Article by Guest Blogger BobbiV

I am hearing so much debate about the health care reform bill and there is so much misinformation out there that its no wonder people don’t know what is going on, including myself.  Certainly, our laughable press hasn’t informed us.  They are too busy tracking down any and all gossip or dissent on Capitol Hill.  That is, when they aren’t shilling for the corporations that own their networks or newspapers as well as the reporters souls.

I set about trying to get the real scoop on health care legislation and felt as if I had suddenly stepped behind Alice’s Looking Glass.  So I decided to try to just eliminate what I knew was untrue.

First, anything that any Republican member of the Senate or the House has said or will say is just bull plop.  This extends to their spokespeople, pundits and most members of their party, especially the elected ones.

Second, anything said on Fox is more bull plop.  This extends to their teabagger, birther and wingnut followers as well.

Third, a lot of what the Conservative Blue Dog Democrats say is also bull plop.  This does not seem to extend beyond their nasty and selfish little caucus.

Fourth, President Obama, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid and the rest of the Democratic leadership seems to be telling us the truth.

For all the purists out there that wanted a straight forward single-payer plan like Medicare, we are not going to get it.  I hate this as much as the rest of you, but we are just going to have to suck it up and get all that we can, then after the plan is up and working we can go back and tweak it, just like we did with the original Medicare bill.  We are now on Medicare Part D and in a year or so we will be getting Health Care Reform Part B, then C, and so on.

We are  going to get a lot of reform in this bill and that is a good thing.  Of course, the exact details of that reform will not be known until the bill goes through all the amendments, votes, etc.  I personally think we will come out with one giant leap in the right direction and a lot of lives will be saved or improved because of this legislation.

We would all do well to remember that you never get it all in the first go around and if you insist on getting all you want, you will lose.  As an example, the disabled were not covered under Social Security on the original bill and if purists would have insisted on it the nation would have waited a long time for Social Security to be made law.  Then they would have still had to wait to cover the disabled.  So all purists do in the end is serve the cause of those who wish to delay.

I am not saying not to bug the Bejesus out of your Representatives and Senators.  Keep their feet to the fire and definitely watch what they are doing.  I am saying not to screw up progress by being obstinate to the extreme about what you want.

For those of you that think President Obama hasn’t done much on health care reform, I am including the following list of the organizations that have signed on to back health care reform.  Obama has been meeting and talking as well as talking and meeting to get people on board since he took office.  Please understand, in Washington DC just like in all politics, its what goes on behind the scenes that brings progress.

Here is the list:

AARP                                                                                                      
Advocates for Youth
AFL-CIO
AFSCME
Alliance for Children and Families
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
American Association of Pastoral Counselors
American Art Therapy Association
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Physicians
American College of Surgeons
American Counseling Association
American Group Psychotherapy Association
American Medical Student Association
American Mental Health Counselors Association
American Nurses Association
American Osteopathic Association
American Psychiatric Nurses Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
American Psychotherapy Association
American Public Health Association
Anxiety Disorders Association of America
Arc of the United States
Association for the Advancement of Psychology
Association for Ambulatory Behavioral Healthcare
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
Association of American Medical Colleges
Black Youth Vote
California Rural Indian Health Board (CRIHB)
Campus Progress
Center for Clinical Social Work/ABE
Center for Community Change
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Child Welfare League of America
Choice USA
Clinical Social Work Association
Clinical Social Work Guild 49, OPEIU
Consumers Union
Corporation for Supportive Housing
CWA
Demos
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance
Doctors for America
Easter Seals
Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy & Action
Families USA
Family Voices
Federation of American Hospitals
Forward Montana
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Generational Alliance
Health Access California
Health Care for America NOW
Health Care for America NOW – Southern Oregon Coalition
Main Street Alliance
Mental Health America
NAACP
National Alliance on Mental Illness
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders-ANAD
National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
National Association of Mental Health Planning and Advisory Councils
National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
National Association of Social Workers
National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors
National Breast Cancer Coalition
National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
National Disability Rights Network
National Education Association (NEA)
National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health
National Foundation for Mental Health
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Spinal Cord Injury Association
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Rock the Vote
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Small Business Majority
Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, a Division of AFSP
Tourette Syndrome Association, Inc,
UAW
United Cerebral Palsy
United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
United Neighborhood Centers of America
United Spinal Association
USAction
U.S. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG)
U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce
Virginia Organizing Project
Voto Latino
Washington Community Action Network
Witness Justice
Young Democrats of America
Young Invincibles
18 in ‘08