1. "Where In The Constitution Does It Say That We're Entitled to
Universal Health Care?" - Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution says
the Congress must promote the general welfare of the people; how can the
Congress say it is promoting the general welfare of the public when
fifty people die a day that didn’t have to? Now, I know - promoting
general welfare cannot be interpreted as every American is entitled to
have the federal government to buy them a house, a bed, and fancy steak
dinners every day; such broad interpretations would give Congress absurd
powers, just as Madison correctly argued. General welfare does NOT mean
the federal government has to provide us with all our necessities -
because such a system would NOT be capitalism - there we agree. HOWEVER,
Congress’s ability and duty to promote the general welfare under the
Constitution, along with the Constitutional provision of equal
protection under the law, DOES suggest that Congress has an obligation
to see that people who work hard and save responsibly have an
OPPORTUNITY to get those necessities; a system that has effectively been
rigged over the years so that most people are one emergency away from
having their insurance policy dropped and being unable to get coverage
due to pre-existing condition, and given no options but death when
extensive treatment is necessary, cannot be seen as consistent with
Congressional duties under the general welfare clause or equal
protection clause of the Constitution.

2. "I Believe In The Free Market!" - I believe that competition and
more choices are good for the market. A public option is one more
choice, and more options are good for the consumer and good for the
market. The current bills being proposed let you keep your private plan
if you want, and use the public option if you choose. If the public
option ends up being crap as some here think, people won't choose it -
that's what the marketplace is all about - and if people don't choose
the public option because private insurance is so much better, then no
money in the program will be spent, and we've lost nothing; so this not
a win or lose, but a win or break even, and you have to be pretty timid
to be afraid of that.

3. "Government Care Sucks; Reform What We Have First!" -Medicare and
Medicaid are government run health insurance. They have problems, they
need reform, but every poll shows that people are more unhappy with
private insurance than they are with Medicare and Medicaid by double
digits, and it makes sense to put out the biggest fire first. Most
Americans aren't eligible for anything but private insurance anyway, so
the idea that good solutions like reforming Medicare and malpractice
lawuits are enough on their own is just a slap in the face.

4. "Big Money Interests Are Pushing The Public Option!" - If you
want to be cynical and vigilant as a citizen against big money
influencing the government, YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE MONEY. On one side,
there are BILLIONS of dollars at stake for the insurance companies,
because they have the power to drop or deny anyone they please when they
need urgent care in order to maximize their profits - of course they
don’t want to give that up. On the other side, you have no financial
motive that could even compare - who stands to make billions from the
public option? Against the public option, you have a source of money,
you have a motive, and you have planning and mass collusion by the
insurance companies for decades to block any reforms, documented
repeatedly by various non-partisan sources; on the other side, what even
compares? Being vigilant against big money interests screwing with
legislation that affects the people is VITAL, and I applaud everyone
here who does so - but you HAVE TO FOLLOW THE MONEY, or otherwise, for
all you know, you're fighting against the very things you think you're
fighting for.

5. "BOOOOO!!!!" - I'm sure that all the people yelling and booing
have been lucky, they've never seen someone get denied life-saving
treatment or be dropped altogether by their insurance company - or had
it happen to themself. It would be easy for me to say that I hope you
become one of those 14K a day who lose their health insurance so you can
understand - but the truth is I hope none of you ever have to deal with
that, I hope you never have to end up as one of those uninsured fifty
people a day who die because they're refused the health care they needed
to live.

6. "A Public Option Will Put Private Insurance Companies Out of
Business!" - No, not if you believe the Congressional Budget Office, who
says private insurance companies will get MORE business when a public
option is passed.

7. "I Am Against The Obamacare Bill!" - There is no Obama bill.
Obama doesn't have a bill in Congress, or even a bill in Congress he
said he supports, so if you oppose "the Obamacare bill", you oppose a
figment of your imagination.


A magnum opus of shadowsd