It’s clear that the dissenters of health care reform aren’t happy about how our elected officials are driving policy in Washington D.C. However, I’m not happy with how these dissenters have passively and wantonly been a catalyst for disinformation on health care reform.

Furthermore, it’s obvious, by listening to their criticisms of current efforts to reform health care, that these anti-health care reform protesters haven’t done their homework. How can you criticize a politician, a policy, a reform bill, politics, or anything else that’s related to our government or the public affairs of our country if you haven’t considered the facts or taken the time to understand the challenges facing our country?

To me, these protestors appear xenophobic and ignorant when they exclaim hogwash like, “I don’t want this country turning into Russia, turning into a socialized country.” As a criticism against the Obama Administration, these town hall protestors are using words like fascism, Marxist, Nazism, or socialism very loosely or incorrectly.

Furthermore, given that “the total US tax burden is less than that in most industrialized countries” and as state budgets are running in the red, these town hall protestors seem selfish to me when they complain about not wanting to pay more taxes. Basically, these protestors are driving the type of policy that has resulted in our country’s current woes. Maybe most Americans aren’t ready for change, or perhaps most Americans are perfectly content with the status quo, but I’m certainly not. From Katy Abram at Senator Arlen Specter’s town hall meeting:

I don’t believe this is just about health care. It’s not about TARP. It’s not about left and right. This is about the systematic dismantling of this country. I’m only thirty-five years old, and I have never been interested in politics. You have awakened a sleeping giant. . . . I don’t want this country turning into Russia, turning into a socialized country. . . . What are you going to do to restore this country back to what our founders created, according to the Constitution?

Lawrence O’Donnell, while filling in for Chris Matthews’s “Hardball”, exposes Katy Abram’s ignorance of the issues surrounding the health care debate:

Katy Abram on “Hardball” says she’s upset about having to fund government programs as a taxpayer, but the federal government has a responsibility to drive policy. As a taxpayer we have a responsibility to pay for these programs—there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Furthermore, Abram mentions she has a $5,000 deductible!  Consequently, I imagine it’s hard to meet a $5,000 deductible while also paying the exorbitant costs of private health insurance. Additionally, when her parents retire, they’ll participate in a single payer health care system—Medicare. Clearly these dissenters of health care reform are relying on sources that have purposely spread disinformation, because the health care industry doesn’t want the status quo to change, since they’re making so much money! From the NYTimes.com:

Ms. Abram described herself as a stay-at-home mother from Lebanon, and in many ways she was representative of the almost entirely white and irritable crowd, most of whom were from the area. Based on interviews with several dozen people who attended, it appeared that about 80 percent of those who showed up opposed the planned changes to the health care system.

Many said they heard about the meeting from e-mail alerts sent by conservative and antitax groups like the Constitutional Organization of Liberty and the Berks County Tea Party, along with Mr. Specter’s own mailings. Some voiced sentiments that were heard recently on conservative radio shows, though those interviewed said they resented being characterized as mobs or puppets of lobbyists, emphasizing that they represented only themselves. “I demand my voice!” read one sign outside. “You work for me,” was a refrain yelled inside the auditorium.

At the same time, those who favor a health care overhaul, urged to attend by unions and liberal groups like the Service Employees International Union and Health Care for America Now, said they were motivated by concern that the government might not go far enough. Only the government, they say, can take on a problem as big as health care.

Here’s another great Lawrence O’Donnell interview:

Some facts that illustrate the need for health care reform:

Canada spends more than a third less per capita on health than the United States and still covers everyone, whereas the U.S. system leaves 46 million people without insurance.

Via

1. Cost of current House healthcare plan: $1.042 trillion over 10 years

According to a report “submitted to Congress by the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation,” healthcare reform as it stands now would cost “$1.042 trillion over 10 years . . . [but] that cost would be partially offset by program savings of $219 billion over five years and added revenues totaling $583 billion.”

2. % increase of employer health insurance premiums in 2008: “5.0 percent – two times the rate of inflation.”
3. Even though no national healthcare plan currently exists, the total national health expenditure as % of U.S. gross domestic product in 2008 and 2018: “The health share of GDP is projected to reach 16.6 percent in 2008 and 20.3 percent by 2018.”
4. U.S. obesity-attributable medical expenditures in 2003: $75,000,000,000 (yes, that’s in billions). More data can be found here and here.
5. Research suggesting % of Americans that could be overweight or obese by 2030: 86%

If I’m spending twice as much, I’d expect to have the better outcomes.

6. Despite not having some type of universal coverage, how does the U.S. rank in overall healthcare expenditures? #1: “The United States spends at least 40% more per capita on health care than any other industrialized country with universal health care.” (from a 1999 source)
7. How does the United States’ health care system rank in quality: 37^th (from a 2000 report). According to The World Health Report 2000 – Health systems: Improving performance:

The U.S. health system spends a higher portion of its gross domestic product than any other country but ranks 37 out of 191 countries according to its performance, the report finds. The United Kingdom, which spends just six percent of GDP on health services, ranks 18 th . Several small countries – San Marino, Andorra, Malta and Singapore are rated close behind second- placed Italy.

Discussion of Michael Moore’s Sicko—“Bill Moyers interviews former health insurance industry executive Wendell Potter, who left the field after almost 20 years to become a health reform advocate.”

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