Getting serious about the economy
By Michael R. Huckleberry
Midland Daily News
10/30/2005
The recent announcement regarding General Motors plan to cut back on health care came as no surprise. The only thing America seems to “win” lately is the “race to the bottom.” Didn’t anyone realize that when “big business” started to outsource our jobs to countries that pay workers so little they cannot buy the products they make this would be inevitable? Big business has not created a trading partner that would bolster our own economy … they turned the “American Dream into the American Nightmare.”
As a small business owner I have no problem understanding that people need good paying jobs with benefits to support their families, small business, and of course, this nation. It is my hope that as we “win this race to the bottom” that my “brothers and sisters” in the business world realize what is happening to them and it isn’t good.
Corporate greed has put our entire nation in danger, and now it is starting to catch up with some of the “big businesses” that helped lead us to this dire situation. We, as a nation of entrepreneurs, skilled laborers, farmers and middle management, are being punished for leading the world in building a strong middle class. Trade agreement that only benefit a few and do not build profitable trade partners will only hasten our “race to the bottom”
There may be a solution to this free fall. First we must vote out of office those who have supported these trade agreements. They are like “Economic Suicide” and our legislators know this! They either have investments in companies that outsource, or they receive large contributions from them, or both.
Second, it is time to get serious about “single payer health insurance”. We simply cannot continue to be in denial about our current health care system. It is a national disgrace. This country has over 45 million people with no health care insurance. High insurance rates are crippling our employers, making it difficult to compete in the current global economy. Of 19 industrialized nations America is the only one without a single payer health care system. It is reported that about 18,000 people died last year in America because they had no insurance. That makes it a moral issue as well. Health savings accounts, and AHP’s and other “gimmicks” that are being promoted by some legislators don’t cut it. Some are being promoted because, once again, of heavy contributions and stock ownership. Who is against single payer health insurance? … insurance companies, drug companies, politicians who benefit, and the extreme right who scream “socialized medicine”.
We are not talking about socialized medicine, we are talking about saving America with an insurance program that is fully funded. The “far right” fought us every step of the way when we wanted Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. When we finally got them, we shared them with everyone. I am sure someone in your family has benefited from these insurance programs. These programs have kept us from having a third world standard of living, and they work well when properly managed and funded.
This new prescription section of the Medicare bill that the “far right” has imposed on us has no provision to pay for it and no provision to negotiate for lower drug prices. That is socialized medicine, and more debt for our nation. Who’s tax dollars are they looking out for?
I believe that “single payer health insurance” is the number one way to kick start our economy.
We must act now, as our nation’s future depends on it.
Michael R. Huckleberryis a candidate for 4th District U.S. House. He lives in Greenville.