Wondering How to Deal With Anti-Health Care Crowds?

Hi Everyone,

Well, last Wednesday I attended a pro-public option rally not far from my home. The amount of support we got was really heartening. There were some hostile passersby, giving thumbs down, but there were only a few of those. There were people that drove by in all kinds of cars, even someone in a tow truck, that honked to show their support. The next day, the rally did get a mention in our local paper. I wonder why the mainstream media isn't covering many of the pro-health care crowds, huh?

Anyway, are any of you wondering how to deal with anti-health care groups you may be confronted by? You may be an average citizen, or a congressperson or senator looking for ways of fending off hecklers. Well, remember from the FreedomWorks report that hecklers don't necessarily want answers; they want conflict. Nevertheless, if they ask questions, answer them in an intelligent way. In the video below, former comedian and Minnesota's newest Senator, Al Franken, shows us how to address the concerns of the "tea-bag" folks while defusing the conflict some undoubtedly sought.



Nicely handled, Al!

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

We Need Healthcare Reform!

Hi Everyone,

Well, I'm back with a vengeance. I started slacking off, though there's been plenty to write about in the last week plus. I then took a camping trip into the Anza-Borrego desert, and a daytime visit to San Diego. Then in between my parents returning (yes, I still live with my parents), and doing some work in my garage, I kept forgetting to post, though there is plenty of material to post on. But I'm back, baby! And I've got a lot to tell you about.

Since HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius declared that the public option is "not the essential element" of reform (what is the essential element, Kathy?), political observers everywhere have been rushing to write the death certificate of the public option. First, the left wing activist base was in despair, but today, they've gotten fired up anew for the public option. This is exactly what needs to be happening right now. This is exactly the moment when we need to step up and make the people's real voices heard.

The powerful insurance lobby and right-wing lobby groups like "FreedomWorks" and "Americans for Prosperity" have been organizing and sending anti-health care protest mobs around the country. Some disagreement is legitimate, as this health care plan has flaws. The reason I and others have said "mobs" is because these crowds are shouting down all other views with disingenuous slogans, harassing congressmen, even sending out death threats. One man even showed up at a town meeting where the President was going to speak in New Hampshire with a gun in plain site. This is the only time I can recall where someone did that without being arrested on the spot.

Now we all know the reason why these anti-health care protesters are getting so much press. The media is controlled by a handful of corporations, as we detailed earlier. The health care industry is at the mercy of insurance executives. Would it be a stretch to say that the media has a vested interest in keeping the insurance industry wealthy and free of reform? I don't think so, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

This much I do know: more and more people are going bankrupt because of insurance. People are having to go without insurance. Thousands of people (18,000 the last time I checked) are dying a year because of a lack of insurance, a lack of preventative care, and all the rest. Imagine if 18,000 Americans were killed in a year because of some foreign military threat. What would the people who are now protesting health reform would be advocating. Maybe if you go to one of these town halls, you can mention to the protesters that because of the companies' extra profits, 18,000 Americans end each year in their graves.

You've probably heard all the scare tactics that so-called "teabaggers" have been using at these town halls. They have gotten all their information from Fox and Rush Limbaugh. Most of them will believe anything these sources tell them, and the voices they're hearing are about as honest as used car salesmen. They say "socialism" "communism" "fascism" and, my personal favorite, "get your government hands off my medicare!" Medicare is that goverment hand. It seems like, for all the suspicion people have about government, it works surprisingly well for them. It is hardly surprising, since most Americans still support health care reform, that the insurance lobby has had to set off this firebomb to keep reform at bay.

They have their slogans, their buzzwords, manufactured to make already scared and upset get mad at the people that are trying (however imperfectly) to fix the problem, instead of the people who are truly doing them wrong. Do I blame the people at the town halls, doing the shouting? Not particularly (unless they're making death threats and all). I blame the corporate executives and crooked politicians who will do anything, even leave people to die, to get more. More profit, more power. And I blame their well-paid cheerleaders in the media (you know who you are) who are equally hungry for wealth and fame. They bear the true responsibility in this, and they are the ones that need to answer for this.

If you've heard, or followed, President Obama for any length of time, you've probably heard him say "Change doesn't come from Washington, it comes to Washington," or some variation thereof. Ever wonder what he means by that? It means that it is not his job alone to help bring lasting reform to Washington; the rest of us must work to sway our Representatives, Senators, even the President himself, in that direction. I've noticed that, throughout our history, when movements have developed, the cry for change, justice, and the common good, eventually became so great that those in Washington had to heed the call, if they wanted to keep their jobs.

