Finding the Truth

I wish that we were as addicted to truth as we apparently are addicted to loud name calling, assumption gathering and spouting, and conspiracy theorizing.

I also wish that we would focus on the important, time sensitive issues, planning to move forward in a systematic way to improve things for our nation, for each other. I wish we could stop being distracted.

And as I have said before, I wish that we would truly begin to dialog on issues, rather than yelling and delivering diatribes.

I might as well wish pigs could fly, I suppose. But wish I do, nonetheless.

Do your research. Find the facts, folks. Understand your responsibility to your families, your children, your friends, your nation, and your selves.

Interesting information from Time Goes By here.

Truth and Health Care Reform

Go. Read. Learn. Really Learn. Look. Contact your Congressional Representatives. Do it now.

Healthcare Reform - Searching for facts through the noise

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.

The Senate Special Committee on Aging has produced a very easy to read summary of the Fact and Fiction around Health Care reform. I urge you to take a look at the summary and to read it carefully. You may be inspired to do additional research - but even if his is all you read, it should provide a clearer perspective. You can find it here.

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.

Let's do something good for our country. Let's debate this, let's figure out together how to come up with a health care system that is better for everyone. Let's stay away from uncivilized behavior, let's discuss the facts, let's stay true to our principles and our integrity, let's hold each other accountable, and let's find the win. We can do this. I have faith in my country.

So Karl Rove said....

"The public is in no mood for drastic changes in current coverage."

He made this statement in a looonnnngggg editorial to the Wall Street Journal that was published on Thursday, June 18, 2009, titled "The GOP Can Stop ObamaCare."

Is this true? Seriously? Are we truly not in the mood for drastic changes in current coverage?

I would like to have better dental care. I would like for better coverage for physical therapy. I would like our medications to be at a reasonable cost - and I would like to be able to get "generic" or "non-generic" without paying bajillions at the pharmacy. I would like to have a lower co-pay. I would like eating and diet disorders to have better coverage - and not the surgery, thank you - but the doctor supervised diet and healthy life style plan. I would like to have better coverage at the Urgent Care or Emergency Room.

Maybe its just me. I mean, tell me. I am very interested in providing affordable health care to families, children, young people, our elderly, self-employed people. I am confused, since we have been avoiding health care reform for lo these many years, taking the approach that if we just don't think about it, it will go away. And what - do we think it is just going to happen with no changes, with no sacrifices, with continued high profits for drug companies, medical providers?

Mr. Rove describes that Republicans are coming up with plans that:

- "leave in place the tax deduction companies received for providing health
insurance and create a 'Medi-Choice' tax rebate for individuals and families to
spend on health insurance"
- "pass reforms that reduce costly 'junk'
lawsuits" (who gets to decide if it is junk, or a lawsuit brought as a result of
negligence, I wonder?)
- "allow families to save money tax-free for a wide
range of health-care expenses"
- "create a National health-insurance market
that would allow Americans to buy insurance across state lines"

I honestly believe that these are good ideas. But I remain skeptical - are these enough? Sure, they are a low cost option to making a few changes. But will these things transform health care? Will they make medications more affordable? Will they reduce the cost of Emergency Room visits? Will they make access to expensive and necessary treatments more widely available? Will they provide better coverage?

They seem like tiny steps, a wave of an idea at the thought of health care. Karl Rove calls them "sensible reforms."

And, the nicely coined "ObamaCare" is a misdirection - a label aimed to drive blame at our current president. President Obama has asked Congress to develop the health care plans and bring them to the floor for debate. Is ANY work being done across party lines, I wonder???? Is ANYONE taking the issue seriously - or are we all still working on different sides of the isle with no regard for reality and for the American people???

What do you think? I really want to know.