Now that the House has finally passed the landmark health care bill, the Senate has stopped it dead in its tracks. Why? Because it contains the dreaded "public option", which would give all Americans a publicly-funded alternative to those vultures we call "private health care insurers". Why is this a bad thing? In the words of Joe Lieberman, I-CT, it's "a matter of conscience". Is this the same "conscience" that allowed Lieberman to accept approximately $1.5 million from the health care industry over the past few years? Give us a break.
According to an Associated Press article by R. Alonzo-Zaldivar, the problem that many Senators see with the bill is the idea of a government-sponsored insurance plan competing with private insurers. Well, it's about time they have some competition, wouldn't you think? Since they've been protected by their friends in high places from just such a debacle up to now, it certainly seems overdue. Of course, we never heard any conservatives railing against that issue during tirades about the "socialist" tendencies of a public option health insurance entity.
Earlier today, I heard yet another conservative senator stating that a public option would cause such a crippling national debt that successive generations would never be able to pay it off. Well, maybe our congresspeople could donate their contributions from lobbyists toward that end. Seriously, though, do you remember hearing any of this kind of talk while the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were being planned? Or when our elected representative handed over nearly $800 billion in corporate welfare checks to inefficient, mismanaged mega-corporations? They passed that package so fast, I'm not sure there was even time to print all the rules and regulations involved. Which, I guess, is why there weren't any.
Lieberman also stated that he was against a public option for fear that it would become a large, expensive entitlement program. Well, shame on us for feeling as if we, as citizens of one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, are entitled to guaranteed health care coverage--even though we would be paying for it ourselves. Corporate bailouts? Now, there's an entitlement program!
According to an Associated Press article by R. Alonzo-Zaldivar, the problem that many Senators see with the bill is the idea of a government-sponsored insurance plan competing with private insurers. Well, it's about time they have some competition, wouldn't you think? Since they've been protected by their friends in high places from just such a debacle up to now, it certainly seems overdue. Of course, we never heard any conservatives railing against that issue during tirades about the "socialist" tendencies of a public option health insurance entity.
Earlier today, I heard yet another conservative senator stating that a public option would cause such a crippling national debt that successive generations would never be able to pay it off. Well, maybe our congresspeople could donate their contributions from lobbyists toward that end. Seriously, though, do you remember hearing any of this kind of talk while the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were being planned? Or when our elected representative handed over nearly $800 billion in corporate welfare checks to inefficient, mismanaged mega-corporations? They passed that package so fast, I'm not sure there was even time to print all the rules and regulations involved. Which, I guess, is why there weren't any.
Lieberman also stated that he was against a public option for fear that it would become a large, expensive entitlement program. Well, shame on us for feeling as if we, as citizens of one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, are entitled to guaranteed health care coverage--even though we would be paying for it ourselves. Corporate bailouts? Now, there's an entitlement program!
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