Reframing the debate.

[alexandraerin]

Here's the question we should be asking all public figures who are against a public option or other form of national health insurance:

"[Senator/Congressman/Pundit], how long have you believed that France is better than America?"

It's fairly easy to point to the failings in the Canadian health care system... a system, incidentally, that neither President Obama nor the Democrats in the legislature are looking to as an example... but France, which has a system closely resembling the much-denigrated "public option", has the top-rated healthcare system in the world.

France can manage to provide quality health care to their entire population and we can't? And it would be too expensive for us to match the feat, when they do it while spending less money per person than we do?

I'm sorry, I don't buy it.

I'm sure the reason that the supporters of the public option have been pointing to France is... well... as I've said before, liberals have a real problem with sitting back and allowing their opponents to frame debates. "Speak softly and carry a big stick" worked fine for Teddy Roosevelt, but it wouldn't have worked so well for his cousin Frank, who had to speak loudly and often just to make himself heard. If we pointed to France and said "We want our country to be more like that.", the right would jump on it in an instant... I mean, we're talking about people whose response to half of the things our president does is to say "arugula" like they've made some great and telling point about policy.

But with France using the public option and not just making it work but making it work so well that they have the best medical care in the world, consider the implication being made any time somebody says that the public option wouldn't work in America or that it would result in worse care for most people:

America is less capable than France.

In my previous post on the subject, I framed things in terms of goodness vs. greatness. Well, let's talk about greatness. As I said, we put a man on the moon. Is there any reason we couldn't take the number one spot away from France if we wanted to?

A lot of our political representatives and media figures seem to think so. Let's put them on the spot and ask them why that is.

Comments

[bisquick-deh.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is a lot to keep up with! I envy your life of working at home and having more time (or at least more control over that time) Honest statement, no joke scarcasam or otherwise negative connotation.

I try to stay away from the "health care is a right" arguement too, because it is unproductive. I think there's valid arguements that it is a right and valid arguements that it is not. No one is blocking people from getting quality care. Care can be had. Lack of money or insurance can make it severely limited, or more difficult to obtain, but in the end no one is throwing out the c-block on your health care. Health care and insured are not the same things.

I notice that whenever I delve into liberal territory (this forum and others) the assumptions made of the right that are taken as fact are the views of a small portion of the right that most right leaning people are saying "yeah that's not cool either." I find that true here too. Perhaps it is that we only hear the ones screaming the loudest, but I don't aspire to a lot of the assumptions you make of the right's views. I also discount a lot of the left's extreeme views that get bandied about on my side.
I'm registered republican so I get the expected mass of junk mail/email almost daily. I can't hardly read the shit because all they do is throw accusations at the other side. What little democrat stuff I've seen of a similar venue is much the same. Honestly, the best place to find out what's really going on is talking to others...seeing where they stand, and challenging or being challenged by their views.

I really wish the politicians would forget about their precious party lines and think about America first. This health care thing is a big deal, effecting a lot of people, a huge portion of the economy, and any number of trickling down repercussions. I don't agree with the current plan in its entirety, but it scares me that politicians are unwilling to have honest debate and give it the time it deserves to come up with the best plan for everyone.

And now, I'm late for work. *sigh* :/

[matt_doyle]

No one is blocking people from getting quality care.

The lack of affordable quality care at my income level is blocking me from quality care. Now, it's true that no one specific is blocking me, but trust me, I'm pretty effectively blocked. Pre-existing condition: I'm poor.