I find myself seething with frustration at two of the people I admire most in the realm of progressive issues and politics: Michael Moore and Dennis Kucinich. Watching Countdown on MSNBC last night brought it all to a head. I listened to President Obama tell the story of Natoma Canfield, a woman priced out of the health insurance market only to be diagnosed with leukemia.
Then I listened to Ms. Canfield herself, speaking from her hospital bed after a day of treatments, answering Lawrence O’Donnell’s question about what she would tell her Congressman, Dennis Kucinich, who says he’ll vote against this legislation because it doesn’t go far enough.
Natoma Canfield said simply this:
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
And with that, a self-employed house cleaner and cancer patient in Ohio spoke more eloquently and with more wisdom than either Michael Moore or Dennis Kucinich ever have on this issue.
First, if you haven’t, watch this segment of President Obama yesterday, telling Natoma Canfield’s story. It starts at about 2:05.
Here’s the segment where O’Donnell interviews Ms. Canfield over the telephone from her hospital bed:
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
With this single sentence, Natoma Canfield says more about the fight to reform health insurance in this country than Michael Moore or Dennis Kucinich have in the entire process. Both Moore and Kucinich want this bill defeated if we are to believe their words. Later in the same show, Moore said as much. Without a perfect piece of legislation, they feel it’s not worth passing. Single-payer, they say, is the way to go.
I get that. I understand that. I want that as well. But what I also want is PROGRESS. What I also want is for something to be done that moves us closer to universal health care for every single American. And, in the political climate right now, we have to start by taking this step.
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
I’ve blogged about this in the past but it’s worth recapping: all major pieces of social legislation passed in this country in modern times started out crappy. For example, Social Security didn’t originally cover most women or African Americans. Medicare also started out crappy but has been reformed over the years. The key was that we had something in place to build upon.
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
So what has Congressman Kucinich brought to the table? I’d say nearly nothing. He is threatening to kill legislation that he himself showed precious little leadership on. His insistence on single-payer over the past year has resulted in exactly zero. Meanwhile, the reality of this Congress is that we can’t even get a robust public option passed. Kucinich is over there taunting windmills and we’re over here trying to give this a start.
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
Michael Moore, God bless him, has been eloquent on health care in this country and, lately, even more so on corporate America. But where has his stance gotten us? Outside of the liberal world, most people sneer at Michael Moore and, because of his approach, don’t take him or his message seriously. He literally called this legislation “a death sentence” on Countdown last night because some of its provisions don’t kick in for four years.
Yeah, Michael, that sucks. We all know that. But guess what? If this process had been given a start four years ago, Natoma Canfield would not be facing leukemia without insurance today.
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
It pains me deeply to see two of my progressive heroes staking out territory that prevents us from giving comprehensive reform of our health care and health insurance systems a start. There’s what we want and there’s reality and the reality right now, in this Congress and in this political climate is that the legislation that passed the Senate is about the best we can do right now. Of course, there’s room for negotiation and discussion about sneaking in a weak public option and I hope that happens. But if Moore and Kucinich think that it’s possible to strip the health insurance industry of all its power and make health insurance a non-profit enterprise from here on out, they live in a dream world, a world of the future.
I believe that world is out there and is in our future. But we’re not going to get there in one big leap. It will take an iterative process where we start with something and build on it. But without a start, we will NEVER get there.
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
You are right, Natoma. You are right. And Michael Moore and Dennis Kucinich are wrong. We have to start somewhere and this legislation represents the best thing to have a chance at passing in my lifetime.
Last night, I and eight other OFA volunteers made 497 calls into Bart Stupak’s district, we talked to 124 people and 72 of them committed to calling Congressman Stupak today to urge him to vote to pass this legislation. We don’t bother with calling Republicans because we know they will not vote for it. If Dennis Kucinich stands pat, he stands with Bart Stupak. And John Boehner. And Mitch McConnell. And all of the other obstructionist Republicans. He stands with them to defeat our best chance at giving this major piece of social legislation a start. And, in the process, he has nothing to show for it. I would argue that my volunteers here in Ann Arbor did more to advance the cause of universal health care in this country last night than Dennis Kucinich or Michael Moore did. They took action to give health insurance reform a start.
“Well, it just seems to me that everything needs a start”
Amen, sister Canfield. Amen.
I’m just sayin’…
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