by Mary Pitt

While the Congressional "elephants" are straining at the gnat of Obama's health care plan, the Blue Dogs are busily gorging on the poisonous fat being spread before them by the voracious and monopolistic insurance and pharmaceutical companies, the citizens for whom they were chosen to protect are continuing to be victimized and destroyed. The handwriting is on the wall to tell us that nothing good is going to come of the enthusiasm with which the American people voted for the longed-for "change".

Neither of these mythical creatures sounded an alarm about the trillions of American dollars that were simply strewn to the wind in the misguided effort to "bring democracy to Iraq". There was then no outcry about the state of the national debt, no discussion of deficit financing, only great glee at the prospect of all the pork that would be rained upon their constituents and campaign donors. There was no mention of anything resembling a budget. It was all "off-budget appropriations" in the interest of "national security" Why? Because Bush, Cheney, and Company said it was necessary!

Now, the nation is mired deeply in the greatest depression of a hundred years. The major financial institutions have had to resort to government bailouts because of the greedy abandon with which they tried to corner markets and wring the last drop of lifeblood from the people. Oh, yes, the people! Those mute bovines who toil their lives away and suffer mainfully before being delivered by merciful death. One may feed them more or less, depending on the state of one's wallet and provide them medical care when one deems their services to be necessary to the cause of the enrichment of one's bank account. This is not an exaggeration but an exact assessment of the attitude of the super-rich to the working American.

The facts are that, sooner or later, everyone will become i ll if for no other reason than the aging process. The human body is a fantastic machine and, with good care and simple maintenance will often last a long time. However, when given the wrong fuel,and, lacking tune-ups, it may well sputter and die. @

The purse=lipped budgeteers will deny these poor creatures the benefit of health care under the pretext of giving them a "choice" when, in truth, the only choice they have is whether to lose their homes and neglect their families or to seek the care that is needed from a recalcitrant welfare system that is being methodically choked by the same pinch- penny politicians who have created the situation. "The poor should make better choices; stop smoking, lose weight, and then they will not become ill!" This mantra resounds through the hallowed halls of Congress and is repeated by the parrots of the mainstream media. In the extremely limited food allowance by the welfare system or food stamps, it is truly not possible to provide children with a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables and protein-rich meat and dairy products.

Rather, the normal diet for the poor will consist of maccaroni and cheese, hot dogs, or cheap pizza. This is not very different from the food ingested by the generation of children of the last depression. In that instance, the meals largely consisted of beans, oatmeal, gravy, and whatever Daddy could fell with his shotgun. Pellegra ran rampant in most of the nation as the result of the lack of fresh vegetables in the winter. Now, of course, with most of the population confined to cities, the only "game" that Daddy can bag with his precious Second Amendment gun is only whatever valuables can be garnered from the victim of the moment. Science has proven that the trend to obesity develops in the early years. As the diet changes to solid food, the inadaquate and unbalanced choices will generate too many fat cells in the body which will be with that child for a lifetime. As they grow up without the expensive amenities provided to the wealthy children; piano lessons, soccer practice, little league, poor children are more apt to be left with television sets for baby sitters until they are old enough to go to the streets for their continuing maturation. Some never have any medical care beyond free vaccinations until they must fight for their lives as the result of a gunshpt wound. So much for "developing healthy habits".

With more layoffs, more foreclosures, and more hungry and homeless, there truly is a "national emergency" and, as such, it justifies a presidential declaration to that effect and Executive Orders to personnel in Health and Welfare. This could include loosening the eligibility standards on income for food stamps and Medicaid to reflect the true cost of living for the disabled, the unemployed, and uninsured. To that end, President Obama would be roundly applauded for telling the reluctant Congressmen to stop taxing their inadequate brains over a health care measure and, taking a page from the Bush playbook, with such a declaration, take these remedial steps in order to provide every American with the things that we and our forebears have worked, fought, and died for: a place to live in peace, an adequate diet, and health care. Please, Mr. President, do something good to put in our history books.

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The author is a very "with-it" old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for "societal perfection".