Robert Reich's Health Care Warning
Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration, spoke candidly about health care at UC Berkeley on October 26, 2007. In this video he reveals what an honest politician would say, but doesn't for fear of not winning an election.
In part:
"... [W]hat I'm going to do is I am going to try to reorganize [the American health care system] to be more amenable to treating sick people. But that means you -- particularly you young people, particularly you young healthy people -- you're going to have to pay more. And by the way, we are going to have to, if you're very old, we're not going to give you all that technology and all those drugs for the last couple of years of your life to keep you maybe going for another couple of months. It's too expensive. So we're going to let you die. Also, I'm going to use the bargaining leverage of the federal government in terms of Medicare, Medicaid... to force drug companies and insurance companies and medical suppliers to reduce their costs. But that means less innovation, and that means less new products and less new drugs on the market, which means you, are probably not going to live that much longer than your parents."
Reich must not be dismissed as some lone nut-job. This article explains that "Obama's top health care advisor, Ezekiel Emanuel, advocates denying care to the elderly and disabled."
The bone-chilling laughter and applause throughout Reich's remarks should wake up even the most complacent amongst us; those who are either passively waiting for ObamaCare to self-destruct or hoping that service will improve and the less popular provisions will be reversed. Now is the time to conduct an all-out offensive against the relentless misleading rhetoric that is typified by President Obama's new messaging push.
Saul Alinksy wrote in Rules for Radicals: "It is only when the other party is concerned or feels threatened that he will listen -- in the arena of action, a threat or a crisis becomes almost a precondition to communication." Perhaps that's why Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former Chief of Staff, recently said that the 1st Amendment is overrated. As a follower of Alinksy, he realizes the power that has been placed at the feet of conservatives.
Don't let the Obamacare crisis go to waste.
Jeanne C Minton is a retired financial executive and the author of Second Nature.