In early July, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) began his health care outreach tour across Texas. While he met with high-placed politicians and executives, his staff met with average citizens. On Thursday, July 23, 2009, MoveOn.org sponsored a health care reform rally at Senator John Cornyn's Houston offices. Small business owner Rusty Cates, who has been active in leading a non-partisan regional health care reform group, spoke at the rally and had the opportunity to sit down with a Cornyn staff member after the rally.
Cates was particularly moved by the story fellow rally participant, Joseph Benson, told. Benson had been in a auto accident with an uninsured motorist. Cates related Benson's story, "In two and a half years of recovery in the Texas Medical Center he maxed out his insurance, spent his life savings, spent his children's college savings, lost his job, his house, his family, and his legs. When he was discharged it was as a homeless man living on the streets in a wheelchair. In the years since he has rebuilt his life, sort of; his children did not get an education and he is confined to a manual wheelchair. He will never have his family back and he can not afford the prosthetic legs that a proper health care system would have provided him. He now works in a homeless shelter."
Cates said this is the sort of story that has inspired him to advocate for health care reform. He was at Senator Cornyn's office because Cornyn's current tour around Texas has given hope to people that he might be amenable to supporting the President's appeal for health care reform.
But is Senator Cornyn's "listening tour" truly indicative of a change of heart? Can citizens count on him to support reform?
He does propose some "changes" but voting for a public option is not one. It's far more likely that he will be sticking to his original position that the current system isn't broken, it simply has some room for improvement.
Cates agreed with that point after his meeting with a Cornyn staff member named Jay Guerro, "He repeatedly said, unconvincingly, that the Senator had not yet made up his mind. He said that sharing Senator Cornyn's position was above his pay grade." Cates' local health care reform advocacy group members had all signed letters in support of the public option; while at the meeting, Cates handed over 159 letters, and Guerro commented on the fact that each were individually signed and addressed.
However, despite the letters, calls and support, as well as the staff member's support of citizens weighing in, they are unlikely to influence Senator Cornyn to support a public option.
On July 10, Senator Cornyn said, "In San Antonio, I met with Texans who are working hard to provide affordable care to uninsured and medically underserved individuals at Centro Med, a new Federally Qualified Health Center (FHCQ). Centro Med and other FHCQs provide preventative care alternatives and work to reduce emergency room overcrowding to low-income individuals who wouldn’t otherwise have access. Another innovative means of meeting the health care needs of underserved individuals can be found in Project Access Dallas (PAD). During my visit to Christ’s Family Clinic at Preston Road Church of Christ, I heard about PAD’s network of volunteer physicians, partnering hospitals, community charity health clinics, and ancillary partners who volunteer to care for working poor and low-income patients. These are the kinds of solutions that can drive successful reform of our health care system."
In this statement, Cornyn expresses intent to maintain the current system. He cites health care facilities that he claims are successful models other "problem" facilities should follow. Additionally, to cover health care for the uninsured, he proposes that overworked doctors who barely can afford five minutes with their patients, volunteer to provide their services at charity clinics.
This presupposes that this isn't already happening on a large scale. In fact, it is. A recent MedScape Today survey found that: "Among women physicians, 45% reported participating in some voluntary nonmedical activity in a typical week, similar to a 48% volunteer/community service participation rate among other U.S. adults recorded in 1993. Prior physician data are limited. Cunningham et al. found that 77% of a national sample of 10,881 physicians provided some charity care in the prior month, and the average amount of time spent on such care was 10.3 hours per week."
Senator Cornyn doesn't seem likely to vote in favor of the public option, signaling his position has remain unchanged although his rhetoric has sounded increasingly sympathetic to the plight of those harmed deeply by the current health care system, such as Joseph Benson.
He made it clear that he continues to equate, erroneously, the health care reform public option solution with socialized medicine, "Health reform must preserve access to quality care like this in America and prevent the poor outcomes that cancer patients face in countries with socialized medicine," Cornyn said.
As is standard with most opposition to a public option, Cornyn misstates and misrepresents outcomes in other countries, continuing to perpetuate the myth that the US has the best health care system. The senator must not have read the book A Disease-Based Comparison of Health Systems,
which begins with a comparison of cancer treatment in the United States to Canada and Europe. He must also have missed the paper, "An International Comparison of Cancer Survival: Metropolitan Toronto,
Ontario, and Honolulu, Hawaii," which found an advantage to survival in Canada as compared to the US. (There are more, if you Google.)
