Well, okay, I wrote it but I can only wish he'll deliver it.
On the front page, there's a story about Michael "I really am an asshole" Steele talking about wanting veterans to commit suicide. And of course, the ClusterFox news morons bobbling their silly little heads up and down in agreement.
Now obviously I'm not the President, but I wish our President could raise his voice once in a while against this shit. So I wrote him a speech. In many respects it restarts the entire health reform process. It is my way of venting.
It started out as a comment on that diary, but when I clicked preview, I saw I had written something like sixteen paragraphs, certainly long enough to be a diary unto itself.
More over the jump...lots more...
It started out as a comment on that diary, but when I clicked preview, I saw I had written something like sixteen paragraphs, certainly long enough to be a diary unto itself.
I'm sure I left things out, maybe even got a couple things wrong. But its a vent, not a thesis. It is the result of 15 minutes of typing off the top of my head.
Well, once again we have new lies about our attempts to bring affordable health care to our citizens and improve the care our veterans receive.
Once again, the lies come from the same sources. In the past, I haven't mentioned those sources, but today, the level of fear they raise and the basic irresponsibility these people have cause me to alter that position.
For months, even years, the Fox News Network has openly allowed guests to pretty much say whatever they wanted on air. That is fine. That is free speech. However, if they see themselves as a responsible news outlet, they have then a responsibility to correct a guest who promotes not an opinion, but a lie.
We have seen this time and again in the debate over health care. Not just from guests on Fox, but from their own anchors and hosts who have taken the various proposals and twisted things to the point where what they say bares no resemblance to the actual bills under consideration.
Dozens of Congresspeople, Senators, and myself have said dozens upon dozens of times that our proposals,
- Are not a government takeover of the health care system.
- Do not have so called "death panels" looking to pull the plug on Grandma.
- Do not force you to see a doctor of the government's choice.
- Do not force you off your current insurance.
Yet, despite those pronouncements, all that comes out the mouths of the right wing talk shows on radio and television, out of the mouths of many Republican leaders, is the exact opposite. And if their lies weren't enough, they have painted anyone who supports reform as a communist, a socialist, or a Nazi. They have moved the ignorant to go to town hall meetings not discuss their disagreement, but attempt to shut down any discussion at all. If anything goes against American ideals, it is not allowing different opinions to be heard.
Worse yet, current Republican office holders- Senators, Congressmen, etc., have also made similar statements that they know full well to be false. I have complemented Sen. Grassley for instance on his help, yet he responded by advancing the death panel lie not once, but several times this month. For any of these people to knowingly lie as they have is truly a sad thing. It shows that that value political expediency more than their sworn oath as elected representatives, or presenting the facts and opinions, even if it is a negative opinion, in an honest way.
With this in mind, I am taking control of the process. When Congress returns I will ask Democratic leaders to throw out the versions of HR 3200 they were working on. I will present new bills, simpler and shorter in length. They will be presented to Congress for their approval.
The first bill will reign in the insurance companies ending arbitrary caps on coverage, ending rescission, and denials for pre-existing conditions. This bill will also provide funds to being the overhaul of medical records from paper copy to a digital system, greatly reducing costs and time in processing.
A second bill will reform Medicare to make the quality of care more important than the quantity of care our senior citizens receive. It will also give Medicare not just the right, but the responsibility to negotiate the best prices for prescription drugs, saving billions per year in costs. It will also eliminate the "donut hole" in Medicare Part D that is hurting so many seniors.
A third bill will create more competition for private insurance companies by opening up Medicare for those younger than 65 who wish to buy into that system. Those eligible to do so would pay an increased Medicare deduction through their paycheck to pay for the premium, and medical providers would receive reimbursement on a scale akin to private insurance. This bill would also provide subsidies for individuals and small businesses that would need help affording the cost of insurance, whether it be a private or public plan.
These three bills will end medical bankruptcy, they will end the fear of not being able to see a doctor when ill. These three bills will result in billions of dollars that now go to insurance premiums being returned to the pockets of American citizens and the balance sheets of American business.
And before the irresponsible members of the opposition party, and their media friends get the chance, let it be known: no illegal immigrants will be covered, no change in Federal payment for abortion is made; there will be no rationing of care of any kind; no one will be forced to change insurers or the doctors they see.
I can all but guarantee that despite what I just said, those same people, who are so afraid of the truth, they know only how to lie, and they will do just that. They will lie and invent new things to scare you. They do not care one bit about your health care. All they care about is their ratings and how much money they can squeeze from advertisers.
These bills will go through the normal committee process and be sent to the floor. I am sure the Republicans will attempt to filibuster each of them. I say, go ahead. Let the American people clearly see who is denying them affordable health care as they bring the Senate of the United States to halt. Let us watch as they protect the millionaires who run the insurance companies instead of you, the average American.
In my acceptance speech in Denver a year ago, I said I hoped for a new spirit of bipartisanship. We have tried that. Our efforts were met with lies, deception, and a level of hypocrisy rarely seen in human history. Those Republicans who want to work with us are still welcome. But we can have no use for those who only want to derail what is best for the American people while they protect an industry that has hurt so many.
Well, as I said in that same speech, "Enough!" The time for us to act is long overdue. The American people elected me and a Democratic Congress for this very purpose and we will not shrink from that responsibility to serve the American people, no matter how much the opposition ignores their responsibility.
Thank you.