Health care for all

By Helen Thomas
San Francisco Chronicle
Politics Blog
August 12, 2009

It’s all so sad. Well-organized conservatives have launched a full-scale attack on health care reform. And they appear to be winning — for now.

I covered the battle to create the Medicare system back in the 1960s. The cries of “socialized medicine” worked for years until President Johnson rammed Medicare through Congress in 1965.

What kind of a nation are we if we do not provide everyone with the excellent medical care that only some of us now receive?

I continue to think the so-called single-payer system is the only answer to the nation’s obligation to make sure that no one lacks health care. Yes, single payer means a government-run health insurance program for all — the prevailing system in Canada and in many nations in Europe.

President Obama is making a big mistake by ignoring the single-payer proposal.

In 2003 before he became a U.S. senator from Illinois, Obama actually called himself a single-payer “proponent.” But now that he is president, Obama has buckled to Republicans and conservative Blue Dog Democrats in pursuit of consensus. My question is if Congress passes a watered-down version of health care that doesn’t truly cover everyone, is the result worth it?

President Obama should lay down markers for real health care reform — meaning we all kick in to a national program instead of fattening the pocketbooks of the insurance financiers.

Instead, the president has given up on Medicare for all, calling single payer “impractical.”

He still has time to do the right thing and nothing to lose.

For the full article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?blogid=14&entry_id=45426

Helen Thomas doesn’t ever give up, thank goodness. As she writes, President Obama “still has time to do the right thing.”