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George Bailey and Health Care Reform

Submitted by Ken Watts on Fri, 01/08/2010 - 12:44

OVER THE LAST FEW days I've been thinking about George Bailey, and I discovered, this morning, that I was not alone.

Arianna Huffington has launched a web site called Move Your Money, encouraging people to move their funds out of the too-big-to-fail financial institutions into community banks.

The front page of that site is a tribute to It's a Wonderful Life, demonstrating the parallels between our current financial crisis and the battle between the evil Potter and the Bailey savings and loan.

I'm all for the Move Your Money campaign, but I've been musing over a different parallel to the battle between George Bailey and Potter—one related to health care.

You remember what George says to the board after his father's death:

"This town needs this measly one-horse institution if only to have someplace where people can come without crawling to Potter."

That remark contains a remarkable insight into the nature of democracy and freedom.

It makes no difference whether we get to vote or not, if the Potters of the world get to limit our choices.

We have come to the current crisis in health care because wealthy corporations have gained a virtual monopoly on the industry, leaving common people with no other options.

As any economist will tell you, a monopoly means the ability to charge higher prices and the ability to give poorer service.

At the beginning of the struggle to reform health-care many of us wanted a single-payer system.

We wanted the government to take on the responsibility of health care insurance, and take it out of the hands of the Potters in the insurance industry.

President Obama was not interested in that option, probably because he knew that the insurance companies were too-big-to-fight.

He proposed, instead, that we make the free market system work.

And one critical part of that proposal was the equivalent of the Bailey savings and loan—the public option: a choice that allowed us, the common citizens, to vote with our money.

If the insurance industry wouldn't take good care of us, we would have the option to go elsewhere.

It was a free-market solution.

It was a democratic solution.

It was a conservative solution.

Instead of taking health care over, we would simply make sure there was a reasonable level of competition.

But the Republicans were too interested in shooting down anything proposed by a Democrat to notice.

They didn't want to fix health care; they wanted to win the next election.

And, lets face it, they want to do whatever they can to suck up to Potter.

Well, we still have a chance to get a public option.

The final bill should include a choice for the average citizen other than the big insurance corporations.

Progressives in the house have said they won't vote for a bill without one, and they should stand their ground.

Nancy Pelosi should stand with them.

And President Obama should back her.

This country needs a public option if only to have someplace where people can come without having to crawl to the corporate Potters.

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