There was a time not too long ago where I thought that Sean Parnell could actually put the needs of others over his political ambitions. Well, he shot that concept to hell in very short order.
In announcing that the state of Alaska would waste money on a law suit that almost all legal experts believe will fail in challenging the recent health care reform legislation, he said that the constitutional question is so important it overrides the urgency of covering almost 100,00 Alaskans who are without health care. His exact quote was, “Health insurance at the price of freedom. No.”
That’s a pretty easy statement to make when you and your family are covered by an extremely comprehensive health care insurance plan. Wonder if he’d feel the same way if he and his family were one step away from medical and financial disaster if they encountered a serious illness? Wonder if this lawsuit would be happening if he wasn’t running to keep his job? Wonder if our state dollars are really best spent on a lawsuit that was already going forward without our kick in? Wonder how many points with his conservative base this buys him?
Let’s see if we can count all the places that government already mandates we meet certain requirements.
Want to drive a car here? Insurance required.
Want a dog? License required.
Want to get married? License required. (This does not apply to gays. They can send their thanks to Jerry Prevo for protecting them from this infringement on their freedom.)
Want to run a business? Licenses required. And pay FUTA, FICA, PETA…or some such letters.
Want to own property? Pay property taxes.
Care to operate a bar? Pray you are a good enough citizen to warrant a liquor license, get all your servers to pass the servers test, make sure every drink served goes to someone with a valid government ID.
Do I really need to go on? We are required by government, whether city, state or federal, to follow laws for just about everything we do.
What is there about the subject of health care reform that seems to scare conservatives so much? They have no trouble with the government getting into a woman’s womb or into the bedroom of a gay couple. Yep, the government apparently has every right to regulate things so personal some of us still can talk about it in polite society. But pass a law that forbids insurance companies from kicking you off if you’re sick? Prohibiting those companies from refusing you health insurance because your child was born with a genetic disease? Disallow those companies from capping benefits so that as you die you family goes broke trying to keep you decently comfortable? This is where conservatives apparently draw the line and decide the government shouldn’t interfere.
So here’s my message to Sean Parnell. Give up the generous health insurance benefits you and your family receive from the state and then tell me how your freedom is more important than caring for them. But for so long as you and yours are insured, how dare you condemn others to little or no health care with the spurious claim that this has something to do with our freedom. All it really has to do with is your political future. Shame on you.