Health Care: The Man Is On FIAH!

Your President Needs YOU

To fight for health care!

Listening to our President addressing Minnesotans in a health care town hall. It's all good, people, it's all fantastic. He's laying it out for the people and they are going WILD! He just announced that the same people in Congress who are yawping about how Medicare will be killed, chilled, spilled, spat on, shat on, are the same people who have been trying to kill Medicare for years.

President Obama reiterated that he was willing to listen to anyone who had workable ideas for health care, regardless of their political affiliation. But, in a new move, he also stated,

"I will not waste time with people who think it's just good politics to kill health care. [...] I'm not going to let people misrepresent what's in my plan. I will not accept the status quo. Not this time. Not now."

He talked about how members of Congress have been fucking around regarding this legislation. He also said that there was agreement about 80 per cent of health care reform. The remaining 20 per cent needs to be nailed down, but he did say we are closer than we have ever been to achieving health care reform.

"This is the hard part. This is when the special interests, the insurance companies, the people who think this is a good way to bring Obama down -- this is when they spread wild rumours."

He talked about "pundits" in Washington who have said, "Maybe you're trying to do too much too soon." Let me guess: those pundits would HAVE health care, yes? He called out those who depict his push for health care reform as "socialism" by pointing out that when FDR introduced Social Security, his enemies called it "socialism" too. He pointed out that senior citizens helped pass Social Security and Medicare, and detailed FDR's struggles with change.



In closing, he said something that I've always strongly felt: Change doesn't come from the top down, it comes from the bottom up. He called on the people of Minneapolis, and of Minnesota, to help him. The crowd greeted him with shouts, cheers, roars, chants, and multiple standing ovations.

Can I just say how sorry I feel for the Secret Service dudes who have to keep him safe? The people love him, everybody wants to touch him or photograph him or shake his hand. And there's something very genuine about Mr. Obama. He seems to really like people, like physical contact with people.

One didn't get that feeling with either of the Bushes. The elder Bush was clearly a patrician New Englander with a genuine physical discomfort around people. He didn't seem to have any empathy with those who didn't belong in his "class." The younger Bush had a completely inappropriate set of behaviours that was downright creepy. He grabbed the Chinese Premier by the sleeve to drag him offstage (the look on Hu's face was priceless. If he'd had the Patented Laser Glare, Georgie would've been fried to a crisp).

Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!

He tried to give a decidedly unwelcome back rub to the German Prime Minister that resulted in a public show of horror on her part. Anyone who's ever been groped by some creepy uncle or child molester will empathize with Ms. Merkel's reaction. He manhandled female athletes in a well-publicized shot.

President Obama comes across very very different. He's openly affectionate to his wife and children. He's reserved and cool in public, yet he seems to like the people he interacts with, genuinely like them. He seems genuinely appreciative of their ideas and opinions, he seems to care about their travails.

ICHC

So he's asking us to step up now and fight for our health care. Are you going to do your bit? All fired up? Ready to go?

It's the fight of our lifetime, people. Unchecked, healthcare costs have long since outstripped wage increases (wages have been stagnant for quite a while); the American consumer has made reductions in spending to deal with the facts of stagnant wages, unsustainable debt, an economy struggling out of recession, financial sector malfeasance, and tightened credit — and those reductions seem to be becoming part of the norm. In other words, don't expect the American consumer to increase spending when this recession is over. In an economy that is largely fueled by the hitherto-profligate spending habits of the American consumer, this is not the best sign. But it is a sign of the times. A sign of the changes that need to be made for a sustainable planet, a sustainable globally interactive economy.

If health care costs (currently between 15 and 20 per cent of GDP) are not contained, they will soon amount to an unsustainable burden on the economy. Very soon. It makes sound fiscal sense to move towards cost containment AND broadly inclusive health care. We pay double what Canadians do for less care. And in an era of global connectivity and climate change, we are at greater risk than ever of epidemics. So do your bit, peeps. For yourself, your friends, your family, your nation, and your world.

Stumble It!