Providing health care for everyone is not an economic
or even a health issue — it’s a moral issue. Notice that corporate chieftains and the political
elites all have the Rolls Royce of health care while most Americans are
trying to make do with a sputtering Yugo and millions more must walk
barefoot. This crass inequality is a moral abomination. How is it that the richest country with the most
democratic ideals of any country in the history of the world has 46 million
people with no health coverage and millions more with pathetic coverage?
And how is it that we pay $1.2 trillion a year to a corporate health-care
complex (more than any other people pay) and rank only 37th in the world in
the quality of health care we receive? The powers that be just shrug their shoulders and say,
well, sadly, America can’t afford a system of good-quality coverage
for all. Can’t afford it? George W. Bush says America can afford the $1.2 trillion in
tax giveaways he’s bestowed on the wealthiest people in our land. He
says America can afford the $300 billion in direct costs already shelled
out for his war of lies in Iraq. He says America can afford the hundreds of
billions of tax dollars being pocketed by drug companies and insurance
giants through his boondoggle prescription-drug program. Of course, our so-called political leaders don’t
feel the pain of America’s corporate health system. The very
politicos who say America can’t afford universal coverage receive
full platinum coverage for their families — courtesy of you and me. No public official should have even a dime’s
worth of coverage until every man, woman, and child in America has full
coverage. Bush and Congress ought to be last in line, not first!
This article appears in May 18-24, 2006.
