Two Words: Life Panels

In case you missed it, Keith Olbermann gave a gut wrenching Special Comment tonight on Countdown. I quite literally watched with tears streaming down my face, as I thought about what we went through with Nana and what Keith is going through with his own father, and they have/had outstanding insurance. It pains me to think about all the people in our country who have no insurance because they have "pre-existing conditions" or simply can't afford to pay the exorbitant premiums. When people go to bed every night praying no one gets sick because they can't afford medical care, something is fundamentally wrong with our country.

In the last few weeks, former President Clinton, former Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Senator Bob Dole were each admitted to the hospital for treatable (and relatively minor in the grand scheme of things) problems. As former elected officials, they have the best of the best insurance and I'm sure they didn't even blink about whether or not they should seek treatment. 43 million people in our country could not have gone to the doctor for those ailments because they have no insurance. Millions more would have worried what the trip to the hospital would do to their insurance and would have skipped it.

It is reprehensible that we treat quality health care as a privilege and not as a right. If you ask me, and since you're reading Little Merry Sunshine, I'm assuming you are, I believe it falls under that pesky "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" thing we pride ourselves on, but that's just my opinion.

A blogger buddy of mine told me a story yesterday about her sister's sister-in-law who was just diagnosed with a very advanced stage of cancer. They could have caught it sooner, but she and her family didn't have insurance, and when she felt something wrong, she didn't say anything. At this point, they don't think there's anything that can be done for her because the cancer is too advanced. As a result, her young children will probably lose their mother way too soon. Oh, for the record, her husband works in construction. They just couldn't afford insurance.

Demand that our elected officials do the right thing. We not only need health care reform and lower rates, but it simply time provide universal health care for all.

Enjoy Keith.

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Video and title from The Political Carnival.

Dear Mr. President: The Letter from Senator Ted Kennedy

If you saw last night's speech to Congress by President Obama last night (or if you read and saw it here on Little Merry Sunshine), you'll recall some very emotional moments when President Obama read from a letter the late Senator Ted Kennedy wrote to him that was delivered only after Senator Kennedy's death last month. You'll also recall that health care reform was the cause of Senator Kennedy's life.

In case you missed it, here is the text of the letter in its entirety from the White House. Maybe it's just me, but I teared up reading it.

May 12, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face 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.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family’s health will never again depend on the amount of a family’s wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes, we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America’s behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.

With deep respect and abiding affection,

[Ted]