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As people of Faith — the faith of Jesus Christ (which cares about the “least of these”) — celebrate a “first step” in the long march towards medical care for the poor and for those who can least afford it, I ask you to think on these two lessons we can learn from the passage of this historic bill.
First, consider the lessons learned from the words of the “Truthout” editorial about what the historic vote in Congress means.
Truthout says:
“Today, we woke up to a new reality. For the first time in years, Congress – in its deeply flawed and frustrating way – passed a bill that just might begin to change our society for the better. The passage of the health care bill signifies that, finally, even inside the beltway bubble, trickle-down economics is no longer the go-to theory. No longer can the wealthy and powerful hide behind the dogma that put the rich in charge of our government and left the rest of us the scraps that fell from their feasting table.
The 43,000 Americans who die annually due to lack of access to health care may now have a chance to obtain coverage. We still have a long, long way to go on health reform, but this legislation marks a significant step.
What did we learn from this slog? We learned that raising the prospect of real change in this country often sparks racism, bigotry and hate. We learned that corporate sycophants will lie, obstruct and fear-monger until their final breath. We learned that our fight for progressive change in this country is going to continue to be extremely difficult and heart wrenching.”
That is the first set of major lessons learned from the passage of the Bill. Now! Consider this!
The public option for the poor that was originally in the Health Care Bill (and a part of the Obama Presidential Campaign pledge) was sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and political compromise. To get the bill passed by a wealthy Congress, the poor had to be passed over (once again) by the rich who make the laws and whose policies make the poor POOR!
It is our hope that as we work to make change REAL and bring about a change poor people can believe in, subsequent tweaking of the Health Care Bill will bring the public option back to the table and incorporate it into future amendments and renderings of the bill so that we can continue the process of becoming one Nation, under God, “with liberty and JUSTICE for ALL!”
When the poor get included in the “all” those words we teach our children can become more of a reality in this country (and less of a meaningless slogan used by the citizens of this country).
We celebrate a partial victory for the uninsured in this country; but as we work to get medical care for the poor (who were also left off of the Presidential Candidates’ radar screens), we remember the haunting words of Jesus: “In as much as you have done it unto the LEAST OF THESE….you have done it unto me.