The cry for health care reform is not being broadcast in the media, but it is there. The news media is not reporting on it because it isn't convenient for the media. It's more convenient for the media to report on the mobs shouting their meaningless, hollow cries of "socialism," "communism," "marxism," and everything bad under the sun, because that makes news. People standing for real reform doesn't make news as readily. But make no mistake; the voices are there. It's up to us to make the voices calling for a healthier, more compassionate America heard.

We need our own catchphrases and slogans that make people feel good about it, instead of bad. I've got some ideas. How about "A healthy America is a safe America," or just saying "Health care for everyone is a GOOD thing." I just wish that would get home to people. The most rotten thing that opponents of reform have done have taken good things, like community organizing, leveling the economic playing field, or getting affordable health care plans to all our citizens, and made people deride them or suspect them. Well, I've got news for the far right faction in this country: community organizing, leveling the economic playing field, and getting affordable health care to all our citizens are ALL GOOD THINGS! And don't let anyone tell you differently.

Just think back to last election. The skinny kid with a funny name was promising change, first he was ignored, then he was mocked, then he was attacked, then he was elected president. All this happened because people decided they wanted to send him money, they wanted to knock on doors, to make sure the change we still need could come. The election was an important first step. But it didn't guarantee that things would change. Obama himself may need to be persuaded at some point, but, in the President's own words "This is no time to slow down, and it is certainly no time to lose heart." Call your Representative, your Senator, or the White House and tell them you support the public option (I called them today). Organize a rally or attend a town hall meeting to show your support.

If you want to correspond directly with me on how you can do any of these things, email me at ttechnician@hotmail.com for some direction. It doesn't matter what you choose to do. As long as you stand for affordable health care for as many Americans as possible (the public option being the best route toward that goal), that's the important part. Let me leave you with a quote from a British health administrator,taken from Sicko, to which I applauded, and which you can use to answer some criticisms on grounds of too much government spending, "If we can get government money to kill people, we can just as easily get it to help people." Now is the time to say, Yes We Can.

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.

A Brief Word on Health Care.

Hi Everyone,

Did any of you see the press conference President Obama gave last night? I heard parts of it on the radio. He answered questions from various news outlets. One woman even challenged him, and he answered in a straightforward way. That part was well done, in my view.

Some are calling the conference a disappointment, perhaps because they were expecting him to go into more detail. It would have been nice if he'd went into more detail about the plan, but seeing how it is incomplete, it is perhaps forgivable that specifics were lacking.

At the end, the President even answered a question about the Harvard professor who was arrested trying to get into his own home in Cambridge after returning from China. This was most likely because the Professor, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was black, and they were curious to hear Obama's take on it. I'll tell you, Obama has approached race from an interesting angle. But that incident, and the side of our culture it reflects, is another topic for another day.

Anyway, I'll say a few words on healthcare, because it is such an important issue here. In most of the other countries, there is some sort of public apparatus for providing health care. It varies between, like, England, France, Germany, and Canada. Each country approaches it differently. However, in all those countries, health care is seen as an important right to be provided, rather than something to be exploited.

You'll hear those who oppose reform complain about a "government takeover." You're likely to hear this term a lot over the next week. What about the insurance companies, who routinely look for reasons not to cover you? If you have a preexisting condition, you're automatically out. Even those in good health find themselves paying more and more, and people are being driven into bankruptcy by the costs.

The number currently without health insurance (and try getting any kind of quality care without it) is currently 47 million or so, about 1 in 6 Americans. There are many more who get health care, but it isn't any good. The President is attempting to attack this issue and get, as he stated, "everyone insured." So what do opponents try to do? Look at the issue seriously and come back with a different approach?

No, no, no. These guys instead oppose any sort of option that would really keep insurance companies honest. They instead want to "kill" reform, as Bill Kristol stated. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) made their intentions clear when he said he wanted to stop Obama on this so that it would be "his waterloo." He hopes to derail health care reform so that he could "break him." Nothing about addressing all the people that are hurting, nothing about giving genuine care to those who need it. Just "break him" so we can get into power.

Sure, these guys offer platitudes about "freedom solutions," and other things. The Cato Institute released an ad that "supports reform without a government takeover." But really these guys only want to kill this plan so that they can "break" their opponent, the President. This hatred of anything to do with government, which goes far beyond a healthy skepticism, has really gone too far, and it needs to be addressed.

There needs to be a way for these insurance companies to be held responsible for the influence they've exerted, often at the expense of the rest of us. It seems that the question facing lawmakers now, is not liberal or conservative, it's whether you want all of us, the people, to have our needs addressed, and to hold the powerful responsible, or whether you want the few powerful to gain still more wealth and power, even as the rest of us languish and suffer. Rarely is this question truly addressed, but it is about to be addressed now.

This is just my view on the issue. If you have any view, story about health care experience, or something else you want to tell me about, leave a comment for me below. I'll have more for you soon. See ya guys!

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.