President Obama and the Members of the United States Congress,
Please save the eloquent speeches for those in your own small choir. Please do not continue to insult the intelligence of your fellow citizens. No matter how you all try to dress it up, you have sold us, and the hope of having affordable and accessible health care, down the road. That Dennis Kucinich and his request for a single payer, cover everyone, plan was not the plan considered shows that the true color of the Democratic and Republican parties is GREEN. Sorry, no offense meant to the “green party.”No history has been made. No matter how many times you repeat it to try and make this fallacy a fact. We now have a piece of legislation that is a gift to the insurance and pharmaceutical companies and to the Right to Life lobby. As a female citizen, I may be required to buy health insurance, the quality of which there has been no guarantee. What this bill does guarantee is to restrict my right to oversee my own body, my reproductive rights, my ability to decide just how I want to manage my health and wellbeing. This restriction will extend to every female in our country, save the wealthy because their expensive private insurance will not be affected.
Though if their doctor or nurse takes a stand based on their own conscience, they may not be able to get service either. This move is tantamount to taxation without representation. If a government believes and institutes laws that restrict our control over our own bodies and lives then our constitutional right to vote and be a full citizen has been nullified. The idea that a free and democratic government has the right to control the reproductive status of its female population – is no free and democratic government. For any religious organization to manipulate our government’s legislative proceedings is a violation, in letter and intent, of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.
If we truly want to make history, then Congress needs to turn over this decision process to the people – you need to hear our voices and not just in staged town halls. I venture to wage that almost 100 percent of Congress and the executive branch are very wealthy people. None of you have the slightest idea of just how broken our health care system is. You have now and have had excellent coverage – that which your money can buy. You want creative and real solutions? Then bring people to the table that have had to figure out how to squeeze every last dime to make ends meet to pay for their healthcare and housing and food and education and transportation and savings and retirement. The wealthy think they can just throw more money or more warfare to solve a problem. Send in the proletariat to fight our wars, serve our food and pump our gas.
The “free market” politicians and citizens alike throw that phrase around like it held the same physical property as gravity. As if the hundreds of thousands of our countrymen that have served or died in war did so to save the “free market” as opposed to the freedom of speech. Those that espouse that the free market takes precedence over compassion for your fellow countrymen – fine keep singing your song, but please do not make the rest of us listen to your “family values” speak any longer. Because you don’t treat your family very well.
Most Sincerely,
Tracy Miller, Bend
This article appears in Dec 31, 2009 – Jan 6, 2010.
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Wow, that rant had more loaded sentences and falacies than nearly anything I’ve read previously. Yikes!
Hi Studley! Welcome to Bend. Seriously, I can tell you’re gonna’ fit right in. Why, I bet you drive a jacked-up de-engineered suburban assault vehicle with the hood icon a perfect rendition of the human female reproductive system. Drink Pabst Blue Ribbon ‘beer’.
As a woman and speaking only about a womans rites, I would like my rights considered as well. That is the right to “not pay for another womans abotion”.
Both my husband and I never liked Obama and so we both actually voted republican this year. My husband is a registered Democrat and I am a registered Independent so I guess that might tell you something. We think that Obama promised much more then he could deliver and he knew he was doing that. While our health care system does need reforming desperately it still needs a lot more discussion then has been done on it and I want to know what is in that bill before it becomes law. Prove to me how it is going to benefit everyone. We are both against abortion so we do want that kept out of the bill for sure. Yes, we have a “handicaped” son whom we could have aborted but we are very glad we never believed in that option; he has proven to be the joy of our lives. As an old acquaintance of mine once told me “he is not handicaped, he is handi-capable” and she was so right. Obama has made a lot of promises that he should not have worded that way. He should have said something like he would try to do various things and not promised that he would get them accomplished because that is not always possible. Then of course he would have had a lot more support from others then he has now. It is not always possible for any president to get all of his goals accomplished but he sure can work on them. I think he meant well but just cannot deliver on his promises as it was to much to soon.
Wow ! Tracy drank ALL the Cool Aid
Ms Miller wrote “What this bill does guarantee is to restrict my right to oversee my own body, my reproductive rights, my ability to decide just how I want to manage my health and wellbeing.” That is an outright lie. The bill does not restrict anyones body, nor make abortion illegal. It simply means that abortion will not be paid for by the tax payer.
