So I was reading news again today. It was fairly depressing, which is not too unusual unfortunately. But I saw this article on the Huffington Post and was inspired to write one of my periodical letters to the White House. I know the President never actually sees anything I write, but I figure someone adds up the numbers of supporters and/or commenters about various things, so I can at least make my opinion known.

Then I thought, well, I can also let my opinion be known other places, so here is my latest missive to the man in the Oval Office.

I see in the news today that Press Secretary Gibbs said that it looks like Senator Enzi has given up on bipartisan healthcare reform and walked away from the table. I believe this statement is incorrect. In order to give up on something, you first have to want it to happen. It has been apparent since July that very few Republicans in office have any desire for healthcare reform to happen, especially in a bipartisan manner, so they can hardly give up on that now.

Gibbs also says, “”It looks like Republicans are stepping away from seeking a bipartisan solution. It is bad for this town but it’s worse for this country.” Again, this in not correct. While it would be better for everyone in Congress to work together to make the best bill possible, that is not what has been happening. They have been using the cover of bipartisanship to do their best to delay and stop any kind of reform from happening. If that cover is finally wearing thin and falling away, then that is very good for the country. Now you just need to corral the cats (i.e. Congressional Democrats and moderate Republicans like the 2 ladies from Maine) and pass a bill that really is good for the country.

A single-payer system like Canada’s may be out of reach, but the HELP committee’s bill looks pretty solid to a layman, and is at least a good starting point. Republican’s want to force the responsibility for reform on the Democrats? Well they did that 40 years ago with Medicare and that seems to be pretty popular these days. I say the Democrats should say thank you and get on with passing it.

Well, the news of the day seems to be about the current attempts to get healthcare reform through Congress. Not surprising, it affects pretty much everyone in the country to some extent, which means all the news channels know they have an audience. And there are those doing everything they can to bring even more attention to it, using any method they can think of.

I have no problem with people wanting express their views to their representatives in Congress. That is one of the most basic foundations of how our system works, and it is necessary to truly have a government by and for the people. No matter how much I agree or disagree with someone’s views about something, they have every right to express them, especially to the government. And I think the proverbial town hall meeting is a great way to do just that.

Unfortunately, there are those that seem to think that matters of how our government works should not be determined by looking at all options and working out what is best. Instead of coming up with better ideas, they want to pack the town halls and prevent others from disagreeing with them. If this succeeds, they can make it look like their position is in fact the overwhelming majority, no matter how big it really is or isn’t.

Rachel Maddow had an excellent segment on it last night:

It is a rather long segment, but has some excellent points.

There are also the people out there that are being less then honest about the current healthcare bills in Congress. There is apparently one of the ubiqitous emails floating around full of many of the lies being spread. It has been effectively refuted by Polifact.com but of course, those spreading the lies discount that, after all the words of the bill mean what they want them to mean, not what is actually written. Always an effective debating technique, change the meaning of the words.

One of the biggest lies and scare tactics showing up in the various ads and news stories is how horrible the Canadian single-payer system is. Of course, the vast majority of Canadians do not think so, and they even have real facts (as opposed to the “facts” reported on most US news) to back up their support for their system.

So if reforming healthcare is supported by most Americans, and the actual facts about the bills and how the reforms would impact our lives and economy are so favorable, why is it so hard to get the changes made? I am afraid that the answer to that can best be explained by Keith Olberman, on his #1 story last night, a Special Comment on healthcare.

And that is the real crisis facing our healthcare system. The outright purchase of the Senators and Representatives that should be taking care of the people in their states and districts, not the corporations that give them the most money. One Senator, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, has even pretty much admitted this is true in a phone call to one of his constituents. He is all for a public plan, which he says will be better for the public, as long as it doesn’t hurt the profits of the insurance companies. He seems to have forgotten why he is supposed to be there.