President Obama can either work to enact health care for all Americans or he can

[Towntalk]

Where in the Constitution does it say that Universal Health Care from womb to tomb is a "right"?

Now I realize that the Constitution is a "living document" subject to change, but really do you seriously think that "Universal Health Care" should be a part of it?

What about these other rights:

The right to food
The right to decent housing
The right to clothing

These are all fundimental rights, and you will agree that they are absolute necessities, but is it the role of government to provide them?

Certainly government does provide food stamps for the poor, as well as shelter, but what we're discussing is "universal" which of necessity means absolutely everyone from the super rich to the guy that doesn't have two pennys to rub together.

Why not also a law that says that everyone must be given a job in the private sector with the government paying the wages for every conceivable vocation known to man?

By the way, the links I referred to is at http://reporters.notebook.tripod.com on the Government page.

[irishbobcat]

History has shown no country or empire has gone into Afganistan and won....

All we are saying as progressive liberals to the President is don't forget we believe universal healthcare is a right to help the poor, working, and middle class of America.

Denns Spisak

[Towntalk]

Once again Dennis, if you have been watching the news or reading newspapers President Obama IS, I repeat IS preparing to do just that, but they can't just bring the troops home tomorrow or even next week from Iran, and as an educator you should know that.

As for the war in Afghanistan, that's another horse of a different color. Given the instability that exists there, we can hardly pull out there unless you would like to see the Taliban take over Pakistan's nuclear weapons.

One thing on this score we can agree on, we are facing the same dilemma that the Russians faced. This bloody war is hurting us economically, and yes it is an unpopular war. I won't dispute that for a single moment.

If you would like to debate the war, I would suggest that you do so on my web site http://reporters.notebook.angelfire.com

[irishbobcat]

Bring the troops and money home from Iraq to start up universal health care....

Dennis Spisak

[Towntalk]

Dennis:

What don't you understand about these facts:

1. America is hemorrhaging jobs.
2. A record number of businesses are closing their doors.
3. States are pouring out red ink at a record level.
4. With the record unemployment less money is going into Social Security and Medicare.

The Green Party can demand more Green Jobs till the cows come home, but it's not the task of government to start up new industries.

Congress has passed a stimulus bill that will help but apparently that doesn't satisfy the Green Party leading me to the conclusion that nothing will ever satisfy them.

The Senate is taking up their version of the stimulus package Monday, and hopefully the two houses meeting in conference can bring out a bill that can go to the President by mid-February, but even President Obama has told us that it will take years for a recovery to take hold.

Clearly this means that you can not expect to see huge numbers of Americans getting what green jobs that are provided for in the stimulus package so why don't you give the president a break, and give the stimulus package a chance to work.

Before green companies can get the start up money they need we need to get the credit lines reopened and that will take time.

As for universal health care, where is Congress going to get the money to support it? We're trillions of dollars in debt right now.

In those countries that have it, they are in deep trouble, or don't you read the papers?

[irishbobcat]

President Obama can either work to enact health care for all Americans or he can support insurance and HMO industry profits, say Greens
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org



Mandates and other market-based plans will not solve the health care crisis; Single-Payer (Medicare For All) makes health care a right for all Americans

Obama's plan for national computerization of medical records can only guarantee patients' privacy and security under Single-Payer

Green Party Speakers Bureau list of party activists available to speak on health care: http://gp.org/speakers/speakers-health-care.php


WASHINGTON, DC -- President Obama has a choice -- he can either work for universal health care or he can satisfy the demands of insurance industry lobbies for continued private profit, said Green Party leaders today.

Greens, in demanding a Single-Payer national health care program (also called Medicare For All), said that there was no possibility of guaranteed quality health care for every American under a market-based system. Rep. John Conyers' (D-Mich.) bill for Single-Payer (HR 676, http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h676_ih.xml) has strong Green Party support, although many Greens also hope to see complementary medicine brought under the Single-Payer umbrella.

