Health Care Speech and Debate
I, like millions of others watched President Obama give his health care speech on Wednesday September 9. I am generally a supporter of the president and think he is a marvelous public speaker, as he was on that occassion. However, I do agree with some of his Republican critics that he did not have to be partisan in some of the remarks he made in the speech. For example, he really went after Sarah Palin and her continued scare tactic of claiming there will be “death panels” to decide on life and death issues for seniors. While I deplore her choice of language and the general tone she uses to try to defeat the plan, I would rather have seen the president stay above the fray.
But now to health care reform: I have always seen the role of the church in such debates as prophetic. By that I mean the church, through its spokespersons, has a responsibility to speak to important issues in the public domain without taking sides with either political party. So let me be clear; we need health care reform and I hope a civil, by-partisan debate can be had. Everyone in this country has a right to affordable health care, whether rich or poor, regardless of gender, age or ethnicity. The particulars, such as co-ops, public option, etc. I leave to the congress and administration. That is their job. But we have a moral obligation to provide quality care for everyone. Let’s get on with the task at hand.
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