Really, we have to start finding a way, as a civilized nation, to have honest discussions on issues. To find a way to understand the facts without lying to each other. To seek the truth and have the courtesy and interest to listen to each other. To make decisions based on all the knowledge available. To allow choices and options to stand on their honest merits. To reject those who are obviously disingenuous. To demand integrity. To stop calling each other names, to stop denigrating each other. To be responsible. To be impeccable with our words.
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Where is the truth in all the health care noise? Who can be trusted? Where are the facts?
We need to think, to look past the yelling of our friends a bit, to find the elusive truth.
Only a little bit of research enabled me to find a wealth of information. I found so much information, in fact, that I had trouble deciding what to share with you here. From truthout on August 17th comes this wonderful perspective -
"What we need is not "change"; we need tradition. An American tradition of fortitude and caring. It can no longer be the responsibility of the corporations or the government; the community must lead. The time has come to fight for the public health care option.The dialog must be broad enough and creative enough to include moderate conservatives and religious conservatives as well. Moderate conservatives have been pushed to the margins too long, their voices cowed along with liberals. If the conservative movement is to recover, it must be prepared to re-embrace social responsibility."
From every side, from every angle, the voices of reason are entering the dialog, at last. My country is not a country where chaos, riots, death threats, disgust, lies, and yelling rule the day. I live in the United States of America, the home of the proud, the brave, and the free.
You might also find some enlightening information at FactCheck.org, where I found alot of detailed, referenced information in the article Seven Falsehoods about HealthCare. And here is a great blog, written in plain simple English, providing a very clear picture on more of the details of health care reform, easy to read and fact based. You can also go to Time Goes By, a wonderful blog for everyone to reference, and get some more health care clarity.
After you do your research - and PLEASE go do some research - then contact your congressmen & women and help them represent your perspective. An easy reference on how to contact your congressmen can be found here.
6 comments:
Gosh, have to read this later! But I just wanted to say Thanks for your wish!!! Have a great weekend! Hugs Nilla
Great information, great post. I hope people listen to you and do their fact checking. We need to remove the noise
Good post on an important subject. Thank you for the links.
I like the concept of returning to "American tradition." Good arguing point when faced with the illogical rants of someone who thinks we're headed toward a dreaded Communist state (or Nazism, according to some other ill-informed people) if we simply provide health care to everyone.
Thanks especially for the Senate Special Committee on Aging link. There's no excuse for any of us not to know at least the rudimentary facts.
In my post, I also put a link to finding your representatives in Congress. I agree that action is imperative.
Thank you for such a good entry, so many good points.
For years and years I had one of the “good” health care programs. My husband was in the Foreign Service and our family was covered with a program that worked anywhere in the world, was heavily subsidized by the government, and was backed up by military health care when we were stationed near US bases.
When he left the Foreign Service and went to work for an international organization based in Spain, it was still good for a while. However, by the mid-1990’s, it all began to change. The euro-dollar exchange rate increased the dollar costs. The insurance company adopted a policy of questioning to death every bill so that we would simply be worn down with correspondence that never got resolved. In the event, the only bill the insurance company would pay was for the annual checkup. And we were paying $3,300 a year.
We finally opted out of the US health care system — and that got the insurance company’s attention! For about the same amount of money — and no subsidies — we get excellent health care in Spain, elsewhere in Europe and even from the US. It is straightforward. If we use MAPFRE doctors and facilities, and there are hundreds, we just show our card and forget about it. If we use others, they pay 80%. We choose.
This is the long way of describing how broken the US health care system is. Obama’s plan is not radical enough because bringing down health care costs will require undoing the unhealthy structures throughout the system. And that will take time. We will need that Advisory Committee to keep the focus on changing the economics of US health care down to its unhealthy roots.
I'm so glad Ronnie stirred us up to write on this. I thank you too. :)
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