"President Obama needs to follow his own campaign rhetoric and listen to the American people. In many of his own town hall meetings, the demand for Single-Payer has been so strong that [Secretary of Health and Human Services] Tom Daschle has asked to meet with Single-Payer groups. Single-Payer will make health care a human right -- one more important than the 'right' of insurance companies to make a profit off our need for health care," said said Mark Dunlea, New York Green, member of the Hunger Action Network of New York State, and author of "Can Incrementalism Be the Path to Universal Health Care?" (http://www.hungeractionnys.org/increment.html)

Green Party leaders expressed special support for pro-Single-Payer organizations and coalitions that have shifted into high gear under the new presidential administration, including the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, Healthcare-NOW, California Nurses Association, and Physicians for a National Health Program.

"President Obama's plan to have all medical records computerized within five years has made Single-Payer even more urgent. The plan will create an enormous risk for patients' privacy and security, as private health insurers try to weaken privacy safeguards and gain access to records in an effort to exclude people from coverage, or make coverage more expensive for clients they consider high-risk. HMOs and insurance firms make their profits by cherry-picking patients who are less costly to insure and by limiting treatment for those with coverage, so they use medical records to determine who will be a financial risk. The only way to guarantee both protection from predatory corporations and access to health care for all Americans is to enact a Single-Payer program," said Jill Bussiere, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States.

Greens have argued that enactment of a Single-Payer program would boost the ailing US economy and provide relief for businesses large and small, since it would cancel the high expense and administrative burden of employer-based health care benefits (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=158). Single-Payer would lower the cost of health care for all middle- and low-income Americans, since the amount of taxes necessary to sustain Single-Payer would be far less than the cost of private coverage and medical fees. No American will go bankrupt because of a medical emergency in a Single-Payer system.

President Obama, despite supporting Single-Payer earlier in his political career, now favors a health care plan that would maintain private insurance industry control over Americans' health care. Profit-making insurance, HMO, and pharmaceutical lobbies have a grip on most Democratic and Republican members of Congress because of campaign contributions and the influence of lobbyists.

Montana Senator Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, wants the Single-Payer option "off the table" in the discussion on health care reform and, along with other Democrats, has proposed a market-based plan that would achieve universal coverage by requiring Americans who lack health coverage to purchase insurance from a private company.

"There will be no meaningful improvement in our nation's health care system or any chance of universal care until Single-Payer is enacted and profit-making insurance companies no longer decree who gets care and what kind of care," said Jody Grage, treasurer of the Green Party of the United States. "Any 'mandate' reform plan that leaves private insurers in charge will either result in inadequate care or in huge taxpayer-funded subsidies to cover the loss of profits for HMOs and insurance companies compelled to cover people these companies would otherwise exclude. Single-Payer will cover all Americans regardless of age, income, or prior medical condition, and by eliminating the need for private insurers and the high profit rate they demand."

"Even state based Single-Payer initiatives are being undermined by the president's insurance-based proposal. Here in Pennsylvania we have a strong bill, with the funding included and a governor who has agreed to sign the legislation if passed (http://www.healthcare4allpa.org). Yet the Healthcare for All Now campaign, which supports the Obama plan, is trying to give the illusion of change, while maintaining the inefficient, exploitative insurance model. It amounts to a waste of tax dollars to provide more government money to insurance companies," said Carl Romanelli, 2006 Pennsyvlania Green candidate for the US Senate.

Read "An International Perspective on Health Care Reform" by Connecticut Green Party member John R. Battista, MD (http://www.gp.org/first100/?p=119), published on the Green Party's web site as part of "The First 100 Days: What Would a Green Administration Look Like?" (http://www.gp.org/first100)

For a comparison of mandate plans and Single-Payer , see "Talking Points: Why the mandate plans won't work, and why Single-Payer 'Medicare for All' is what we need" by Len Rodberg, PhD, published by Physicians for a National Health Program (http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/december/talking_points_why_.php).

Green Party information page on Single-Payer: http://www.gp.org/organize/sicko.html
Dennis Spisak
Mahoning Valley Green Party
Ohio Green Party
www.ohiogreens.org
www.votespisak.org/thinkgreen/