Republicans in Congress, we need to talk. Congrats on your inspiring vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I know you hate Obamacare – and on some levels, I agree with you. This bill is so watered down Dick Cheney could take it to Gitmo and pour it on Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s face.
It’s full of great improvements, but it doesn’t actually reform the system and the public option is dead. It’s like swooping up the survivors of the Titanic and putting them on a much nicer sinking ship. But you know what? It’s a start. In a few decades the Democrats might turn it into something we can be proud of.
And it should have been you, Republicans. Can you imagine if YOU guys had led the fight for a public option? You’d have called it the ‘Freedom of Care & Long-Term American Strength & Stability Bill.’ Sean Hannity would’ve accused anyone opposed to national health care of treasonous disregard for Americans. You know, where he gets really mad & looks like Fred Flintstone yelling at Barney for swiping the Fruity Pebbles.
C’mon, you think the Democrats would’ve been able to pass a public option? They’re like Clark Kent without a phone booth. Harry Reid has caved so many times there are miners trapped inside him. You’d have rammed this thing through both houses before John Boehner had a chance to publicly weep. At least I think that’s weeping. He could be secreting Fanta.
Health care reform and a public option represent the very core values you claim to believe in. I sense I’m losing you, so here’s 3 reasons.
1. If you’re afraid of competition, you’re not really a capitalist.
Why would believers in a free market deny American consumers the choice of cheaper Canadian drugs? Or fight a public option that competes with Insurance companies, drives down prices and slashes the deficit? You guys would have come up with a cooler name, too. You’d have called it the ‘Citizen’s Choice’ and Lou Dobbs would tip his sombrero. But instead you called it ‘socialism’ which is actually what you’ve got.
The public option is the O’Douls of universal care. And don’t tell me that it’s bad for insurance. Saying the public option will hurt private insurance is like saying community college threatens the Ivy League.
2. If you don't want to save American lives, you're not a patriot. I think we can agree saving American lives is what patriotism is all about. That’s what led to us spending 1 billion a week in Iraq. 45,000 Americans die every year because they can’t get coverage. Our #1 cause of bankruptcy is inability to pay health care costs. We’re ranked #37 in the world and other nations are laughing at us.
The CBO estimated that Iraq would cost us $2.4 trillion over ten years. The projected cost of the public option came in at $1.2 trillion. Now I only went to public school, but I’m pretty sure that’s half the cost, saves far more American lives, and doesn’t make anyone want to kill us.
And don’t tell me it’s a job-killer – you guys all supported NAFTA – and NAFTA screwed a lot more young Americans than NAMBLA. It's not a blueprint for socialism - you're thinking of the New Testament - which brings me to...
3) If you don’t want to help the sick stop calling yourselves ‘Christian.'
This doesn’t apply to all of you, only those who wave their Christianity in my face like a rainbow flag on Pride day. And this may shock you, but Jesus never asked a leper for a co-pay. In Matthew 10:7 he commands his followers to help cure the sick. In Luke 4:40 he heals more people than can be counted. And the Good Samaritan paid all the wounded stranger’s medical bills. Out of pocket.
Of course, some of you say ‘Jesus did tell us to help the sick but he never said the Government should do it.’ Yeah, but Jesus never had democracy. He lived in the 1st century Holy Land under European imperial occupation. But this is America, where WE are the government. If you don’t want to take care of the sick, that’s your choice. But stop saying you want a government based on Christian Values. You’re like a mean smug anti-christian club - “Prayer against Care.’
But it’s not too late to save healthcare reform from those bumbling incompetent Democrats. You could still do it. You’ve got the power, the organization, your own 24/7 cable network and a very motivated fringe. Yeah, you’d lose millions in Insurance company campaign donations, but you’d make up for it in votes from a grateful nation.
If it had been you, the Public Option would be law right now and Americans would hold you up as heroes. And they’d be right to. Instead, it’s going to be more of the same. And if Barack Obama were to discover the cure to cancer Glenn Beck would ask why he hates chemotherapy.