Obama has been in office for less than a year and things are already looking up. He promised to bring troops out of Iraq and he has. If Bush would have stayed in Afghanistan and taken care of business instead of invading a country to avenge his Dad and that was no threat to us we could be out of Afganistan too. McCain promised to have the deficit paid off in 4 years, oh really? Now that was a promise nobody could keep. All politicians exaggerate their goals. What did Bush ever do to make our country better?
In response to A realist comments, the withdrawl from Iraq has been underway, and on schedule, since long before anyone ever heard of Obama, due to the the previous administrations plans. Obama did nothing to bring any troops home from Iraq. How can you give him credit for this? With regards to your childish comment that President Bush single handedly caused the invasion of Iraq, I might remind you the President of our wonderful country has no such power, that power lies within congress. That he did it to “avenge” his father? Simply ridiculous. The gulf war was a great victory for our country, and the people of Kuwait, and we accomplished all the goals set forth by the coalition. You think things are looking up? I suppose if you’re a senior evecutive for GM things are looking up! I hope they spent their bonus money on merchandise made in america!
Ist, I wish everyone would take the time to review their statements for clarity and completeness. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell what side of an issue you are on.
Ever try a new paragraph when you start a new subject?
Everyone is screaming about Obama. He’s not the problem. He isn’t doing anything. And I mean that literally. It’s the CONGRESS that we need to be screaming about. They ALL have to go this year! Both parties. THEY ARE ALL FIRED!!! And the next bunch had better have US in mind, because their terms will be limited.
I too have a bone to pick with those who doubt the successes of the Bush Presidency. While history may indeed note turning a trillion dollar budget surplus into a trillion dollar deficit, two disastrously failed wars built on lies and of no practical value what-so-ever to Oregon, and in its closing days the looting of the treasury to ‘bailout’ the multi-national bankers and insururers as The Worst Presidency EVER, make no mistake: The Cheney Administration accomplished everything it set out to.
In response to Thomas Ware’s comments. My input in no way judged the success or failure of the previous administration. As a patriot, I want what is best for our country, and for all of us, despite our differences, be they politics, race, or religion. Any administration will be judged as it is percieved, and we all percieve the world in our own way, some closer, some further apart in our opinions. I’m curious about your comment on the “trillion dollar surplus”. Is that what Bush inherited from Clinton? If so, why didn’t Clinton pay off the national deficit with this surplus? All economic indicators during the last year of the Clinton administration pointed towards a receding economy, especially during the last two quarters of 1999. The first terrorist attack on the world trade centers had occurred in 1993, and failed, and a second was already in play, with all the principles in place, ready to attack, when Bush was sworn in. Is there any doubt in anyones mind that the attack on 9-11-01 has been a deciding factor in the recession? If Clinton had taken a stronger stance on national security, using this “trillion dollar surplus” you speak of, could we have prevented 9-11? I wish we could have. As to your comments on “two failed wars”, that reeks of a personal opinion. My opinion is that if we stuck to the facts, and kept our personalities out of it, we would all be better off, and our country better governed. Under any administration. As to the practical value it brought Oregon? How does that factor? The United States is a REPUBLIC. ONE NATION. Oregon is not seperate. We do not stand alone. You want my opinion? Obama was elected because he made his appeal to the weak, lazy, easily manipulated segment of our society. Unfortunate for the strong, hard working, tough minded individuals,who used to make up the majority of our country. Who seem to be in the minority now!
I admire Tracy Miller for her impassioned letter and I find nothing in it to disagree with. The “Health Overhaul” failed – the US healthcare system managed to hold on to its position as 37th best in the world despite being the most expensive. This will get worse … the Supreme Court will be reviewing a case brought by Corporations so they can “donate” (i.e. bribe) unlimited money to campaigns.
The Enlightened… I’ve read it three times now and I still can’t find any fallacies or “loaded sentences”
Mr Ware… you left out, as THE number 1 achievement of the Bush Junta, the historical concentration of 95% of the nation’s wealth in the hands of the top 2%. Even Monarchies can’t achieve this.
