Stop listening already

All August I watched a heavily financed and coordinated effort to stop health care reform. The Republican Party does not have any interest in health care reform. This is obvious. These so-called representatives are tools of the profit-driven health industry. If the status quo didn't have any stake in the issues they wouldn't be spending hundred of millions of dollars to influence the outcome.

To those who think the government has no role in health care, I wonder if they use the post office, the library, drive on paved streets, have their garbage picked up by the city, take public transportation, or are on Medicare/Medicaid. These are all subsized by tax dollars, and personally, I would prefer to have shared ownership rather than pay a private company who may deny me or charge me more than I can afford.

It is not a reasonable debate that we have been having. Republicans such as Inhofe, Grassley and Enzi have excellent health care, the same health care they are bashing at town hall meetings while feeding into fringe fears that Obama's plan is a stepping stone to socialized medicine.

Really, the health care industry is not going to collapse because there is a public option. The health care industry simply doesn't want competition. Let's be honest, they don't even want regulation. These corporations answer to shareholders who answer to Wall Street. And to be most profitable the health care industry already rations health services.

If socialized medicine means that everyone has access, then I'm all for it. I happen to have an excellent health care (thanks to Oregon), and I would hope that everyone has the same. Our society benefits as a whole when we are all healthier.

As for the crazies who are all ginned up on fear of socialized medicine, who think that the government is trying to put people to death, etc. — I really can't take any of it seriously. The truth is the Republican Party ran the country into the ground for eight years, and now they are obstructing any change of the status quo.

Obama doesn't need to compromise with the crazies. A vast majority of this country supports health care reform, and I predict the real losers during the next election will be those who vote for the lobbyists.