Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Opposition to HR 3590 is Not Only Drawn Down Partisan Lines

by spiderlegs

OK, I'm getting pretty sick of the lazy classification of all opposition to the Health Care Reform Bill as strictly Right WIngers and Tea Baggers. Many, many Progressives are against the bill, and many left leaning independents who bailed on the Corporatist Democratic Party in the past for being puppets of the corporate power structure like their Republican counterparts are.

I oppose this bill not because of bullshit rhetoric like "socialist" or any other reactionary extreme term meant solely to provoke an emotional reaction.

See, I've read the bill. I've seen all the little loopholes in it that basically water down or even reverse its so called "reform" measures. In fact, I was angered to see that this bill actually does even more for the corporate health insurance providers than the existing system. There are so many corporate perks, you sit there wondering why they didn't do a better job of trying to hide them. The answer being of course, "no one's gonna read the damn thing!"

I severed my ties with the Democratic Party a decade ago--basically after the capitulation of 2000. I still have argued for their side in certain debates--mainly against the war in Iraq, and many other George W. Bush policy blunders. But once away from the Dems, it became easy to see they were just as controlled by the corporations as the Republicans are, except the GOP doesn't try and hide it. They make it plainly clear that their mouths are on the phalli of the corporations, and they swallow, too.

But the Democrats have always tried to hide it, tried to make it seem like they were the party of the people, when they are the party for the lawyers and investment bankers. In truth, both parties try and put up this front like they are so diametrically opposed to each other, that it's funny to watch them go through their acts.

But they have the same bosses. They legislate with the same end results and bottom lines. That's why this health care bill is a corporate blow job with a reach around. And anyone who says it's good for the people is spouting talking points without having read it, or they favor corporate rule, I guess.

But please understand, oh readers, that opposition to the bill is not just from conservatives, tea baggers, Republicans, and the like. Progressives, Libertarians, Green Party members, Independents, and here's the funniest part: Socialists are against this bill. I have two friends who claim membership to the Socialist Party, and both of them hate the bill, too. There is very little in it that can be considered socialist, and no more socialist than the post office or education system.

The merging of corporate and government administration is more accurately termed fascist, but the Tea Baggers latched on to "Socialist" because it's "scary." Thinking they could hearken back to McCarthyism days, they tried to pull another "red scare" that wasn't necessary: the bill on its own is scary enough. Any form of corporate control is scary because corporations are much more evil and corrupt than almost any government. There's a saying that if you left a corporation under a jar left to go about its business without intervention, when you came back after a time, you'd find 12 really fat people sitting around a table with mouths open like baby birds. See, they had eaten everything (consumed all the resources), were still hungry (still greedy for more profits), and now they're begging for more food (asking the govt for a bailout).

It is my opinion that the corporate way of administration is inherently corrupt. It bastardizes the concept of free market capitalism to the point where corruption and greed are its dominant characteristics, and will always work their way to the forefront and control every aspect of life. Those who work for the corporation have rights under the constitution, but that wasn't enough: they wanted extra rights. So not only did those individuals employed by the corporation have rights, they coerced the courts into giving them even more rights which superceded those of individuals, making the corporate entity infinitely more powerful and influential than the individual. And thus, the beginning of the end of the United States of America.

The end came last January with the SCOTUS Citizens United decision giving the corporations the right to buy political candidates, and influence the legislature with their huge sums of money. Starting this November, there will never be a candidate elected who is not affiliated with corporate interests. Not that there are many now, but they no longer have to pretend.

And then came HR 3590, the corporate health care reform (not!) bill that was written by health care industry lobbyists, serving the interests of the health insurance providers and pharmaceutical corps while the politicians assumed their age old roles of good cop/bad cop, with the Republicans pretending to be outraged by this turn to communism, worse than Communist Russia said one idiot congressman from Texas. This is for our benefit, 'we the people.' The show where the Democrats pretend the bill is for us, and the Republicans pretend to argue in our interest against it, when both sides know how much it benefits their corporate masters and their shareholders when the mandate kicks in. Such theater, and so many of us, the people, are convinced it's real life, that we get caught up in it. And we argue for it or against it, not knowing really what it says or who it favors, really. We watch our legislators, we mimic them "baby killer! baby killer!" and we settle down in our partisan divisions, blindly following someone else's lead.

I say "we" but I don't mean "we." For once, I actually educated myself on a supremely controversial issue, and once I learned how badly in favor of corporate interests this bill was geared to the expense of those who need health care reform (all of us), I had to side with those who believed the bill is a communist plot--not because that's what I believe, but because they were the only ones opposing it vociferously. I heard the voices of other progressives, independents, and those not affiliated with the "right" I listed earlier, join mine in opposition to the bill, but so few noticed that we somehow got lumped in as right wing nut jobs. Those of you who know me personally know that calling me a right wing nut job is probably the most hilarious thing ever. And even though I'm not a Democrat, only a few of my economic views-- a handful of them, to be true--even approach conservative, and they are more along the lines of Goldwater than Reagan or the neocons.

And let me say that even though we lost, and the world's worst health care reform bill was signed into law yesterday, it was a pleasure aligning temporarily with you right wingers for this cause. I think I learned that we as Americans have more in common with each other than the differences we have which we let destroy our unity as a nation. We can come together if we're all willing to listen to each other, and not put personalities and ego ahead of what's best for the country. Philosophically, I've always downplayed bi-partisanship as a gimmick to make legislators look appealing to the common man. But the enemy of my enemy...prevails just fine. If I can be an example of just one thing, it's that all of you people who consider yourselves Republicans or Democrats are being played, lied to, and manipulated for your support. Your parties are the property, employees of, and tools of the corporate ownership of this country, more aptly named the Corporate States of America. Because the only way in which we are united anymore, is that we have the same boss. We are owned by corporate America, the banks, the health industry (pharma, insurance, etc), the food processors, the mainstream media outlets, the telecom corporations who help the NSA spy on us, oil companies, retail chains, and fast food corps. And that's due directly to the Republicans and Democrats, guaranteeing corporate rule for as long as they exist.

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