John Kerry Rejects the People's Choice for Health Care.
This must change.
Kerry and Obama side with insurance company fat cats,
tell Single Payer advocates and the majority of the American
People: "Drop Dead"
In every poll, Americans say they want a single-payer
system, also known as Medicare for All, also known
as National Health Insurance. It is the kind of
system that Canada has and France has, with France rated as the
best health care system on the planet by the World Health
Organization (WHO). And Americans prefer it by an overwhelming
majority - 67%. It also the overwhelming choice of doctors and
nurses.
As with Medicare, private insurers are not part of
the system. The government becomes the sole insurer or
single payer. Without the insurers as
the the middle men, the system becomes more efficient
and fairer - with health care becoming a right, not a
privilege associated with wealth. And without the
private insurers the system can eliminate a huge
private bureaucracy and enormous profits, delivering
much more care at a much lower cost.
And therein lies the problem. While we see single-payer
health care as a boon to our health, well-being and peace of
mind, the health insurance profiteers rightly see it as a mortal
threat. And they are fighting tooth and nail to prevent it.
And unfortunately the health insurers have found
some mighty allies who value the contributions of the
insurer over the health - indeed in some cases the
very lives - of the people. One of the reliable allies
of the insurance industry is 'our' Senator John F[raud]
Kerry. There is at present a single-payer
bill before the Senate, placed there by independent
Senator Bernie Saunders of VT: Senate Bill 703
[track it here].
Unfortunately, Senator Kerry and ALL other Senators -
both Democrat and Republican - have refused to
co-sponsor the very bill that embodies the choice of
the American people. Such is the power and wealth of
the high-flying health insurers.
Of course John F[raud] Kerry is not alone in this
sell-out of the people. Barack Obama has made it clear
repeatedly that single-payer is 'off the
table.' He invites every manner of insurance company
CEO and insurance company spokesperson to the 'health
care reform meetings' but never sets aside a single
speaker slot for single-payer. Not one!
Obama appealed to the progressive community and
received its support in his rise to power. On his way
up in Chicago he favored single-payer and got
the support of single-payer advocates; in 2002 he told
the AFL-CIO very publicly that single-payer health
care is "the best." NOW he tells them
and us and the majority of the American people to drop
dead. (Likewise, he ran as a 'peace' candidate and got
the support of the antiwar community; now he is
continuing the war in Iraq, escalating the one in
Afghanistan and has begun an undeclared and therefore
unconstitutional war on Pakistan. In this too Kerry
backs Obama.)
Unfortunately for us, Barack H Obama has now
replaced George W Bush as Liar in Chief. It is now up
to us to bring pressure from the grass roots on those,
like Obama and Kerry, who act like our masters rather
than our representatives.
So we will assemble here in front of John F[raud]
Kerry's Boston office to protest his loyalty to the
insurers over the people until this issue is settled. We will be here each Friday from 4:30 to
5:30 pm at 1 Bowdoin Place, Boston, MA 02114,
right off Cambridge St, between City Hall and the MGH.
[Actually, it's 7 blocks up Cambridge St from the MGH
t-stop; see interactive map.]
For more info on single-payer: singlepayeraction.org
JOIN US and spread the word. Contact: endwar
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