In the closing passages of his speech to the joint session of Congress, President Obama urged members of the House and Senate to rise to the finest in our national character and finally provide a humane way to address the health needs of all of America's citizens. We know the status quo is broken. What'll we do about it?
Woven into the soaring rhetoric of President Obama's speech were specific calls to three prominent Republican senators: Senator John McCain, Senator Orrin Hatch, and Senator Chuck Grassley.
Senator McCain, President Obama noted, had worked in bipartisan fashion with Senator Ted Kennedy to advance a federal patient's bill of rights (which never passed in the House). Senator Orrin Hatch worked with Senator Ted Kennedy to pass children's health insurance. Senator Chuck Grassley and Senator Ted Kennedy collaborated on a bill that helped families take better care of their children with disabilities.
If you're on Twitter, use these buttons to quickly and conveniently sign a petition urging these senators to vote for a health insurance reform bill that has a strong public option.
Senator John McCain
Senator Chuck Grassley
Senator Orrin Hatch
Each of these three men enjoys the some of the best health care in the nation as members of Congress. Some, like John McCain, are also eligible for VA benefits by dint of their service in the military.
When a constituent pointed this out to Senator John McCain at a summer town hall meeting, McCain even agreed with his questioner and said that he wants to "make health care insurance available and affordable to you." However, campaign contributions to Senator McCain over many decades as a public servant have undercut his ability to effectively and consistently represent the people of America.
Here's who has donated to McCain:
- Health Professionals $5,254,786
- Insurance $2,431,906
For a total of $7,686,692. This doesn't even take into account unspecified "lobbyist" dollar contributions, which would probably bring the total higher. And yet, as a man who sustained grave injuries as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he saw the need to arm patients with a set of demands and expectations for fair and compassionate treatment from their doctors. Can he reconnect with those core motivations again on health insurance reform?
Senator Hatch noted his cherished colleague's passing by noting all of the health-related legislation the two had successfully worked on together. Among them is the bill known as SCHIP--State Children's Health Insurance Program. This is the same bill Senator Hatch bucked Republican President George W. Bush's veto twice to finally pass under Obama.
Senator Hatch is to be commended for his perseverance alongside Senator Kennedy. But in his case, he too suffers a conflict of interest, having been funded by various parts of the medical-industrial complex:
- Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $1,303,374
- Insurance $670,057
- Health Professionals $535,244
- Hospitals/Nursing Homes $289,370
- Health Services/HMOs $236,557
For a total of $3,034,602 over his decades of campaigning and officeholding. And again, not factoring in unspecified lobbyist dollars. But at the same time Senator Hatch found a way to persevere on behalf of underinsured children across the country. Surely he must know that a child's health is only as good as the health of his or her caretaker? A healthy parent or guardian IS a child's safety net.
Here's Senator Grassley talking about the nuts and bolts of health care reform, trying in earnest to get answers regarding Medicare and Medicare Advantage and the impact health insurance reform would have on those two programs, if any.
That was in March, 2009.
He's been funded by the medical-industrial complex too:
| Health | $606,277 (total) | $427,740 (PACs) | $178,537 (indivs) |
Now see how unreasonable he is on health insurance reform, telling a constituent at a town hall that "if you want good insurance, go work for the government." He did some bobbing and weaving, telling voters he did not support "death panels" when he was questioned closely about his vote for the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which funded "end-of-life" living will discussions between patients and their doctors.
Moreover, as some Capitol Hill watchers speculate, Grassley's sudden alliance with the extremist Party of No (the GOP) is linked to the fate of GOP seats in the 2010 Senate races and to committee assignments. There's also been speculation, however slight, that being stuck between a rock and a hard place might make Grassley think about retiring. In some ways, this might be the most fortuitous situation for health insurance reform advocates, because then they could try to persuade Grassley to vote his conscience.
But given that Grassley's not going anywhere for the moment, what can we citizens do? What can we do given our limited money and resources? At the very least we have our votes and our voices.
I suggest we use what we've got. When it comes to legislative issues, we might not always have a solution like money-bombing Rob Miller, the Democratic candidate who'll be challenging disrespectful South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson in 2010. But we have an advantage over corporations--they can't vote. We can.
Politicians cannot be elected without votes. We can put the fear of un-election into them if we deny them our votes. We can also put some respect for the public back into their minds if we express our approval or disapproval of their actions.
Do you think the Party of No has let up? Do you think they've stopped haranguing the same Congressperson that's supposed to represent you--the majority of Americans in favor of a public option in health insurance reform?
So whether you email, fax, or call; whether you take a religious tack and argue the morality of health insurance reform to professed Christian senators; whether you live in the district and threaten to start looking at other worthwhile candidates or if you live outside the district and want to speak out on a national issue--I suggest we supporters of health insurance reform take this cue given to us by our President and run with it. Give these three Senators an earful. The petitions I created are just a start.
They don't want us to win. Not the lobbyists. Not insurance companies. Certainly the entire Party of No is against meaningful change. All 6 lobbyists working their one elected representative times 535 members of Congress, armed with millions of dollars. They're counting on us to get tired. They figure they can stall us out, and we'll quit. They want us to get discouraged. They're trying to make us give up. They know we're busy and overworked and overextended, with family concerns and obligations. THEY KNOW WE'RE EASILY DISTRACTED. And they also know WE WHO FAVOR HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM WITH A STRONG PUBLIC OPTION ARE A MAJORITY.
It might not be clear yet how to move these key Republican senators who in the past have shown the ability to cooperate on laws benefiting the American people. Sometimes fate will toss up an unexpected opportunity. But why not act now in whatever small ways to make sure our unfinished business comes to an end?
People, this might drag on til Thanksgiving. If I took away anything from my congressman's town hall and those hosted by others, it was a clear sense of whether my elected representative understood the issues and understood voters in his district. You just can't bluff your way through a town hall--you have to know what you're talking about. We will have to be like water on a stone, wearing away the resistance and inertia and greed and self-interest that stands in our way. Luckily, we have some truly devoted and caring public servants who have been fighting on our behalf. The Congressional Progressive Caucus has held the line and shown a lot of fortitude in insisting that the White House keep the public option in play and even ensuring that single payer will be heard from at least one more time before debate settles. I think of Representative Dingell (MI); in continuing the work of his congressman father begun in 1943, together they have been submitting health insurance reform bills for over 65 years. Now that's some grit.
Think of all the stories you know of people whose lives were filled with suffering due to untreated illness. Who got inadequate or no care simply because they couldn't afford it. Who may have been dropped for the most bureaucratic, bottom-line reasons. If not you, perhaps this is true for someone you love.
And that's why President Obama closed his speech with a call for us to act. To take some final, decisive steps to make health care reform a reality. There are no water cannons, no police dogs, no menacing officers of the peace in riot gear to stop us from making a call, or sending a fax or email. There's only our voices and the collective will to raise them.
I leave you with President Obama's closing words:
Cynematic gets tired and discouraged like everyone else. But this is no time to stop. This is the time to go even bigger. She blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.
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