Please Not the Lobotomy

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Since the President wants us to keep an eye out for any "fishy" misinformation about health care reform I thought I'd point out this bit of misinformation floating around. Time and again it has been said that those who oppose the current push health care reform don't want to do anything to reform health care. Now there is nuanced distinction that needs to made here in order to counteract this articular piece of misinformation in the health care reform debate. We're not opposed to health care reform. We are opposed this.
111TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3200
To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 14, 2009
Mr. DINGELL (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. STARK, Mr. PALLONE, and Mr. ANDREWS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Government Reform, and the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

This 1017 page bill that our Senators and Representatives have admitted that they have not read. This 1017 page bill that the President wanted passed into law before August when the majority of our elected officials who would have to vote on it had not read it. This 1017 page bill that is even now being altered by unknown individuals in unknown ways. This 1017 page bill that no one who advocates for its passage seems to understand sufficiently to explain. This 1017 page bill that is so convoluted as to ensure confusion and chaos were it ever passed into law. This 1017 page bill that has been bought and paid for (and probably written by) unknown lobbyists and special interest groups that we are supposed to believe is in our best interest. This 1017 page bill that comes on the heels of a string of other bills rushed into law that have thrown hundreds of billions of dollars into the ether.

And advocates of this 1017 page bill want to portray those who oppose it as scared and uninformed statists? I'd say shrewd and justifiably weary of another poorly thought out poorly written bill being forced upon us at break neck speed.

Since we are discussing health care I feel a medical analogy would be appropriate. And since the President has singled out surgeons for special mention on more than one occasion it will be a surgical analogy. That 1017 page bill that five different committees are mucking about with is like a lobotomy. We don't want the lobotomy. We want laparoscopic surgery to fix the bits that don't work well while doing as little damage as possible to perfectly healthy tissue. We want proper identification of problem areas. We want precision procedures that address specific problems with minimum disruption to those systems that function properly. That is a far cry from doing nothing so how about we put that bit of misinformation to rest?

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