On Thursday, Senate Democratic leaders shelved plans for a vote on health care before Congress' August recess. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, (D-NV), said, "It's better to have a product based on quality and thoughtfulness rather than try to jam something through."
While that's true, it's also a wonder on just how many holidays the Senate and House get. I suppose it makes up for the rest of us Americans who are definitely shafted when compared to other countries in terms of vacation days.
President Barack Obama had pushed for the full House and Senate to vote on respective bills before the August recess. Just last night he made another appeal for health care reform on prime-time TV. News of the delay arrived just hours before Obama's appearance at a health care forum in Ohio.
While critics of health care reform abound, it's clear that many of these are in bed with the insurance or health care industries, and it's also clear that many legislators, on both sides of the aisle, have taken far too much money from lobbyists for these industries.
To paraphrase an old saying: "It's the statistics, stupid." For all the criticism over cost, faux-Socialism, and the like, one look at lifespan and infant mortality statistics should be enough for people to realize: cost, Socialism, and criticisms over waits aside, people live longer and there is less infant mortality in countries with Universal Health Care.
For example, Cuba, which many consider a 3rd-world country, has the same lifespan and lower infant mortality than we do, according to 2007 Unicef stats.
How can the GOP, so strong on life and anti-abortion causes, argue against that? Yet they fight health care reform, all for the $$$.
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