August 20 is Elders for Health Care Reform Day

A week or so ago, Ronni Bennett (Time Goes By) called for our reflections on health care reform. She proposed:

• That next week, on Thursday 20 August, elderbloggers rise up on their blogs in support of health care reform including a public option
• That we denounce the say-no-to-everything Republicans and their handmaidens, the Blue Dog Democrats
• That we call out the health industry and their lobbyists who are bribing Congress with campaign donations to maintain the health care status quo and preserve their staggering profits
• That we fact check the lies, half-truths and exaggerations of the scare-mongering media nitwits who dare to compare the health care bill to Nazi Germany and who shout fascism, socialism and Communism without a gram of understanding of those terms
• That we reinforce the the fact of the backbreaking cost of health care that will skyrocket so high in the next decade, without health care reform there can be no economic recovery.

Tall order, and it’s not easy to pick a point of entry. The power of honest political organizing was demonstrated with the Obama mandate last November. It seems that to make progress (and we are after all progressives) we have to keep the pressure on congress and the White House to remember campaign promises and to do the right thing.

Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, has suggested a march on Washington supporting health care reform efforts to be held on “Grandparents Day,” September 13. On September 12 the know-nothings have planned a teabagger march on Washington, so–as Reich says–it could prove to be an interesting weekend.

I’m looking for a scorecard, a tally of who in congress is with us and who is against us. Separating the sheep from the goats now will be useful when congress turns over next November. Clearly we don’t have a large enough majority if congressmen can be influenced by the know-nothings. The teabagger demonstrations are cathartic for the deluded people who have been called out by the corporations, the right wing Christian fundamentalists, and the talk radio obstructionists, and I don’t doubt the sincerity of most people in that mob. But they’ve been lied to, they’ve been mistreated by their organizers, and their grasp of the facts of health care reform alternatives is largely non-existent. Many of them conflate reproductive health issues with the health care reform debate. Many of them are afraid they will be taxed until they bleed. These people, the opposition to meaningful legislation, comprise an alienated minority who are passionate and fearful. They are people who think that if we give somebody a hand then someone else will have to suffer. They have a zero-sum lifeboat mentality. There are far fewer of them than the media coverage would have us believe.

Tomorrow, Ronni will be linking to all the posts she can find about the elder perspective on health care reform. It’s likely that there will be a some cogent conservative voices speaking out. And I expect there will be ranters and screamers from the edges too. I’m looking forward to the discussion.

I can’t find that list of Congressmen and Senators who support meaningful reform but I’m sure somebody is keeping score. If I find it I’ll share the link.