Health care for Americans
Submitted by thejanet on Fri, 05/02/2008 - 00:36
Okay, my head is really empty here. But this is another issue we need to address. Are we all in favor of some sort of universal health care plan?
Somebody? Write up something? The only thing I've done here is open a topic for us to figure this out.
And y'all now know to open topics on the issues you think we need to address.
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Health Care Ideas from Paul Wellstone book
I'm not an expert on healthcare, but I'm reading the book The Conscience of a Liberal, by Senator Paul Wellstone. There's a section on the book on his experience with Clinton's attempt at universal healthcare in 1993. Wellstone was a supporter of the single-payer health care plan. I don't know enough to know if I support it, but it has the support of a lot of people I respect, including Dennis Kucinich and Ted Kennedy. Some of the points that Wellstone wrote may help us in our own search for a health care platform.
Wellstone had 4 premises for his health care legislation. One was that every American is entitled to have health care coverage as good as what members of Congress get.
Good health care must be affordable.
Citizens must have access to care when they need it.
Good health care delivery depends on a well-trained, well-compensated health care workforce that doesn't have to worry constantly about how they get paid.
Wellstone had a couple of lessons that he learned. He wrote, "We must learn from the 1994 struggle. The first lesson is to have a proposal that fits the mood of the country and that people can understand. The second lesson is that you can't have major health care reform unless you build a movement to demand it. You need an empowered public to shout, 'We want health security just like members of Congress have.' When it comes to health care, if you don't heave a real galvanized citizen constituency to fight for the proposal, the people's interests don't have a prayer."
Wellstone
I really respect Paul Wellstone. I have been to a couple of Wellstone training seminars for grassroots organizers. They have a good primer out called "Politics the Wellstone Way", if I am not mistaken on that title (I can't find it right now).I have been gleaning a lot of my ideas from "Making Sense, A Progressive Guide to Kitchen Table Issues 2008" put out by the Campaign for America's Future, ourfuture.org. Everything I read or get from these folks, is focused, logical,and easy to understand with solid arguments for progressive issues. Everything that I like.
Healthcare
One of the most commonly identifed miracles of our Lord Jesus was that of his healing ministry. We at Crossleft.org may not have those healing powers of Our Lord, but we can support universal healthcare. We at Crossleft.org advocate health care for all , with a single payer insurer, namely Medicare. The program would in effect, be Medicare for all. We propose to pay for it by closing the tax loopholes and advantages for the wealthy and the coroporations. We want tax incentives for corporations that move operations overseas ended. We don't need endless war , 177 military bases, military aid to other countries, and a military budget that now exceeds the whole rest of the world combined. We don't need star wars, extending the madness of war to outer space.We want healthcare not warfare.
Universal Healthcare
I can't think of anything more Christian than Universal Healthcare.The Progressive Democrats have a catchy phrase, "Healthcare not Warfare".