I watched David Waldman debate on CNN while i pulled my hair out.
I know Sarah Palin's a liar. I know she's a polluter of reasonable debate.
Health care reform advocates need to stop harping on this.
While David was arguing and snarking, there was another gentleman who was making a, seemingly, valid point, that while Sarah Palin might be hyperbolic (and downright hyper) there is real concern that there would be rationing. Health decisions would be decided by government. David was flabbergasted and said we need to debate real issues.
This is a real issue.
The gov't will have the right to decide that some care is unnecessary. That's what people are afraid of.
David should have explained that we already have this situation. Point the spotlight relentlessly on the current for-profit system. It is a failure. It rations. It kills people.
Another point is that no one should expect the gov't plan to be a Cadillac. Therefore private plans will always exist for the wealthy. If you're rich enough you'll be able to get that nose job even if you've been diagnosed with incurable and terminal cancer. That you won't be able to get that nose job in a government plan shouldn't be something we avoid admitting.
Let's stop calling Sarah Palin a whack job. Let's sell our plan (sure we don't know exactly what it is, but a basic service plan for every American is the gist). Let's tenaciously call out the insurance companies. And let's expose the arguments against universal care for what they are: immoral. The fear of rationing by a government that would be egalitarian in favor of rationing by insurance companies is advocating health care hoarding and nothing more.
"Let people die so I can stockpile treatment with my cash!"