Counting on You Rally for the Public Option

Yesterday I went to the “We’re counting on you” rally in downtown Providence at Burnside Park on Kennedy Plaza. The rally was sponsored by Moveon.org and was designed to thank Rhode Island Senator’s Whitehouse and Reed for supporting the Public Option. About 52 attended, which isn’t bad considering it was noon on a weekday in downtown. Speakers related some health care horror stories. It is hard to find someone who doesn’t have a health care horror story, isn’t it. One woman, a lawyer in a small firm which consisted of herself and one other spoke of the 17 percent increase in cost for the firm's health plan that Blue Cross and Blue Shield intends to initiate at the first of the year. Because of this they are unable to hire another lawyer. If the lawyers are suffering, you know things are bad. She also related the story of her aunt, a successful business woman who is down to 3 full time employees from 10 because of the high cost of health care. This woman is contemplating closing her business rather than have her loyal employees go without health care, which she can no longer provide because of the cost. The high cost of health care is killing the small business person as well as preventing all US businesses from remaining competitive on the world market. The small business is one of the factors that have made this country a leader in the world. It is the small business that is innovative, creative and has the capability of growing. Growth fuels the economy. It bugs me that people can’t see this and get outraged with government interfering in health care but remain complacent when government gets involved in the banking, insurance and automotive industry which has only benefited the corporate fat cats as far as I can see. Another thing that bugs me is this. Many years ago, Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft took on the giants of industry like Rockefeller and created anti-trust laws so that these industries could not price fix and gouge the American people. The health insurance industry has had a waiver from the United States Government since 1945 that excludes them from these anti-trust laws. Now Congress has been under the control of the Democrats, the Republicans, and back again over and over since 1945 and none of them jokers has seen fit to take that privilege away from the health care industry. So get over your partisan politics and realize that they are all guilty. One more bug, I don’t see what the big deal is about Olympia Snowe’s vote to get a health care bill out of the finance committee. It wasn’t the deciding vote. The vote was 14-9, (thanks to John Stewart, a comedian, for the info). What is wrong with these Democrats? When the Republican’s control Congress, they shove their legislation down your throat whether you want it or not. The Democrats should do the same. If a bill passes Congress that does not have a public option it is bound to fail. Then the insurance industry can say I told you so and things will go back to the status quo. If you want real health care reform you need to call your Senator and Representatives and voice your support for the public option. The public option is the only way to get the Health Insurance industry to stop gouging the American people. They are not going to give up their billions in profits out of the goodness of their hearts. End of rant.