Lobbyists, Teabaggers and Deathers, Oh My!

Lobbyists, Teabaggers and Deathers, Oh My!

So, last night I was watching the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC and she was doing a show on the behind the scenes people in the anti-healthcare movement groups, such as the “Teabaggers” and the “Deathers”. I wish that I could say that I’m shocked, but, I’m not.

Turns out that these so-called “grassroot organizations” are not so grassroot afterall. For instance, the group calling itself the Tea Party Patriots. One of this group’s sponsor’s is the group, Freedom Works, a DC “advocacy group” ran by Dick Armey. No big deal, right? Until you look into Dick Armey’s day job as a policy wonk for DLA Piper, a lobbying firm that worked and works for, you guessed it, Bristol Meyers Squibb, SleepMed (a medical device manufacturer), MetCare and The Medicines Company.

The director of Freedom Works is Richard Stephenson, the founder and chairman of Cancer Treatment Centers of America and president of International Capital and Management Co. (a hospital consulting company).

This group, Freedom Works, sent out packets to their membership on how to disrupt townhall meetings, a how to guide on shouting down any other voices. Now that’s a constructive way to handle a crisis!

The point here, as Ms. Maddow also pointed out, is that yes, these people have a right to have their say in the debate on healthcare. However, this group, Tea Party Patriots, is peddled as a grassroots organization and the last thing they want is debate. It’s dishonest and manipulative. They want to kill debate, with no changes to healthcare at all. And they’re fooling regular people into doing their bidding for them, with misdirection, spin and flat out lies.

Take the “deathers” for instance. These are the people who believe that there is a conspiracy going on in the healthcare bill that will create so called “death panels”. This is a flat out lie and one of the biggest fear tactics out there. The government is not going to kill grandma to save some money. They do however, want you to sit down with your doctor to discuss end of life decisions such as life support and your wishes in regards to that. Do you want to be a vegetable hooked up to machines? Or if you’re dying would you prefer to be at home comfortably with your family? What life saving procedures are ok and which are not? An uncomfortable discussion, yet, one that is necessary so that your family and doctor know your wishes. It’s also known as a Living Will.

Where did this “death panel” idea start? It wasn’t Sarah Palin. It was a woman named Betsy McCaughey, the director of a medical device company, Cantel Medical Corp and former director of medical device company, Genta. She’s also a fellow at the conservative think tank, the Hudson Institute, which is funded by pharmaceutical giants, Eli Lilly, Merk, American Cyanamid, Novartis and PhRma. She not only started the lie, she continues to spread it, as well as a host of other lies.

Now, it’s not the insurance companies, drug companies, and hospital’s fault that our healthcare system is in the mess that it is. They are for profit companies. Their goal isn’t taking care of their clients, their job is to are make money. It’s like the frog and the scorpion story, where upon arriving at the other side of the river, the scorpion stings the frog after telling him the he wouldn’t. “I’m a scorpion, that’s what we do!” That’s what insurance companies do and do it well…in 2009, the top 5 earned a record 12.2 billion dollar profit last year. That’s an increase of 56% over the previous year and a whopping 250% since 2000! How? They dropped 2.7 million people off of their insurance roles. Now the companies are increasing their premiums by double digits, decreasing coverage, and increasing co-pays, which will essentially price millions more out of their healthcare, while increasing profits once more. “I’m a scorpion, that’s what we do!”

Now, I’m not against capitalism, but, not everything should be “for profit”. Especially when it comes to ones life and health. There’s a lot of misinformation out there and the legislation that is proposed is NOT a government takeover of healthcare. It IS an alternative to these companies, at least if there’s a public option.

I know that many hear about this public option but, most don’t understand what it is. The public option is a choice to opt in to the government healthcare plan if you choose to do so. This creates competition. If you had the choice to pay a lower premium for the same coverage you get from a private company, you could. You don’t HAVE to sign up for the government healthcare,. If you find yourself unable to afford the premiums at your current insurance company, you could opt in to the government plan. The key here…It’s your CHOICE!

Next blog…the politicians.