Sunday, January 27, 2008

Why and How Hillary, Obama and Edwards DO NOT Offer Universal Healthcare

Why and How Hillary, Obama and Edwards DO NOT Offer Universal Healthcare

By Ron Corvus

Why and How Hillary, Obama and Edwards DO NOT Offer Universal Healthcare
During the last Democratic "debate," Hillary, Obama and Edwards (hereinafter referred to as H.O.E.S.) argued amongst themselves as to who has the best "universal healthcare plan" and who is most closely tied to lobbyists. For me, it was like watching rodents argue who can eat the most garbage in a sanitary fashion. Hillary accused Obama of being a corporate lawyer for an inner-city slum-landlord business (REZCO) while Obama reminded folks Hillary was a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Wal-Mart. Edwards reminded both he never has represented moneyed interests but has always represented the little guy in lawsuits. Oddly enough, no one mentioned Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, who is a hardened corporate lawyer who has fired hundreds of long-time small-business employees for her corporate masters and who sat on a so-called "NON-PROFIT" hospital board that enjoyed profits of over $100 million dollars, charging minorities over THREE TIMES what Michelle Obama charged whites for the same medical care. These are FACTS.
Unfortunately, too many Americans seem to baffled by BS than by brilliant substance. I contacted Politifact's Bill Adair and asked him to list Hillary, Obama and Edwards' claim of offering universal healthcare as a "LIE," since these H.O.E.S. do NOT, NOT, NOT offer universal healthcare period. I explained to Bill WHY their claim is a lie and Adair agreed, acknowledging their claim of universal healthcare constituted a "LIE." Here's what I told Bill:
"FOR-PROFIT" corporate lobbyists write America's healthcare bills - politicians don't. Anyone who has seen Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" has seen the raw footage of hundreds of corporate lobbyists occupying the floor of Congress at 3am (like a Hannah Montana concert) twisting arms and threatening Congressmen and women who voted AGAINST their corporate healthcare bill. Roll call votes are supposed to remain open only for 15 minutes, but THAT night - the night healthcare industry's corporate lobbyists decided to pass their healthcare bill, the roll call vote was held open FOR HOURS AND HOURS until 3am in the morning - until those corporate lobbyists finished bullying, threatening, conning, and paying members of Congress to change their vote so the lobbyists could pass their corporate masters' healthcare bill.
The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation in the world that does NOT have a universal health care system. First of all, you CANNOT have fully-paid universal healthcare within our current "FOR-PROFIT" healthcare system. Achieving universal healthcare would REQUIRE America to CONVERT our current "FOR-PROFIT" healthcare system to a "NON-PROFIT" healthcare system. America would have to ELIMINATE the corporate board of directors who have a duty by law to MAXIMIZE the profits of the greedy insurance companies, HMOs and pharmaceutical companies. Their allegiance is to their stockholders and corporate bosses who pay themselves exhorbant salaries and bonuses totalling hundreds of millions of dollars - TAX DOLLARS!!!!! The great majority of our nation's $2.3b Medicare/Medicaid budget goes directly into the pockets of these fatcat corporate executives and their stockholders. These are the same executives who make life and death decisions DENYING American taxpayers much-needed surgeries and healthcare.
HOW TO PAY FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE
We're ALREADY PAYING for universal healthcare - we're just NOT getting it! Hillary, Obama and Edwards do NOTHING AT ALL to CONVERT our current ripoff "FOR-PROFIT" healthcare system to a "NON-PROFIT" healthcare system. In fact, their plan is to SUBSIDIZE those corporate fatcat executives and their insurance companies, HMOs and pharms with our precious tax dollars. John Edwards' plan is the textbook definition of corporate welfare, promising to raise taxes to the tune of a couple of billion dollars TO PAY FOR CORPORATE WELFARE - to guarantee the continued profits and gigantic salaries and bonuses for those corporate fatcat executives. Hillary and Obama won't even admit the fact that their healthcare plans REMAIN taxpayer-funded corporate welfare. Here's my point about paying for universal healthcare: Americans are ALREADY PAYING FOR all the healthcare they would ever, ever need - we're just not getting it! Why? How? Again, the majority of our nation's Medicare/Medicaid budget goes DIRECTLY into the fatcat execs and their stockholders, whereas if We The People elect representatives to Congress who will vote to REDIRECT those "FOR-PROFIT" funds to the actual cost of healthcare services provided, Americans would easily enjoy ALL the healthcare service any American family would ever need. This is not rocket science folks; it's actually very simple to understand that what America needs is to REDIRECT TAX DOLLARS AWAY FROM THE FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS AND SPEND THOSE FUNDS ON ACTUAL HEALTHCARE PROVIDED TO YOU AND ME! THIS WOULD PAY FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE WITHOUT RAISING TAXES AND CREATING NEW REVENUE STREAMS FOR THE "FOR-PROFIT" CORPORATIONS!
