Obama has me feeling a little like Charlie Brown…

I keep telling myself that we are not even six months into Obama’s first term, but I can’t help starting to feel a little like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. A lot of people on the religious right know the feeling. Bush was elected, there were majorities in the house and senate, and yet the core “family-value” issues republicans seemed to run on, were never really addressed. Instead of the religious right kicking the football, Bush played Lucy and pulled the football away as they were about to score.

I don’t want to be Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. I want the change so many of us voted for. It may only be six months into Obama’s first term, but the time to get the healthcare crisis resolved is ticking away. Do you really think the Democrats can expand their majorities beyond what they are now?

There are 18 months left of this supermajority. Obama and the rest of the Democrats in the house and senate can cater to the right wing, corporations and special interest groups, or they can solve a problem. As much as I like having a progressive supermajority, what is the point of having it if we can’t use it for the issues that a majority of us want resolved? If we can’t do it now, then when will we be able to?

It is time for Obama to take control, and set his legacy now. He ran on change, and now he can make a change. He is going to have to stop being the nice, popular president and take that change we voted for and cram it down the throats to those Democrats standing in the way. Otherwise, on Wednesday November 3rd, 2010, there are going to be a lot of Democrats flying through the air, yelling “AAUGH!” before they land flat on their back and wish they had not trusted Lucy.

Compromise Will Not Solve the Problem

This is a busy week for my family.  My middle son has hockey camp every day, and finishes three of those evenings with  two lacrosse games and a lacrosse practice.  My oldest son turns 12 on Friday, is having a friend birthday party, which will include a matinee showing of some movie popular with tweens and a family birthday party at grandpa and grandma’s house.  My wife not only is responsible for planning and getting those two to all of there activities, but she will tote around a four year-old while she does it.  Then to top everything off, I throw a little wrench into the whole week with foot surgery.

The great thing is, we have healthcare.  My wife can concentrate on the clock and the kids, without the added stress of worrying about how we are going to pay my medical bill.  Unfortunately, over a million Minnesotans don’t have that “luxury.”  I put luxury in quotes because that word was intended to be a sarcastic shot at republicans who think healthcare is a privilege, only available to those who can afford it.

Healthcare is right.  The Declaration of Independence says our inalienable rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Life is the first right, and yet 18,000 Americans die every year from preventable illness because they don’t have access to adequate medical care.  Do those 18,000 people each year just not have rights because they don’t have enough money?  And how can you pursue happiness if you are spending hours arguing with an insurance rep that sees a declined procedure as added dollars to the bottom line even when you do have access to healthcare?

It is a right.  I have always considered myself vary pragmatic.  I would look at an issue like healthcare, and I would be grateful for any baby steps taken that work toward improving the situation.  Do you know what I mean?  If we can’t fix something 100%, at least 25% is better than nothing.  Well I’m not so sure anymore.

How many of us are tied to a job because of health benefits?  Where is the liberty in that?  How much individual freedom would we have if society agreed that everybody deserves health benefits, regardless of job or income.  Freedom to start a small business.  Freedom to change jobs when you have a family member with what would be considered a preexisting condition.  Freedom to go see the doctor when you feel like you need to see the doctor. 

I don’t think I am willing to accept a partial solution anymore.  I want health benefits for everyone.  I want health benefits for my children when they turn 23 and don’t think they need them.  I want health benefits for the person who is depressed, who can’t afford medication, and by simply talking to a counselor might be prevented from committing suicide.  I want health benefits for the family in the large home in Apple Valley who find out their private insurance won’t cover their daughter’s illness, forcing the family into financial troubles.  I want a small business, to invest profits in the company, rather than increase their outlay on health benefits because one employee contracted a catastrophic illness.

We cannot live with a 25% solution this time!  We need 100% solution, total care coverage.  At a recent meeting John Marty said compromise will not solve the problem.  Compromise will not solve the problem.  There is a majority of us out there who want this, and we need to take the bull by the horns and stop letting people like John Kline spew scare tactic bull from their mouths. 

Speaking of John Kline, I saw a message he might (I’m not counting on it) be in Burnsville Wednesday afternoon at Burnhaven library. 

Congressman John Kline’s mobile office to visit Burnsville
Minnesota Congressman John Kline’s mobile office comes to Burnsville Wednesday, June 24.  Kline will make his stop there from noon-2 p.m. at the Burnhaven Library, 1101 W. County Road 42 in Burnsville.  

Rep. Kline will probably have some sort of rules that prevent you and I from speaking to him directly, or prevent him from directly addressing our issues, his supporters will probably be organized enough to have a control perimeter around him too, but it might be good to show up and attempt to engage him.

Worms, parasites afflict the poorest in U.S.

June 24, 2008, a Reuters report states: “Worms, parasites afflict the poorest in U.S. – ‘Diseases of neglect’ stem from lack of care, poor sanitation.

Dr. Peter Hotez of George Washington University and the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington reports that diseases caused by worms and parasites are draining the health and energy of the poorest Americans.

“The message is a little tough because they are not killer diseases — they impact on child development, intellectual development, hearing and sometimes even heart disease,” Hotez said in a telephone interview.

He said the diseases help to keep people mired in poverty, as infections may last years, decades or even lifetimes.

“Throughout the American South during the early twentieth century, malaria combined with hookworm infection and pellagra (a vitamin deficiency) to produce a generation of anemic, weak, and unproductive children and adults,” Hotez wrote.

Do we want that again? Who says we don’t need universal healthcare? Are we a third world country?