The Triangle

Issue date: 9/18/09 Section: Ed-Op

With the Democrats becoming more and more united, conservatives remain unaltered in their stance. Their shock-jock, de facto leader Rush Limbaugh, arguably the scariest person in America, has called Obama's plan "the gigantic national socialization of medicine bill." Ignoring the fact that socializing medicine is not inherently bad for this country, bipartisanship would require Obama to appease a man like this. The Republican Party has once again proven itself as the party of fear, most notably with Sarah Palin's claim that this plan will "kill (her) Down syndrome baby." My own friend asked me last week if I'd heard about the bill Obama is trying to pass that will allow two-year-olds to be aborted. With Republicans spreading outlandish absurdities like these, bipartisanship fell out the window long ago, broke both its legs and couldn't even afford the medical bills.

An unbiased truth is that insurance companies are outlandishly successful at what they do. They are notorious for denying people coverage, no matter the level of their needs. In California alone during the past seven years, 31.2 million claims for healthcare were denied the care that they needed. Insurance companies arbitrarily increase premiums on baseless claims. Since 2002, major health insurance companies' profits have risen 428 percent. It seems as though our health-insurance industry has become for profit only and immorally so. Men and women simply cannot afford the care that they need with such gigantic corporations standing in between them and their doctors.

It is time Obama took advantage of the position he so rightfully earned, with the vision he so rightfully holds. The U.S. is the only industrialized nation in the world which does not guarantee necessary healthcare to its citizens. In America, it is backwards and pathetic that getting the care one needs for illness could cause bankruptcy.

A public option needs to be on the table for Americans who simply cannot afford the skyrocketing prices of private insurers. Although Republicans want this off the table, Obama must stand strong in his attempts to get it passed. Bipartisanship would only hinder the work that all Democrats have done within the past few years. Eliminating the public option plan would upset the 256 seats in Congress that Democrats hold and only perpetuate outdated beliefs about healthcare which hurt the populace of this country and allow us to appear painfully outdated to the rest of the world.

Bridget Gawinowicz is a sophomore majoring in political science. She can be reached at oped@thetriangle.edu

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