HillaryCare
Hillary's healthcare plan does absolutely NOTHING AT ALL about eliminating the greedy "FOR-PROFIT" corporations, their board of directors and their stockholders from our nation's healthcare system. Hillary says if you like the plan you got - then just keep it. In other words, Hillary wants those of you who are dumb enough to keep on paying insurance premiums to simply KEEP ON PAYING those same old insurance premiums. HillaryCare is actually ANTI- universal healthcare! Hillary's plan is to raise taxes to continue subsidizing corporate welfare. Remember, America will NEVER ENJOY universal healthcare UNTIL WE CONVERT our current "FOR-PROFIT" healthcare system to a "NON-PROFIT" healthcare system. Hillary has ZERO PLANS to do so. The insurance companies and HMOs love her, Obama and Edwards.
HOW TO TELL IF A CANDIDATE OFFERS UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE OR NOT
It is easy to tell if a candidate offers true universal healthcare or not. When you hear a candidate promising to make healthcare affordable, then you know they do NOT offer true universal healthcare - there are NO payments made by you the citizen to insurance companies, HMOs and pharms within a true universal healthcare system. Hillary, Obama and Edwards ALL want you to keep making payments to these corporate fatcats, a.k.a. their contributors. These H.O.E.s would NEVER betray their corporate contributors and betray their perfect voting record in Congress of subsidizing corporate welfare with our tax dollars. The citizens of those nations who enjoy fully-paid, non-profit, universal healthcare DO NOT MAKE ANY PAYMENTS to FOR-PROFIT corporations, subsidizing and enriching corporate fatcats. The bottom line is, these H.O.E.s will keep Americans making payments to insurance companies, HMOs and pharms.
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
Hillary, Obama and Edwards all REFUSE, REFUSE, REFUSE to address the heart of the matter when it comes to instituting true, fully-paid universal healthcare in America. These candidates do not want the corporate media calling them advocates of "socialized medicine." If Hillary, Obama and Edwards were sincere about instituting true universal healthcare, they would:
- PROUDLY DISCUSS the great, obvious need to ELIMINATE the fatcat executive salaries and ELIMINATE maximizing corporate profits by CONVERTING our current "FOR-PROFIT" healthcare system to a "NON-PROFIT" healthcare system. BUT NO! You haven't heard WORD ONE about any of that! This fact proves WHO Hillary, Obama and Edwards is representing, and it's certainly not you and your family.
- PROUDLY DISCUSS how there certain basic needs We The People consider so important in pursuing life, liberty and happiness, that private corporations, their board of directors and stockholders' RIGHT-TO-PROFIT do NOT supercede each and every Americans' right to pursue life, liberty and happiness. You will NEVER hear Hillary, Obama or Edwards' pontificate on THESE VALUES!
WHAT TO DO
I really believe Americans do not realize just how messed up things are in Washington and in our electoral process and candidates. Obviously, Hillary, Obama and Edwards will NEVER institute true universal healthcare; the fact is, the Democratic and Republican parties HAVE NO PLANS to institute true, fully-paid universal healthcare coverage; their plans are to CONTINUE SUBSIDIZING "FOR-PROFIT" corporations sucking the lifeblood right out of America's healthcare budget and Americans' lives. How do we get OUT of THIS MESS?
- STOP supporting party candidates and START supporting your own platform!
- We The People must STOP supporting and donating to party candidates; when you support a party candidate, you support that party's continued stranglehold on you and I. STOP engaging in candidate worship - it's not about the candidate - it's about supporting the platform. What really matters is the platform and how much conviction a candidate has towards implementing that platform.
- We The People must begin electing representatives to Congress who support the People's agenda, what I refer to as an "independent voter platform."
- I don't see how anyone could watch Michael Moore's movie, "Sicko" and then vote or support ANY Democratic or Republican canidate. If you haven't seen "Sicko," go rent it or see it. Moore's Farenheit 9/11 was a social commentary - "Sicko" is an indictment. "Sicko" exposes as myth and destroys all the old false claims made over the years against universal healthcare.

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