In his speech last evening, President Barack Obama made the commitments that a broad coalition in the faith community had asked for -- reform as a moral issue, affordable coverage for all, and no federal funding of abortion.
First, the faith community has asked the president to make "the moral case" for health care reform, not just the policy arguments -- and he couldn't have been more clear about the moral imperative for fixing a broken system. He quoted a letter from Ted Kennedy, written last spring but delivered to the president after Kennedy's death, stating that health care "is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country."
Second, we have told the White House that the faith community will accept nothing less than accessible, affordable, and secure coverage for everyone. The president said that, "If you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices." And while there may be various means of achieving that goal, "I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice." He rejected the incremental approaches that will again postpone bringing everyone into America's health care system and making sure it is working for all of us -- and so will we.
Third, we have told the president that we needed to hear a clear commitment on prohibiting federal funding of abortion as well as maintaining a strong conscience protection. He gave that public commitment: "Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place." As the president said, "There remain some significant details to be ironed out," but his commitment to these principles means we can now work together to make sure that they are consistently and diligently applied to any final health care legislation. The practical application of that principle should mean that no person should be forced to pay for someone else's abortion, and that public funds cannot be used to pay for elective abortions.
Now it is the job of the faith community and every concerned American to make sure the final bill reflects these moral principles. And the faith community will continue to be vigilant to ensure that each one is followed throughout the process of achieving health care legislation. The president has set the stage for finally achieving real solutions to health care reform by defining the deeper moral issues at stake and clarifying the policy debate. We will now be calling on our members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, many of them members of our congregations, to support these moral commitments and to make sure, as they "iron out the details," that each one is firmly upheld.
At the beginning of the speech, after noting the continuing economic crisis, President Obama said, "[W]e did not come here just to clean up crises. We came to build a future." That future indeed involves a significant social transformation, and like most such change, it invokes strong reactions. We in the faith community have a special role in that process of change -- to help the nation make the spiritual choice of hope rather than fear, and to believe that the way for all of us to move forward as a society is to make that choice.
Jim Wallis is the author of The Great Awakening
Follow Jim Wallis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimwallis
"He rejected the incremental approaches that will again postpone bringing everyone into America's health care system and making sure it is working for all of us -- and so will we."
The President's approach is deeply incrementalist, if not outright obstructionist. He made clear that a public option is dispensable; he made clear that even if there is a public option, employers, even though mandated to buy insurance for their employees, would not be permitted to offer this cheaper public option to their employees as a coverage choice--instead they would have to pay an overpriced premium to the zero-value-added private health insurance cartel--; and he made clear that even such a hamstrung public option (that would not be an option to most of the public at all), it would not even commence until 2013. And what is the motive of such postponement? Patently, to protect and expand the market shares revenues and profits of the cartels. The President's plan will increase total plutocratic waste and graft, not reduce it.
An incisive analysis of the real implications of the President's speech for healthcare reform can be found here:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-19087-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2009m9d11-What-Obamas-Speech-Really-Means-Prognosis-for-Healthcare-Reform
Democrats hope and Republicans tout fear.
http://politicalintegritynow.com/2009/09/does-obama-even-understand-the-fundamentals-of-economics/
With rights comes responsibility --- if you want all these things in the bill, you had better be prepared to join the President and do the necessary work to help get his preferred legislation passed.
Do not just criticize the President for the bill failing to pass and/or condemn the President for failing to pass a bill that has everything in it that you want.
Are you prepared to take some of the blame, for not helping, if the President's efforts ultimately fail (in whole or in part)?
"Now it is the job of the faith community and every concerned American to make sure the final bill reflects these moral principles. And the faith community will continue to be vigilant to ensure that each one is followed throughout the process of achieving health care legislation. The president has set the stage for finally achieving real solutions to health care reform by defining the deeper moral issues at stake and clarifying the policy debate. We will now be calling on our members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, many of them members of our congregations, to support these moral commitments and to make sure, as they "iron out the details," that each one is firmly upheld."
For those who think that health care reform will "pull the plug on grandma" let me assure you, that time is already here, and not because of the President.
Your courage in sharing your Mother's story is admirable. Stories such as yours, might well help in softening the hardened hearts of those politicians entrusted with policy and funding decisions --- leading them to make necessary improvements to the American health care system for the benefit of all Americans, not just the priviledged few.
You have done your part, by sharing your story here with the HuffPost community. Thank you for your efforts.
May you and your family find comfort and solace during your time of mourning.
"The world is a dangerous place to live - not because of the people who are evil
but because of the people who don't do anything about it." Albert Einstein
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I find it incorrigible that many of the 'faithful' who have made abortion their cornerstone of morality are apathetic to the number of people who suffer and/or die each day due to lack of health care because 'it costs too much'
Our Humanity is in Critical Condition.
Churches could truly honor our nation's "In God We Trust" by giving up their tax exempt status ...
providing enough revenue to cover the costs of health care for EVERYONE.
Anyway, if all it is is another way to buy the same crappy private insurance policy through a different agent, what about that is change?
Those already insured have been chained to the options: bad insurance plan A, bad insurance plan B, bad insurance plan C, etc. There is no public option at all that we can select. The only way onto the public option is to fall on really bad times.
No, I take that back. We have nothing to fear. Because we KNOW that no substantive discussion will occur regarding actual care in this country until everyone else, whose biggest medical concern is a stubbed toe or sprained ankle from the thanksgiving back yard football game can get their ankle set for free, or the balding old guy recapturing his youth can get his Rogaine for free
http://richmonk31.blogspot.com
by the way, how accurate has the president been since he took office?
http://politicalintegritynow.com/2009/09/does-obama-even-understand-the-fundamentals-of-economics/
Read it, it will help.
BTW- Where in the Constitution does it say it is the government's responsibility to pay for roads, fire departments, police departments, etc.?
Folks, do not forget the marches on September 13th!!!
http://marchforhealthcare.com/events/
If not now, when? If not us, who?
Kennedy was one of our greatest champions of health care reform. He carried the torch for a long time...and now it is up to us to continue to carry it!
Our elected officials in Congress receive health care mostly paid for by us tax payers, yet many are trying to make it impossible for us to purchase an affordable plan of our own :
While many of us are struggling to afford medical insurance/medical bills.
While Congress people try to stop healthcare reform.
While Congress people accept large contributions from lobbyists to prevent health care reform.
Please sign these petitions - and by all means, spread the word! Thank you!
http://www.petitiononline.com/PubOp676/petition.html
http://www.democrats.com/honor-ted-kennedy?cid=ZGVtczQ0MTA5OGRlbXM=
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5649/t/4922/content.jsp?content_KEY=2763&tag=hk1_typ-e1
My insurance company tried to get out of paying for my emergency appendectomy because I had gone to the doctor for a stomach ache a month before the coverage kicked in. My acute appendicitis was a "pre-existing condition!"
The republicans mean to kill this bill by any means necessary, because they know that once the foot is in the door, the door will open.
When you're bleeding to death, you don't ask if the tourniquet is dirty.