U.S. health care reform pioneer — name that President
Can you guess who started this health care reform battle originally? Must have been Bill and Hillary Clinton, wasn’t it?
Nope.
You mean this all started with President Obama?
Nope.
Here’s an interesting quote from a presidential speech before Congress. See if you can guess who the president was:
“Without adequate health care, no one can make full use of his or her talents and opportunities. It is thus just as important that economic, racial and social barriers not stand in the way of good health care as it is to eliminate those barriers to a good education and a good job.
“Three years ago, I proposed a major health insurance program to the Congress, seeking to guarantee adequate financing of health care on a nationwide basis. That proposal generated widespread discussion and useful debate. But no legislation reached my desk.”
If you guessed President Richard Nixon, you would be right. That was from a speech he gave before Congress on February 6, 1974.
Now, the next time someone you respect as a friend, or some media pundit or another says, “But we don’t need to rush into health care reform. We need to be careful and take the time to do it right” — try to restrain your feelings and simply point out to them we have been “taking the time to do it right” for at LEAST 35 years.
There are some wonderful health care plans out there and I’m not going to attack them. You may have the Blue Advantage, Medicare, Medicaid, or any of thousands of excellent health care insurance plans. I applaud you for your good fortune.
But it really is time, isn’t it, after 35-40 years, to do something that’ll make good, basic health care available to everyone who needs it? If even Richard Nixon, certainly NOT a “liberal” or “socialist” by any standards, understood the need for adequate health care for all — isn’t it about time we get the job done??