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What’s the relationship between the 9/12 protests from last week and today’s news about the Baucus health plan?
The video on the left was recorded at the 9/12 Tea Party/health care protests last Sunday. It’s fairly interesting, because it helps us draw some conclusions about the folks who seem so angry about the current health care debate.
The predominantly white, college-educated, upper middle class of the baby boomer generation seem to be the most concerned with the new health care plan. This is because they have the most to lose; it is why they are defending the status quo so vehemently.
When a friend sent me a link to this video, I thought it might be a little funny, but instead, I ended up feeling sad. The folks are angry, but more than that, they’re extremely uninformed and confused.
I’m not naïve: I know that the video makers “cherry picked” some choice interviews to illustrate their point that the protesters are uneducated. And yes, protests, no matter what the cause, tend to call in all the crazies. Look at any anti-war protest, for example.
But watch the video. Consider some of the things these 9/12 protesters believe.
- That the drug czar – an adviser – is going to be given land and kingly rights.
- That it’s time to “boycott Hollywood, and all the commies.”
- That President’s Obama’s call for an “army of volunteers” is going to be armed with weapons, much like a secret police.
I know my head’s in the clouds, but I wish that economists and doctors on both sides of the debate could sit down and really make a change for the better of the country.
Want to know the latest on health care? Visit the link to the Washington Post article on the left. It outlines Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus’ new health plan – the one that will be heard, debated, and voted on in the Senate soon.
Here are a couple of main points about the Baucus health plan from the article:
- All Americans will be required to carry health insurance.
- Insurance companies may not discriminate against people seeking health insurance based on preexisting conditions or current health status.
- There won’t be an Obama-esq “public option,” per se, but a system of “non-profit cooperatives.” (I’m not sure what that means, yet.)
- People will be able to use the Internet to search for local insurance plans, and to select the health plan they like best.
- Medicaid will be expanded; individual patients will have a limit to their annual health-care costs.
- The Baucus health plan will be paid for with “$349 billion in new taxes and fees and $507 billion in cuts to government health programs.”
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