"Most of the people I met [at the Kansas City Free Health Clinic] were working people. Eighty-three percent of the people who come to these clinics are employed. But over and over and over, I heard about unaffordable junk insurance, unaffordable premiums, obscene co-pays. During these very difficult economic times, the choice always comes down to food, clothing, and heat or insurance and health care. I also repeatedly heard people say that when they had insurance, they still got stuck with the bills, so what's the point of having insurance? Yes, we all know about that scam."
Eve "nyceve" Gittelson, Huffington Post, 12/12/09
There is something horribly wrong when a country claiming to be the Leader of Democracy in the Free World turns its back, shuts its eyes, blocks its ears, and cries "Poor" when it is faced with a shameful, outrageous truth: That there are citizens of this country--working citizens--who can't afford health care and are turned away from free health clinics held in venues as large as 120,000 sq. ft. because the volunteer staffers are overwhelmed with unbelievable numbers of people seeking medical help.
SHAME on the White House, SHAME on Congress, and SHAME on any person with the ability to do something about it who hasn't.
Read this, please. Watch Gittelson's videos. Then take an hour or so to bombard the White House, every member of Congress, the New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and every other media outlet that could do something about this abominable health care debacle and hasn't.
You'll note I've left MSNBC off of this list. That's because they've done remarkable work promoting the efforts of the National Association of Free Clinics. Ed Schultz has actually gone to the clinics and if you click on the link, you'll see the kind of outrage I'm feeling right now. It's the admirable truth, but who is listening? Apparently nobody.)
Keith Olbermann has raised well over a million dollars for them, and literally got the ball rolling enough so that they could rent larger buildings and care for more patients in more cities. But no matter how large the operation, they inevitably have to turn people away. They do it with heavy hearts, with tears in their eyes.
Meanwhile the Obama administration and the Congress of the United States bog themselves down in speechifying and face-saving pissing matches. They've made closed door promises to the perpetrators of all that misery, the so-called Health Care "providers", and now have the nerve to mask their perfidy as sudden concern for our economic well-being. I've heard enough of their unctuous speeches, their phony concern, their whistling Dixie off-key.
I'm off now to give 'em hell. I hope I'm not alone.
Ramona
(Cross-posted at Talking Points Memo here)
Ramona, I concur with your comments. The poor and desperate have no voice and everyone should be talking about this. Congress is so hinged on cost that the plight of honest, hard-working Americans are not heard and certainly not in the best political interests of those in power. This is sad beyond sad.
ReplyDeleteNedra
Nedra, I'm having a hard time believing that, with all the evidence before them, congress is still playing games with health care.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add the "Ed Show" segment to the original post, but I've added it now. It's really worth watching. Look for it in the paragraph about MSNBC.
Thanks for commenting.