During the Great Depression of the 1930s, a story was being circulated to this effect: The school teacher is telling the students, "Come the revolution, we'll all have strawberries and cream." A voice came from a student in the back of the classroom, "But I don't like strawberries and cream." The teacher snapped back, "Come the revolution, you will like strawberries and cream."
A statement by President Barack Obama regarding the present debate over healthcare legislation is reminiscent of this old quote.
Commenting on opposition to his healthcare program, Obama said he expected Congress would pass his healthcare legislation on a bipartisan basis. Failing that, however, he stated he would "abandon efforts to get Republican support if it became necessary." He was saying in effect his healthcare program is going to be forced on Americans whether they like it or not.
This high-handed attitude is generating protests across the nation.
Numerous town hall meetings are being organized to provide exposure to the healthcare issue and to give citizens the opportunity to voice their opinions.
Polls two weeks ago showed that 53 percent of Americans supported national healthcare. However, as of today, public support has dropped to 48 percent, down 5 percentage points in that short period of time.
Senator Ben Cardin, D-Md., addressing a less-than-friendly crowd in Hagerstown, Md., on Aug. 12, cut his remarks short and walked off the platform.
Many other politicians and those supporting healthcare legislation are being shouted down as they attempt to present their views.
More than 1,000 people showed up at a town hall meeting in Lebanon, Pa., to meet with Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pa. Many dressed in American flag T-shirts and some carrying angry signs were reported to have gotten up before dawn to attend the meeting scheduled to be held in an auditorium with a seating capacity of 250.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., along with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., are denouncing town hall meetings and demonstrations by those opposing national healthcare as nothing more than mob reaction. Brian Baird, a spokesman for the Democrat National Committee, went so far as to invoke the image of Timothy McVeigh, who bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168.
Talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have joined in the fray with daily radio shows that involve audience participation. The majority of those calling in oppose Obama's healthcare plan in its present form.
In the heat of this national debate on healthcare, a voice from the outside is being offered, perhaps a voice of reason.
The voice is that of Daniel Hannan, a lead writer for the London Daily Telegraph and a contributing writer for newspapers around the globe, including the Wall Street Journal. He is a British politician and member of the European Parliament.
Hannan has had a front-row seat in observing the applications of Britain’s national healthcare system.
He argues that Britain’s national healthcare system has been “a mistake for 60 years,” leaving Britain with low survival rates for cancers and strokes, high chances of becoming more ill in hospitals, and constant waiting lists.
The British, Canadian, and European healthcare systems are under revision at the present time for the reason that they have proved very ineffective and have not lived up to the promises made to their citizens at the time of adoption.
To bolster his position, Obama had stated that he had the support of the American Association of Retired People (AARP). Later that same day, AARP issued a statement to the effect that the president had spoken incorrectly.
In an effort to reduce the effects of the increasing opposition to national healthcare across the nation, the White House has created a Web site to dispel what it says are smears. House Democrats have created a healthcare “War Room” to be operated out of Hoyer’s office for the purpose of helping lawmakers handle questions.
At the present time, healthcare amounts to 17 percent of the national economy. A rush to judgment at this point with an issue of such magnitude is unwarranted.
E. Ralph Hostetter, a prominent businessman and agricultural publisher, also is a national and local award-winning columnist. He welcomes comments by e-mail sent to eralphhostetter@yahoo.com.
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