My dear sweetheart, my cherry pie,
Seems that your tears won't ever dry,
For so many eagerly deny,
Care that you need so that you won't die...
Watching the health care debate is like watching a freak horror show. Last fall, 60% of this nation gave the better of 2 candidates a clear mandate to shake up the foundations of the rotten system and make it more affordable, accessible and efficient. Today, the very same people are pulling their support away as they're starting to buy into fiction, being sold by the industry, its political 'representation' and constantly news-making media, that a working rotten system is far better for this country than a system, though arguably more efficient and less costly elsewhere, that needs time and money to kick off. O, brother, and sanity, where art thou?
What does it matter there's 50 million uninsured. What does it matter the costs of the premiums annually outgrow any other expenses by a mile. What does it matter an insurance company dictates who can be insured. What does it matter an insurance company, not a doctor, prescribes how patients should be treated. What does it matter outstanding medical bills bankrupt more Americans than failed business plans. What does it matter Canadian 'socialized' model spends 6% less of its GDP on health care than the US. What does it matter the life expectancy is among the lowest of the developed nations. What does it matter the infant mortality rates are among the highest, higher than in Martinique, Taiwan, Lichtenstein, and of all places, Cuba. What does it matter Morocco, Dominica, Oman, Malta, Andorra, San Marino, the countries an average American likely never heard of in their lifetime, rank higher in the quality of their health care. What does it matter, my dear, that without drugs, your only hope to keep you alive, you're left to die... Though the list can go on and on, there's apparently not enough meat in it to shock the struggling electorate. For some strange reason, the prevalent concern on their minds is lately turning to be the price tag. As if their capitalistic mentality forgot that there's no return without an investment. As if their irrational impatience convinced them that those who brought this country to its knees, defending the for-profit system as the only viable one, were all of a sudden right. As if the death by the hand of a bureaucrat was the better alternative indeed. As if all mentioned above really didn't matter. In the countries with the government option, any suggestion of a slight change that would negatively impact its beneficiaries, the general public, is considered a political suicide. The voters, so aware of health care being a right, not a privilege, and so willing to pay to preserve that right, would hit the streets in droves and drive the incumbent administration out of their warm seats. In the USA, the self-declared greatest country in the world, the citizens so frustrated with the status quo will embrace the old dressed up as new rather than demand the change they so eagerly supported only 8 months ago. Well, should fairness be brought in the equation, the upcoming potential failure then won't be Obama's, America. The blame is exclusively all yours. For letting lies, stupidity, irresponsibility, false expectations, fear and lack of judgment get in your way. For allowing corrupt individuals, paid from your own taxes, enjoying the royal benefits of the first class health care, to dictate what's public entitlement and what's not. For demanding the change but being unwilling or just little too lazy to fight for it. It'll be you who your kids will look in the eye with disgrace 10-15 years from now without having to say a word. It'll be them, my darling, you can thank for all those years you won't get to live...