Sustainable Food

Politicians vs. Leaders

Published July 22, 2009 @ 02:35PM PT

This week, Steph continues her series on a critical piece of social infrastructure necessary for growing the small-scale farming sector, or any other part of a more localized economy that depends on small businesses: making a public health insurance option available to everyone.

When President Obama was elected, it seemed like everyone was quoting Abraham Lincoln. When I saw this quote today, though, it got me thinking about the current status of the health care reform debate:

A statesman is he who thinks in the future generations, and a politician is he who thinks in the upcoming elections. – Abraham Lincoln

It reminded me of another saying, though I can’t find who said it so maybe I’m making it up – A politician does what is popular, whereas a leader does what’s right.

In either case, the health care debate is separating Congress into statesmen and politicians, with politicians like South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint who is trying to block all health care reform in order to settle mere political quarrels on one side, and leaders like Reps. Ron Kind and Earl Pomeroy fighting to make the lives of their constituents better on the other side.

Both Reps. Kind and Pomeroy are rural Democrats, and yet they were two of the three members of the House Ways and Means Committee (one of the committees that is charged with writing the bill in the House) who voted against party lines and against the bill. Voting against their party is a mighty unpopular thing to do, but it was right to stand up for the rural communities they represent.

Rep. Kind said that he voted against the bill in part because it tied reimbursement rates for the public health insurance option to Medicare rates, which are problematically low in rural areas and providers are reimbursed for the volume of care they provide (which will inevitably be lower in rural areas due to population density). At the same time as he voted against a bill he felt would hurt his constituents, he reiterated his support for a public health insurance option.

Rep. Pomeroy also voted against the bill for similar reasons, saying that tying payment schedules of the public health insurance option to Medicare is a deal breaker for him and that the bill in its current form did not do enough for rural health care.

If you believe the reports that Mr. Obama’s poll numbers on health care are slipping, maybe it is because the President has not been as strong a leader as he could be. Reps. Kind and Pomeroy are standing up for rural America and leading the charge for health reform that works for all of us regardless of geography.

This evening at 8pm Central time, President Obama will discuss health care reform in a prime time news conference. I hope Mr. Obama’s inner statesman – and not his inner politician – is the one who shows up tonight.

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Comments (1)

  1. L.S. hope

       I shake my head when I hear, "health care reform," or "universal health care." Not because we don't need a better health care system in the U.S. but, why now? With so much on our plates, this is one more thing being shoved down our throats. So, why now?

        Our government lets its people go hungry. (In the land of plenty.) They let gangs kill innocent people and destroy society. We are fighting a war, that soldiers are loosing their lives in, and Oboma's talking, "health care." (WTF?)

       Time and time again our elected officials have let us down. They use tax payer money to fund lavish life styles. While they are cheating on their spouses, domestic violence is on the rise in the U.S. They won't cough up money for our education system, but their children attend private schools. So, when a politician pushes for a universal health care system, it leaves me with more questions, than hope for the possibility.

       Like: since when, does our government actually give a $hit, about the people? How/who will pay for it? Further more, when/how, will my protected health information can/will be, used against me? As Natasha has pointed out in the past, we are being used as guinea pigs for Monsanto. (And it's not illegal.) So what if we are used as guinea pigs,(unknowingly,) for drug companies?

      The government claims this won't happen. From my race, to the number of children I have, to the car I drive; they know everything about me. Why do they need to know when my last pap was? To gain employment as a peace officer, (any form of peace officer,) one of the questions asks:" Have you, or any member of you immediate family, ever been institutionalized for a mental disorder?" If you check, YES, they automatically throw your application out. (It is not illegal to lie on an employment application.) If you check, NO, and it is a lie, they have no way of knowing. With universal health care, they won't even have to ask the question. All the information will be at their finger tips.

       (In my opinion,) Obama is nothing more than false hope. He preaches the same bias, b/s to the African American community, as all the leaders before him. Recently he told them, "they need to hold themselves accountable," "It may be hard, but they can't give up." "Poor isn't an excuse." (ARE you f-ing kidding me?) What would he know about being poor? His children aren't being shot. What can't they give up on? They have nothing else to take away. It's like telling a writer, to write a novel, with no pencil, paper, or computer. Then, have it published. (It makes no sense.) They have deplorable schools, violence at every turn, no jobs or low paying jobs, and the lure of gangs and drugs is very appealing to someone who only eats one meal a day.  So, when he says, "try harder," "do better;" I say, "than what?"

       We need to get out of this war. We need to get out of NAFTA. We need to demand our bail out money, go to where they said it was going, originally. We need to buy back our country from China. And, tell Obama to take universal health care and shove it. This would save our soldiers. Stop the multitudes of drugs being smuggled in at the border. Give families loosing their homes, the money to get back on their feet. And keep the f-ing government out of Americans personal, private, and protected,(by HIPA,) health care information.

       

    Posted by L.S. hope on 07/25/2009 @ 03:40AM PT

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Author
Steph Larsen

Steph Larsen is currently the Rural Policy Organizer for the Center for Rural Affairs in northeast Nebraska, before which she spent three years in Washington, D.C. working with Community Food Security Coalition. She holds an MS in geography from her home state of Wisconsin.

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