Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said the bill would make sure "all Americans have access to affordable healthcare and that the plan being considered "saves lives, saves money, and saves Medicare.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said, "I can't think of a better vote to have right before Thanksgiving. I think the American people when they really learn what's in this bill will be very thankful that we're moving ahead.
But, it was Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a man who as Senate Finance Committee chairman has been embroiled in controversy over loans and bank regulation in the past year, who probably had Americans for real healthcare reform doing a double take:
Dodd remarked that the Senate was "going to have a debate that was long overdue. He added:
"There are certain things you ought to have a right to. Certain things, not everything. One thing is certain. You ought to have a right to decent health care, to be able to see a doctor when you need it and to be able to afford it without bankrupting in the process. That's what we are attempting to do with this bill. That's what we are attempting to do for the first time in the history of our country---to deal with a national healthcare plan that will serve all of the people of our nation. Nothing less than that is our objective.
Technically, he is correct. Mandating people purchase private insurance that has no controls on the costs of premiums and saying if you don't buy it you are going to have be fined, is a national healthcare plan. But, it's not a plan any American should be thankful for as they break bread with loved ones on Thanksgiving nor is it a plan that will free Americans from the current exploitation they experience because their insurance is in the hands of health insurance companies.
Dodd and others are right to say each American should be able to see a doctor when necessary and be able to afford healthcare without going bankrupt but they are wrong to say this is the first attempt to establish a national healthcare plan in the history of America.
This statement misrepresents the history of reform efforts in the history of healthcare in America (and maybe that's why Americans are so easily content with letting Democrats place limitations on what can and cannot be done to this bill, on what can and cannot be said of this reform, etc).
Placing Current Reform in Historical Context
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