It's Getting Infuriating

The major concerns by the name-calling, so-called "conservatives" at the meetings meant to clarify the health care reform positions are (from what I've seen and heard thus far):

1. If there's a national health care plan added to the mix, we'll lose some sort of control.

2. A national health care plan would increase our taxes inordinately.

3. The government can't manage anything properly, and a health care plan would be similarly disheveled.

4. Our current health care plan is just fine as it is.

5. Hitler also proposed socialized health care. (60 million people)

And my rebuttals, point by point:

1. If you're worried about control, spend some time picketing a military installation. See how far that gets you. It's quaint to think that a new choice for health care plans locks you in to government servitude. It's not MANDATORY health care, it's an option if you can't afford privately subsidized plan. The military is much more likely to hold you hostage.

2. The "war" in Iraq is not a concern, but getting affordable health care to 12 million people is somehow egregious? The numbers on the plans don't come close to equating (couldn't possibly). I guess nobody had a town hall meeting to sell the war since we didn't have a choice on that one at all. (Check item number one re: control.)

3. By this logic, we should just get rid of the military since it's so bloated and expensive. This would help out with taxes, too. Just imagine how great it would be to get our full salary every paycheck. You know, let's get rid of our intelligence agencies, too. I don't even know what they do. Plus, I hear they can't get along on anything!

4. We are currently bound to use the insurance our company provides if we're lucky enough to have a job that offers health insurance. If not, it is prohibitively expensive. In 2001, COBRA was $400/month for coverage, and that price ended after a while. THAT WAS THE DISCOUNT. That's the charge I would have had to pay while I was out of work to keep the same coverage I got with my company. That company insurance plan, for the record, sucked. I had so many claims denied, had to fight tooth and nail to get covered stuff paid, and I'm relatively healthy. Now imagine if I have a "pre-existing condition" or no job. If medicare is okay in that situation, it should be okay for everyone, no? I don't think it's okay.

We need a system that emphasizes proactive health and maintenance, not purely reactive medicine. We need a legitimate and widely available option for people who can't afford independent coverage to have actual access to our top-notch doctors and hospitals.

5. This doesn't help any debate. So far, Obama is an illegal alien, a terrorist, and now a nazi according to people who don't disagree with his policies. How about proposing a better plan? I mean, Obama is fixing up all the roads in the country, too. Hitler created the Autobahn. The major difference in both comparisons is that Hitler wanted to kill everyone but the Aryans. I'd call that a significant difference.

One more thing on the Nazi comparisons. The population of Germany in 1939 was around 60 million people. The population of the U.S. is around 285 million. We have state governments, huge corporate lobbying, and international information shares that Hitler couldn't have imagined back then. I know the comparisons are meant to get the opposition in the news and at the top of the headlines (instead of any possible positive merits of the plan), but aren't we smarter than that yet? Is nobody willing to read the reform plan and comment on it pragmatically?

Perhaps not.