However, Cates believes he found an ally in the Senator's office. Staff member Guerro provided some strong suggestions about how health care reform supporters should continue their advocacy, "He made a point of thanking us for helping the Senator understand our feeling about the issue. I expected that to be the end but he went on and told us that if we help him further understand the depth of interest we needed keep up our efforts. Further, he explained that often in the heat of one these fights, as they are going through a 1000 page bill, one side goes silent and the other goes on. He strongly suggested that, when that happens, the Senator is more influenced by the side that stays in the fight."
Guerro also suggested, Cates said, that advocates should continue to call their elected representatives frequently, and provide their position on the issue and their zip code. "Most importantly he made a point of saying that we must persist until the very end because the other side will be there as the last deal is struck."
LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUT OF THE WAY. (Thomas Paine)
We have the 37th worst quality of healthcare in the developed world. Conservative estimates are that over 120,000 of you dies each year in America from treatable illness that people in other developed countries don't die from. Rich, middle class, and poor a like. Insured and uninsured. Men, women, children, and babies. This is what being 37th in quality of healthcare means.
I know that many of you are angry and frustrated that REPUBLICANS! In congress are dragging their feet and trying to block TRUE healthcare reform. What republicans want is just a taxpayer bailout of the DISGRACEFUL GREED DRIVEN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT health insurance industry, and the DISGRACEFUL GREED DRIVEN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT healthcare industry. A trillion dollar taxpayer funded private health insurance bailout is all you really get without a robust government-run public option available on day one.
YOU CANT HAVE AN INSURANCE MANDATE WITHOUT A ROBUST PUBLIC OPTION. MANDATING PRIVATE FOR PROFIT HEALTH INSURANCE AS YOUR ONLY CHOICE WOULD BE UNETHICAL, CORRUPT, AND MORALLY REPUGNANT. AND PROBABLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS WELL.
These industries have been slaughtering you and your loved ones like cattle for decades for profit. Including members of congress and their families. These REPUBLICANS are FOOLS!
Republicans and their traitorous allies have been trying to make it look like it's President Obama's fault for the delays, and foot dragging. But I think you all know better than that. President Obama inherited one of the worst government catastrophes in American history from these REPUBLICANS! And President Obama has done a brilliant job of turning things around, and working his heart out for all of us.
But Republicans think you are just a bunch of stupid, idiot, cash cows with short memories. Just like they did under the Bush administration when they helped Bush and Cheney rape America and the rest of the World.
But you don't have to put up with that. And this is what you can do. The Republicans below will be up for reelection on November 2, 2010. Just a little over 13 months from now. And many of you will be able to vote early. So pick some names and tell their voters that their representatives (by name) are obstructing TRUE healthcare reform. And are sellouts to the insurance and medical lobbyist.
Ask them to contact their representatives and tell them that they are going to work to throw them out of office on November 2, 2010, if not before by impeachment, or recall elections. Doing this will give you something more to do to make things better in America. And it will help you feel better too.
There are many resources on the internet that can help you find people to call and contact. For example, many social networking sites can be searched by state, city, or University. Be inventive and creative. I can think of many ways to do this. But be nice. These are your neighbors. And most will want to help.
I know there are a few democrats that have been trying to obstruct TRUE healthcare reform too. But the main problem is the Bush Republicans. Removing them is the best thing tactically to do. On the other hand. If you can easily replace a democrat obstructionist with a supportive democrat, DO IT!
You have been AMAZING!!! my people. Don't loose heart. You knew it wasn't going to be easy saving the World. :-)
God Bless You
jacksmith — Working Class
I REST MY CASE (http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/why-markets-cant-cure-healthcare/)
Republican Senators up for re-election in 2010.
* Richard Shelby of Alabama
* Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
* John McCain of Arizona
* Mel Martinez of Florida
* Johnny Isakson of Georgia
* Mike Crapo of Idaho
* Chuck Grassley of Iowa
* Sam Brownback of Kansas
* Jim Bunning of Kentucky
* David Vitter of Louisiana
* Kit Bond of Missouri
* Judd Gregg of New Hampshire
* Richard Burr of North Carolina
* George Voinovich of Ohio
* Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
* Jim DeMint of South Carolina
* John Thune of South Dakota
* Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas
* Bob Bennett of Utah
Posted by: jacksmith | July 27, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Kay Bailey Hutchison's senatorial term may be up, but the conventional wisdom in Texas is she is going to run against Rick Perry for governor. So far the only Democrat who has announced is Tom Schieffer. It's now a question of who I am willing to vote for while I hold my nose.
As far as the senatorial race goes - Bill White, the current mayor of Houston is running for this position. He is being term-limited out. I am really looking forward to the day when I can call on him as Senator Bill White.
Posted by: lmwagner | July 27, 2009 at 12:57 PM