Friday Quote Day

Happy Friday before Christmas!

I'm heading west, but thanks to the Miracle of Blogger I was able to create this post ahead of time and schedule its publication for today. Didn't want to miss giving you your weekly gift just because I was going away for a few days.

I didn't say anything about the health care reform debacle yesterday. Too raw, maybe. But here goes.

Many in Congress are not doing a very good job of spreading light. Republicans who are fighting reform at every turn in order to see President Obama fail certainly fall into this category. Baucus, Lieberman and the rest of the so-called Democrats who are bought and paid for by insurance and healthcare corporations do, too. Even President Obama, who surely could have handled this whole mess with more strength and conviction, is guilty of not shining the way he could and should have.

But one Senator does shine, bright and clear and steadfast, and he is Bernie Sanders. His impassioned speech on the Senate floor Wednesday in support of a single-payer system brought tears to my eyes. He has never wavered in his conviction that health care is a human right.

Did you get that? Health care is a human right. It is not a commodity to be profited from or traded upon.

Senator Sanders concluded his speech by explaining how the country of Taiwan found itself in the same position we in the U.S. are now. Health care costs were out of control, its citizens were dying unnecessarily and they were looking for a solution. They studied health-care systems worldwide and eventually picked one on which to model their system. That one was the United States' Medicare model. Taiwan employs a Medicare-for-all health care plan, and we should, too.

Shine on, Senator Sanders, and thank you.