Rep. Isaac Newton (Ike) Skelton IV of Missouri's 4th Congressional District has decided to vote "No" for the current Health Care Bill up for debate in the House of Representatives.
This is curious considering that his hero, President Harry S. Truman, tried and failed to enact a national health care policy in the 1940's.
In November of 1945, President Harry Truman announced his plans for an overhaul of the health care system and, in a very controversial move, called for the creation of a national health insurance plan.
In his November 19, 1945 address, President Truman called for the creation of a national health insurance fund to be run by the federal government. This fund would be open to all Americans, but would remain optional. Participants would pay monthly fees into the plan, which would cover the cost of any and all medical expenses that arose in a time of need. The government would pay for the cost of services rendered by any doctor who chose to join the program. In addition, the insurance plan would give a cash balance to the policy holder to replace wages lost due to illness or injury.
The above was straight from the Truman Library website. It goes on to say...
President Truman's health proposals finally came to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill, co-sponsored in Congress by Senators Robert Wagner (D-NY) and James Murray (D-MT), along with Representative John Dingell (D-MI). For this reason, the bill was known popularly as the W-M-D bill. The American Medical Association (AMA) launched a spirited attack against the bill, capitalizing on fears of Communism in the public mind. The AMA characterized the bill as "socialized medicine", and in a forerunner to the rhetoric of the McCarthy era, called Truman White House staffers "followers of the Moscow party line".* Organized labor, the main public advocate of the bill, had lost much of its goodwill from the American people in a series of unpopular strikes. Following the outbreak of the Korean War, President Truman was finally forced to abandon the W-M-D Bill. Although Mr. Truman was not able to create the health program he desired, he was successful in publicizing the issue of health care in America. During his Presidency, the not-for-profit health insurance fund Blue Shield-Blue Cross grew from 28 million policies to over 61 million. When on July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare bill into law at the Harry S. Truman library & Museum, he said that it "all started really with the man from Independence".
The W-M-D bill. That's worse than Obamacare.
You might also note that the phrase "socialized medicine" is used here, as well an allusion to Communism. Harry Truman a Communist? Really?
If you look at Ike Skelton's entry on Wikipedia, you will find other associations with the Truman family.
In 1928, Skelton's father met Harry S. Truman, then a Jackson County judge, and the two became good friends. When he was 17, Skelton attended Truman’s 1949 inauguration.
When William J. Randall retired after 17 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Skelton won the Democratic nomination to succeed him with 40% of the vote in a crowded primary field of nine Democratic candidates. He ran with the endorsement of Truman's widow, Bess, which he attributes to his own father's support for Harry S. Truman in the 1940 U.S. Senate primary.
From his bio on www.votesmart.org, it is learned that he is
Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation Board.
He is also a frequent contributor to and supporter of the Truman Library and has given more than one speech on its grounds. The words "Harry Truman" and "hero" have often been uttered by Rep. Skelton on more than one occasion.
Yet, with this political backdrop he has decided to vote "no" to the most significant piece of health care legislation since Medicare.
I honestly don't think that this man asked himself this simple question:
"What would Harry do?"
According to Rep. Skelton, President Harry Truman did not suffer fools and he was smart as a whip. He would call you an SOB to your face, and possibly slug you, rather than deal with the intricacies of polite conversation. He was a man who didn't hold things back. He gave them hell because he
told the truth on those fellows and they thought it was hell.
Harry Truman went through hell because he felt that was his job. He knew about the possible risks of his actions, but he always followed through. He would pay a political price for his actions. Only George W. Bush had lower approval ratings upon leaving the Presidency. However, he was revered for it later, and for good reason. In many ways, he paved the way for what would become Medicare.
He was the first person to receive a Medicare card and it was presented to him by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. He and his wife, Bess, received cards number 1 and 2. It was said that there were tears in his eyes that day as he held that card in his hand.
I am not sure that we would have to guess what Harry Truman would do today. I truly believe that he would go ahead and vote "yes" for the health care bill currently in debate in Congress. He would probably say something like, "They want to fight? Well, I am right here." He would probably not be fully supportive. After all, he championed a public option before most of us were born. However, I do believe that he would support President Obama's actions. He knew that the fight would continue, but to give up and vote "no" would do more damage than good.
He was a man of immense foresight. He integrated the armed forces in the late 40's, during the height of the Jim Crow era. He fought Communism with the spirit of a lion, but was against the "military industrial complex" before Eisenhower's Presidency by exerting his command over Gen. Douglas McArthur by firing him instead of letting him start World War III from the Korean border.
To top it all off, Rep. Skelton has other links to other politicians out to reform health care.
During the course of the Democratic Presidential Primary [of 2008], Skelton endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for President.
I wonder what Secretary of State Clinton would say about his possible vote.