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If you’re not worried about the direction our country is heading since President Obama was elected and the Democratic party took over the Congress, perhaps you should be.  No, not perhaps.  I submit, you should be worried, regardless of your political affiliation.  I submit, you should be worried, if you are any kind of American at all.

In an article today by Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, he puts forward that the current Congress has not given the American people a worthy Christmas present.  What the Congress has given us, Speaker Gingrich furthers, is secrecy, cloak and dagger and none of the “government transparency” that President Obama and current Speaker of The House, Nancy Pelosi promised the American people during and after the 2008 election cycle.

Yesterday, before reading Speaker Gingrich’s words today, came the revelation that Brian Lamb’s request that C-Spans cameras be allowed into the Health Care deliberation chambers was denied by Speaker Pelosi.  This is the same Speaker Pelosi who, when explaining how this would be the “most transparent” Congress ever, specifically mentioned  C-Span’s cameras as part of her transparancy effort.

(I don’t know about you, but I’m having a “Peggy Sue Got Married”, …..no more broccoli for me Mom!…… moment right now.)
The C-Span denial by Pelosi begs many questions.  Naturally, the most notable of these questions is ‘what do they have to hide from the American people?’  And this is where Speaker Gingrich delineation of the Health Care Bill becomes helpful.  In short, what Speaker Pelosi doesn’t want “us” to know is that the Health Care Bill is really a back-door tax increase that will go into effect immediately, while no-one will see any health care benefit until about 2014 and in the interim, at least 20 million Americans will lose their current employer-based coverage. Furthermore Medicare will be slashed by half a trillion dollars while Medicaid funding will be increased but shunted off to the states who be obliged to raise taxes to fund it.  All the while, members of Congress will be exempted, retaining their right to ‘Cadillac’ health care.  (Maybe we should all read and re-read ‘1984′?)

Is this really what we have mandated the Congress to do?  I think not.  Pelosi and her cronies in their partisan politics, power grab obvously do.
I, however, in my current profession, listen daily to the rank and file complain that this is not the change they thought they were voting for.  And I hear suggestions that the Congress, along with the Obama administration, are more interested in power than the will of the American people.  And truth be told, I also hear that they fear that soon America will not be something that they recognize as ‘American’.    

The Constitutionality of all of this aside, if, the above is true, who will save us; The Republican Party, The Tea Party, Independents….?  Will the people rise up to restore and preserve our American way of life?  We can only pray, hope, watch and wait.  In the meantime, I am reminded of Yoda’s admonishment to Luke Skywalker when he proclaimed that he was not afraid of what lay ahead.  Said Yoda, “You will be, you will be.”

The Purpose of This Article

I am on a mission.  I am engaging in a health care debate – with myself.  And the reason that I am debating myself?  To my inquiring mind, it seems that both the advocates and opponents of heath care reform MIGHT be missing the point, and going off on tangents that don’t really address the core issues.

It is my hope that my thought processes might stimulate you to consider certain issues in a different light; to ask questions and seek answers from an unplumbed authority – YOUR own sense of what is right or wrong (as opposed to accepting some pundit’s point-of-view).

This is the second article in this series.  The first article, which asks what I consider “the most important question” can be found here: The Start of an Honest Health Care Debate.

An Important Question
(That You Might Find Difficult to Consider Dispassionately)

Should health care be a “for-profit” or a “not-for-profit” concern?  Are your health care issues best served by a system of health care providence that is motivated by profit?  Or, would you enjoy a more healthful life if profit motivation was NOT the primary focus of the health care industry?

This is potentially – a very loaded question; a question that might be difficult to consider strictly on the merits.

I have owned my own businesses, and I have been an entrepreneur and a free-lancer most of my adult life – I am an avowed capitalist who believes that it is a wonderful system.  And I am not alone.  But, there are certainly opposing views.

I have witnessed, both in my personal experiences and in doing research, that we Americans attach strong emotions to the consideration of “for-profit” vs “not-for-profit”.  Many of us exhibit what could be described as “knee-jerk” reactions to any consideration that might put forth an idea that is not motivated by the concept of capitalist profit.

There is a very large “circle-of-thought” that considers socialism a dirty word, that looks at government intervention in the affairs of commerce as more of a problem than a solution.  And emotions sometimes run high.  Psychological defense mechanisms often kick in that interfere with productive considerations.

Can We (Or Even, Should We) Try To Answer Logically

Pre-conceived ideas are not necessarily bad ideas.  But they are not necessarily the best ideas either.

Have you ever been faced with a situation that forced you to challenge some basic, long-held-as-true premise?  Do you believe that it is possible to make yourself a better person by accepting such a challenge, and evaluating some core beliefs?

And what if you are not forced into such a situation, but rather, willingly investigate the logical validity of concepts previously taken for granted?  Are you open to such a quest?

I am on just such a quest.  I invite you to undertake your own journey of logical evaluation.

