Senator Lieberman,
I have heard the radio news this evening, stating that you are dealing with the Democrats on Healthcare Reform; they are claiming, sir, that you are "in the bag", so to speak, on this legislation. Please tell me, sir, that you have not sold your fellow Americans, and the future of your country out for a headline or some other governmental trinket.
The American healthcare industry, as it stands, despite some flaws, is without a doubt the best in the world by far; what your fellow drone democrats (and a couple of rather ignorant RINOs) are conspiring to do, contrary to nearly 2/3rds of what Americans want from Congress on healthcare, is nothing short of butchering it, throwing away all the prime cuts, and just leaving the ground beef to be thrown (albeit partitioned evenly) to the freebies-hungry masses.
Sir, I was hoping you were different; the moment when you became an independent candidate, you became one of the strongest voices in government, in stark contrast to the lemmings that follow their party leaders blindly on both sides on every issue. If the news flashes we are hearing tonight are correct, by selling out on this issue, you have cheapened your position, and told the Obama Administration that your price for cooperation in lawmaking is a very inexpensive indeed.
I hope the news is wrong, sir. I am a long-time veteran RN, and I have seen alot; I've seen what has worked, and what has not. I have read the bill, the parts that make any sense at all, in any case, and socialist healthcare is not the way - and has never been the way in any country with multi-economic classes of people, for lack of a better term. In fact, socialist healthcare, in any form, has ranged from a stagnant healthcare mess to a complete healthcare disaster in whatever country, state, and province it has been implemented. Is this the America you want sir? A people that traded in their Constitution and Bill of Rights, only to expect government to give them every free ticket ride that comes down the pike as a perceived right of their citizenship in return (and in some cases, that isn't even required) just to find out 15-20 years down the road that we never had the money to fund these little "projects" like this to begin with. The resulting backlash (as has happened in other countries) could be significant as a result, such as angry mobs of citizens rioting in the streets, calling for their government officials’ heads. Or perhaps the open rebellion could start much earlier, when the average family of four begins to receive bills for the average estimated $8,000.00 increase in yearly cost for their family's healthcare, over and above what their employer will pay for the wasteful "cadillac plan" that is currently being proposed in the bill before Congress.
So, will we go the way of England, who recently stated in an open session of government that they were beyond broken, heavy-burdened under a couple of decades of large socialist programs, with no realistic way of getting out of debt, even in the moderately-distant future?. Is this are only answer to the liberal (or “progressive”, whatever suits them), other than “NO”? I believe there can be healthcare changes, specific laws, such as protecting citizens with pre-existing conditions so they are not forced to go without insurance and possibly be forced into bankruptcy, mandatory (or guaranteed) coverage for catastrophic illness or disease, but done in such a way that will not break the bank of the American society; I believe we might be a better people for this in the long run. But, sir, not this wasteful mess... not an already over-burdened bureaucracy, at the outset, that will strangle the truly great things that American healthcare has to offer. The potential is there for so much to be lost - such as the stifling of healthcare innovations - how can anyone with a clear-thinking brain in their head think that this is the way?
It is up to you, sir. You, and some key colleagues in the House and the Senate, can make a difference here. This is too big a deal to screw up. Really it is. Do not let the fools and the drones win.
Sincerely,
Michael S. Castrova, RN, C