Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Just want to say "thanks" to President Obama

Thank you, Mr. President, for being courageous enough to take on the HUGE interests arrayed against ANY KIND of national healthcare program, even one that holds promise for MOST interests in the long run. Thank you for fighting to pass the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, instead of fighting for higher approval ratings.
The law is not perfect, not by a long shot!
But it is, for me, an affirmation and an indication that public servants, yes, even federal public servants, can act in the interest of the people and the nation, and LEAD without being consumed by self-serving, partisan political motives.
I hope that the law begins a process that reshapes our national healthcare system into one that effectively serves people, and continues to excel in the exploration of complex medical issues.
Mostly, I hope that the medical care law reigns in the crazy profiteering by BIG INSURANCE and some pharmaceutical manufacturers, and allows both over-burdened healthcare consumers and over-burdened hospitals regain some stability and, yes, some hope that we can provide healthcare to people who need it, without trashing our medical system and without crushing the lives and hopes of millions of patients and families.
I'm all for profitability. But when it comes to saving lives, it seems to me that there should be a higher motive than money, a deeper commitment than greed and the bottom line, and a purer hope than that of an ever-climbing quarterly statement.
At the very least, Mr. President, you've again reminded us that humanity is more important than corporations, and that, doomsayers be damned, it's better to do something than do nothing. And sometimes we have to take chances to keep a vision for a better world alive, no matter what the risk.
If people only did the safe thing, the "sure" thing, we humans would have gone extinct 100,000 years ago.
So thank you, sir.