. Mister Court spoke of your signature Health Care Plan, the price, and the coverage. He attended to issue, as I wish you had or would.
Mandatory health care won't curb costs,
What do Mitt Romney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Hillary Clinton all have in common? They all support the government forcing the middle class to buy a private health insurance policy -- but none want to limit how much insurers can charge or spend.
And that's the problem. Mandatory private health insurance proposals are all stick and no carrot.
The average health insurance premium for a family of four is just over 12 grand per year. What middle-class family making, say, 60,000 bucks per year can afford that bill?
What we need is the carrot of affordable health care. That means government standardizing charges by insurers, doctors, hospitals, and drug companies. No more $6 Tylenol in the hospital.
The reason health insurance is so unaffordable today is that no one is watching the costs. With standardization, insurance would be cheaper and people would want to buy it -- not have to because the government is threatening them with a tax penalty.
Oh wait, I can hear the plaintive cry of the free market. You can't tell a doctor, insurer, hospital, or drug company what's reasonable to charge. That's socialism. Well, how reasonable then is it to tell every American you have to buy a product whose cost is obscene if you want to be a U.S. citizen? Isn't that corporate socialism?
Mandatory health insurance is a government bailout of a free market that's failed its customers. Fewer people and employers are buying private health insurance because it costs so much more and delivers so little.
So rather than let customers demand a new and better product, politicians are forcing us to buy it. Whatever happened to creative destruction?
There's a business plan of course. Mitt, Arnold and Hillary each received six or seven-figure campaign contributions from the insurance industry. The plan is insurers send the bill and we have to pay it.
Jamie Court is president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.
Yikes, I am late, just as the conversation you Senator Clinton promised us is , Please let all of America speak of the issue that is most real to millions such as me. Health Care proposals presented by the Presidential hopefuls do nothing to alleviate the pain of the uninsured, underinsured, or soon to be without coverage.
Senator Clinton, at least with Barack Obama's Health Care Plan there are no false assertions or assurances that all will be covered. I prefer the truth. When a person is honest, the consequences are great. I experience Barack Obama has integrity, although admittedly his Health Insurance plan does not provide for the people. Veracity alone is a quality that gives me reason to hope. If a change is proposed, I can have some faith the submission will be sincere.
First Lady Clinton, if you have found your voice, please use it to speak to real people about issues that are relevant to their daily lives. Do not tell us you are ready to command [the troops] when persons such as I need Health Care. We, the people crave a plan that is genuinely Universal, not one that maintains profits for the Pharmaceuticals and Insurers who contribute to your campaign.
Senator Clinton, when you are ready to devote your "energy" and "experience" to the "issues" that effect average people such as me, each and every day, then, maybe we can have that conversation you proposed when you first declared your candidacy. For now, you repeatedly state you are "in," and all I see is that you, or perchance, your plan to insure Americans is outrageous, out of touch with those who have no health care options, and out of the luck Geraldine Ferraro believes Barack Obama has.
I believe we create our own destiny. It is not the color of Barack Obama's skin that is his good fortune, Senator Clinton. It is his ability to reflect, relate, and be real rather than simply say "get real," as though that were the cure for what ails America. Senator Obama's Health care Plan is seriously flawed; however, Presidential hopeful Obama does not give us the false impression that if he is elected, we all will be covered.
First Lady Clinton, a time ago you stated for you, this is personal. Please know, for me, it is as well. I need to know honestly that the President of my country is concerned for the commonweal and will represent me. My health, and whether I am able to receive medical care, is a very personal issue. Rather than rant or rage against a person's race, let us speak of Single Payer, Not For Profit Universal Health Care.
Sources; A Choice Health Care Plan that does not heal . . .
- Obama Campaign Criticizes Ferraro Comments, By Julie Bosman and Jeff Zeleny. The New York Times. March 11, 2008
- Health Care in America; Uninsured, Underinsured, Universal Woes By Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org. September 23, 2007
- American Health Choices Plan. Hillary for President
- Obama says he's ready to be commander-in-chief, By John McCormick. Chicago Tribune. March 12, 2008
- Mandatory health care won't curb costs, By Jamie Court. Market Place. September 18, 2007
- Hillary Clinton Says "I'm In." My Reply, "I'm Out" By Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org. January 20, 2007
- Single Payer, Not For Profit Health Care. Physicians for a National Health Program.