And Ed…. I really HATE my tax money being wasted on executions and silly wars and enormous subsidies to argibusiness – why can’t I have an exemption too?
D’Mo: the “kool aid” joke is sooooooo 80’s. That all you got?
And “study”… study more.
What a load of far left crap. You know, you far-lefters don’t seem to realize how bad this is gonna get, but if you keep acting all fickle about Obama, the far-right is gonna seize that fickleness and run with it, all the way to Sarah Palin becoming president in 2012. So yes, if you enjoyed the drowning cities, economic disaster, trillions flushed in an unjustified war, skyrocketing national debt, worst-terrorist-attack-ever-to-slip-by-the-men-on-watch, torture, outed U.S. spies, and not to mention the original stolen election of George W. Bush…if you enjoyed all that plus the simple fact of having a president who did absolutely f— all when he was supposed to be working…if you enjoyed that then just keep on dissing Obama and you’ll get your president Palin. This health care bill was all the Democrats could muster because this country has a wrongfully privileged minority who do nothing but whine and piss and b—- and moan and scream and yell and throw tantrums any time anything remotely progressive is suggested. To think that this is what it’ll be like, after hatching neo-cons with Reagan and Falwell and blossoming neo-cons with Limbaugh and Hannity and O’Reilly, and fully growing neo-cons with George W. Bush and Sarah Palin, this is going to be what it’s like around the U.S. forever now, just shrill and strident and constant yelling. IMAGINE! We’re just going to have this TOXIC minority who are going to sit and pout and dig in their heels and do nothing to help anyone and aren’t gonna ever shut the f— up until they’ve made this country a meritocracy, and brought everything crashing down in the Apocalypse they so fondly pine for in their mega-prosperity churches. Shudder.
You democrats voted in Obama thinking he would be different, face it a politician is a politician, they vote for the rich and blindside everyone else. The Grand Khalif Obama will not make the laws fair as how you wanted and he will continue to lie and do what politicians do, support big oil, support more wars and claim to be a man of the people. Obama is a man of the rich like Clinton, and both Bushes. What we need is more Tea Parties directed our Governor and the job killing taxes. Maybe we need a new political party called “By the People for the People”
Tracy you reflect that rapidly shrinking part of our society ( the left) that thinks the answer to all things is more government and bigger social programs that by their very nature or fraught with corruption and massive waste with those at the top beholding to all manner of special interests! All you have to do is pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV and about once a day you will find a story about it! 10 years ago government spending represented about 19% of our GDP. Today its approaching 30%! The United States is broke and those in Congress or too stupid to know it. Do you know what our current and future financial obligations add up to? Can you say 100 TRILLION! The Answer: Put our financial house in order!
Sorry, but the government trying to effectively manage one sixth of our economy is not!!
Please use some restraint and refrain from engaging your Caps Lock function, folks. We can all hear you fine in the standard English. Caps Locks typers, however, will have their comments removed.
thank you eric. i can just hear them screaming as they are typing away with red ears and a pulse around 160. we are all passionate about our views, do some people think just because others dont engage in online SCREAMING!!! that they feel any less engaged?
i always picture these guys (yes, they pretty much always are) ranting and raving to their poor wives, clubbing them over the head with their ongoing belch of anger and self righteous indignation.
You talk about women’s rights, but what about my rights as a woman to respect my body enough to plan my pregnancies within a relationship. I do not endorse abortion as birth control. It should be an only medically necessary procedure to save a mother. I do not want to pay for another’s bad decision. Reform insurance coveraage if needed, but don’t bankrupt the country.
Pardon the cap lock. It was not meant to be as much angry as to emphasize the vastness of the number. You’ll note that the opening opinion contains a cap lock, and is obviously angry in its tone. And to greg o, your the one appearing angry, full of stereotypical pictures running around in your head. There are as many female opinions as male opinions just as passionately delivered on this subject, including that of Tracy Miller! Do you have an opinion on healthcare? Thats the topic!
Maybe the color should be yellow instead of green. Time for a strong third party in this country. Maybe the other two will wake up and smell the coffee.