Barack Obama inherited one of the biggest messes in the history of the
United States of America. Two wars and a collapsed economy, just to
mention a few. When Barack Obama was running for President he said
change wouldn't come easy and he would need help. So what have we done
to help him and cover his back? I ask this question because I've
watched the progressive community allow the Tea Party folks to own the
streets and take over the Town-Hall meetings during the spring, summer
and fall of 2009. I was on the streets and at Town-Hall meetings to see
this first hand. Not only did I see it, Mike Watt and I shot photos and
videos of these events and Richard Dillon wrote about them eloquently.
I had the opportunity to shoot video of Congressman John Conyers May 30, 2009 and he warned us that Barack Obama was back tracking on his Health Care reform commitments. John Conyers was right. It's too bad we didn't listen. I quote Congressman Conyers: "What kind of Healthcare are we going to get?" I'm here to predict you get the kind of healthcare you deserve, not the kind you ought to have, not the kind that you want, but it's all going to depend on you."
That video is after the hump
Conyers had this to say about Barack Obama: " We seem to be getting an inordinate amount of reverse advice giving." "Well, listen to Amy Goodman." She's got the tapes of him making some of the most brilliant remarks in Support of HR 676 that anybody has ever made, but he ain't making them now." Watch The video below.
Across the nation many Progressives have been disillusioned with the leadership shown by President Obama on Healthcare. As a former single-payer proponent himself we simply hoped that he would fight harder for a better bill. Instead, he allowed the Congress to mostly write the healthcare bill and far from gave a ringing endorsement to a more Progressive direction. Many of us also feel this timidness also lost the momentum in a critical time for the debate.
According to a post on Pennsylvania blog, House speaker Nancy Pelosi will allow a mere twenty minutes of debate on single-payer, albeit indirectly.
The debate will actually be on an amendment put forth by Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York's 9th District, which would effectively transform the corporate giveaway that is HR 3200 into something very close to the single-payer form offered by Dennis Kucinich and John Conyers's HR 676. According to David Swanson, the debate on the Weiner amendment is being used as cover for dropping Kucinich's amendment, which would allow states to create their own single-payer health insurance systems.
This is probably our last, best chance to improve what is shaping up to be a disastrously bad bill that will force Americans into buying unaffordable insurance. Click on the House Telephone Directory link, call as many representatives as you can, and demand that they pass the Weiner amendment. This may be our only shot at getting something that will work for all Americans, instead of simply further enriching Big Insurance.
With all the crazed lunatic "tea-baggers" storming townhall meetings to protest "government-run healthcare", one must wonder about their intelligence level as well as their eternal souls, if one believes in such things. The truth is that what is being proposed by Democrats in Congress and President Obama is far from "government-run". A true government-run system is called single-payer and if Democrats had any guts and Republicans weren't so beholden to Big Insurance it would be the system being debated now, and eventually enacted.
The Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee of the House Education & Labor Committee will hold a hearing titled “Examining the Single Payer Health Care Option” this Wednesday, June 10th at 10:30 am at the 2175 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. Will C-SPAN cover it or cover it up? My guess is they won't televise it unless they receive thousands of calls, so give them a call at (202) 737-3220 and tell them what you think.
Congressman John Yarmuth co-sponsor of HR 676, single payer healthcare, introduced Congressman John Conyers , click here to view the video, and Congressman Conyers let it all hang out and with his soft unassuming voice and mannerisms exposing the maneuvering by the Whitehouse, Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress to kill HR 676, single payer healthcare. Click here to view the video.
