By Dan Barber
We are all under attack in today’s society from small white
lies to big damn ones that can affect our lives in very profound ways.
A major debate that is happening everywhere today is about the
Affordable Care Act.
There are politicians, pundits, official and unofficial proxy
spokespeople, network and cable TV commentators which include broadcast and
print journalists, public relations practitioners, public affairs specialists, and
bloggers delivering many different messages about health care insurance reform,
all with special interest puppeteers pulling the strings on the entire
communications process.
There are those of us, my self included, who will pick and
choose what we hear and want to believe based on our own personal biases, knowledge and need. That is why we must make an objective effort to pay
attention to all sides of an issue that is being debated, and try to understand
the truth so we can make an informed decision.
I read an opinion piece in a leading newspaper recently that
commented about presidents who lie to win. Up front in the piece it mentioned our
current president making a promise in the past that we could keep our current
doctor if we wanted… period. He promised that we could keep our current health
care plan if we wanted… period. Now there seems to be some qualifiers for those
promises the president made… otherwise known as “spin-control.” The author of
the article opined that presidents sometimes justify the need to lie because
they feel it is in the best interest of the people. I also heard a new phrase
that bothers me, “The political lie.” I believe a lie is a lie.
I do wish that health insurance was reformed. Insurance was
originally invented to spread the risk of something bad happening among a group
with a common interest to reduce catastrophic loss to the individual. Now it’s
just a “cash cow” for investors trying to maximize their investment.
One day I had lunch with a Navy physician who worked at the
hospital were I once worked. He said that being in private practice became impossible
for him. His expenses included rent on his offices, expensive medical devices, utilities, consumable supplies,
taxes, and of course insurance… malpractice insurance, workers compensation
insurance, and health insurance for his employees. He said with low ball
payments from some of his patient’s private and government health care insurance plans made it
impossible for him to keep his medical practice going. To be able to use and maintain
his training as a surgeon he gave up his practice and joined the Navy.
I wish that health insurance was made available and affordable
for everyone, and not just to line the deep pockets of insurance companies.
Above all else, I wish we had someone who possessed good
character telling us the truth, so we don’t have to wade through a crowd of
“experts” whose job it is to game the system in favor of their particular
political stance or special interest.
A recent bit of news that concerns me is the organization of
a social media group set up by our current president’s campaign team to further
push his political agenda, which is just another special interest group outside
the confines of the government. This organization does not fall under the
jurisdiction of our constitutionally mandated oversight process for government
activity. Our Constitution was created to protect the American people from “all
enemies, both foreign and domestic,” as stated in the oath that every member of
the military, and federal government employee must take upon enlistment,
commission or hire. Elected officials, including the president must also take this oath.
The fact is political hacks bank on people being uninformed
about important issues and getting their news from social media sites and late-night TV comedians.
I wish that life was simple and truth always easy to spot, unfortunately
it is just a tangled up mess of the puppeteer’s strings.
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