The Important Question Revisited

What do you think would best serve the health needs of you, your family, and your loved ones?

A health care industry based upon the rules and demands of “for-profit”?
A health care system based primarily upon the rules and demands of “patient’s needs”?

An Exercise in Comparative Thinking (To Get Us Started)

Because the question is potentially loaded, and words are likely to come up in our considerations that evoke strong emotions, it might be helpful to, first, dwell upon a representative illustration that almost all of us are exposed to daily.  The purpose of this exercise in thinking is to: take into account certain aspects of a working system, and to evaluate the utility and usefulness of that system without attaching negative or positive connotations simply because of words (that are often emotionally charged).

The working system that I nominate for consideration in this thinking exercise is: our system of roadways.  You, and I, and practically everyone we know, uses streets, roads and highways on an almost daily basis.  They are an integral part of our daily lives, and therefore, easy for us to consider – logically, not emotionally.

Here are some questions to ponder:

How are the roadways paid for – both their construction and maintenance?

Who is allowed to use the roadways?  Are there use restrictions – why and why not?

Who benefits from our system of roadways?  And in what ways?

If you like, you can do research to come up with answers to these questions, as well as any other questions that the thought exercise inspires.  Or, you can call upon your cache of personal experience and general knowledge to ponder what comes to mind.

Thought Exercise Conclusions

I can only offer my own conclusions.  I respect that your thought processes might lead you to a different set of conclusions.  And, I’m fine with that – I have no right to expect you to see things exactly as I see them.

My ulterior motive, in writing this article is two-fold: 1) think it through as I write it so as to put my thoughts into words, and 2) nudge you toward reaching your own conclusions based upon considerations that are NOT put forth by someone who has their own agenda (which may or may not be fully beneficial to you).

My Conclusion:  Our system of roadways is an excellent example of capitalism and socialism working hand-in-hand to the benefit of all of us.

What are your conclusions?

The Important Question Revisited (Again)

What are the health needs of you, your family, and your loved ones, and how can they best be met?

Are your best interests being served by our current system?

Can you visualize – now that you are not burdened with an interfering prejudice fueled by loaded words – a better system?  Allow your mind to dwell on the “best-case-scenario” for your loved ones, and see where it leads you.

Answer the Questions Based Upon Your Own Knowledge and Experiences

I want what is best for me, and my family, and my loved ones.  I suspect that you also want what is best for those people who are important in your life.  When it comes to health care, I sincerely hope that all of us can get what’s best – for all of us.

Please, debate the issue with yourself, based upon what you feel is right and what is best.  Come to your own conclusions.

I believe that would be a great place to start a truly meaningful national health care debate.  What do you think?

The Purpose of This Article

Lately, there has been a lot of noise regarding health care.  I call it noise because I don’t think that the dialogue that has been ongoing qualifies for the term debate.

I suspect that many of the “arguments” regarding our country’s current attempt at “Health Care Reform” are based on information that may or may not be “totally honest”.  It seems to me that there is a shortage of honest, fact-based discussion.

In this article, I will refrain from stating that any particular claim is a “fact”.  Instead, I will offer some of my thoughts based on personal observations and heart-felt convictions.  It is my hope that I might persuade you to look at the question of “Universal Health Care” from a different viewpoint – a viewpoint that differs from both the conservative and liberal points of view now being put forward.

The Most Important Question

Has our society advanced to such a level that we have an obligation or self-accepted duty, as individuals, to try to provide for the “healthy well-being” of each other?  Should we accept, as a civic duty, the responsibility to do what we can to see that everyone in our society has access to health care?

I will not – I cannot – answer that question for YOU.  I am not sure that I even have the right to ask you to look within yourself – to ask your heart, or your soul, or your conscience that question.  But I would like you to do just that.  Ask yourself this question – “Do I believe that we should do what we can to provide health care for everyone?”

Why Or Why Not?

Again, I am not here to argue one side or the other.  I would like to frame the question in such a way that the argument takes place within your own thoughts and beliefs.

YOU might want to consider the question from a religious standpoint – does your religion offer any advice concerning how you deal with your fellow man’s needs?

YOU might want to consider it from a moral standpoint (you do not have to be religious to have a moral compass that points you towards one direction or another) – what do you feel is the right answer?

You might want to pose the question from a financial position.  Or from a “what’s the best end-result” point of view.  Or from a long-term “evolutionary effect” viewpoint.

There is most likely some particular stance that I have not even thought of from which you can debate this question with yourself.  Please do that.  Please do consider The Most Important Question.

What Then?

The answer to The Most Important Question is either a starting point or an ending point.

If YOU (and I, and enough of us) believe that the answer to the question of Universal Health Care is a “YES”, we certainly have it within our ability to “make it so”.

If a majority of us think that the answer is “NO”, then we, as a society, are simply not ready for that next step.