Saturday, February 9, 2008

Force Congress To Pass H.R. 676




Travelling in committees for over two years now, and not allowed by either the Democrats or the Republicans to come to a vote, H.R. 676, a proposal put forth by John Conyers, would lead to the eventual Universal Health Care that the Presidential candidates only speak lip service to.
Every time the measure is brought forth by a member of Congress, it gets shoved into some committee, such as the House Committee for Energy and Commerce. Even though Conyers' bill has 78 co-sponsors, the insurance industry lobbyists have managed to stifle all debate on the issue, and while not actually killing the bill, it sits in a limbo, awaiting someone with the guts to push it forward, and force a yea or nay vote.
The bill itself has been much maligned by opponents that are deep in the insurance industries' pockets, claiming it would be a government run socialized medicine program. They have blatantly lied about what is in the actual bill, which would take existing resources along with a portion of sales taxes, and insure every single American, and said that doctors all over the country are opposed to this idea.
The lie to this argument can be evidenced by the group Physicians For A National Health Program which boasts the membership of more than 4,000 doctors nationwide.
In fact, in a statement to a gathering of the group, Dr. Quentin Young had this to say: "Good news, There is now a way to exit the nightmare of a collapsing health system. We no longer have to put up with the outrageous costs that keep millions of Americans from receiving medical care and needed medications. Nor will tens of thousands of families have to declare bankruptcy over medical bills. Universal national health insurance (single payer) takes the resources we have in place and deals with them in an intelligent manner, excluding the tragic hemorrhage of resources into non-health entities."
Dr. Martin Luther King said many years ago: "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."
Imagine that. Doctors, nurses,dentists, eye care specialists, medical professionals from across the spectrum all calling for true Universal Health Care. All of them decrying the current system for the waste, the corruption, the callous disregard for human life by the HMO's, but yet their voices have never been heard by the American people. The reason for this couldn't be that the insurance industry and the drug companies pay such huge fees for commercial air time, now could it? Tell me it's not because many members of the Senate and the House, including Hillary Clinton, derive great portions of their campaign contributions from these very same conglamerates.
They wouldn't sell out the American people over money would they? No. Of course they wouldn't. That's the reason that I believe that if you all go to John Conyers web site and sign his petition to move H.R. 676 to a vote, then our Congress, who only has our best interests in mind, will move swiftly on this issue, because now they'll know that we're aware of this little scam they've been pulling on us. The petition site is here: http://www.johnconyers.com/HR676
Just imagine. All of us, rich and poor alike, having access to the same type of health care, and not having to worry about our wages being garnished because we can't pay the premiums on a forced, mandated government giveaway to the insurance industry.
If you'd like to read the full text of H.R. 676 go here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.676
After you read the truth about what all of the sponsors and co-sponsors of this bill, go and sign Mr. Conyers petition. Tell Congress to stop trying to bury legislation beneficial to the American people. Let them know they work for us, and not the insurance industry or the drug companies.
Bring H.R. 676 to a vote, and let us see, before the elections, who stands with the People, and who stands against our best interests. Batmanchester

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