Thursday, June 28th, 2012
Dear Friends,
Even though it's been a few hours now, I'm guessing you're still
pinching yourself to make sure you're not dreaming. But yes, it
happened. At 10:07 this morning, the conservative Chief Justice of the
U.S. Supreme Court, John Roberts, not only joined with the liberal
justices to completely uphold almost every single part of the Obama
health care law, he wrote the majority opinion himself! In fact, he went
even further. When he realized that the government had poorly made its
constitutional case to the court, he went searching for a clause in
their argument and the constitution that would give him the
justification he needed to back the administration and to insure that
his decision would hold up legally. In other words, even though he is on
the opposite side of the political fence, he wrote the Dems' paper for
them. Stunning.
The other four justices? They didn't just vote to overturn the individual mandate part of the law, they all voted to kill the entire Act.
The media is already spending much time talking about the mandate being
the "centerpiece of the law," but the real news is that if you ever have
a pre-existing condition, you cannot now be denied insurance. If you
are a young adult without health insurance, you can now stay on your
parents' plan until age 26. The insurance company can no longer say
there is a lifetime cap to your coverage. The insurance companies are
now required to spend 85 cents out of every dollar they take in on
actual reimbursement for your health care – not on profit or
"administrative costs" (some companies have been taking over a 30% cut;
Medicare's total percentage of their budget for administrative costs: 2%).
I know that our side is not used to victories and so we're not quite
sure how to respond when we get one out of the blue. For some of us, the
first inclination is to point out just how weak the Obama law actually
is, that it doesn't provide true universal health care (26 million will
STILL be uninsured), and that it leaves control of the system in the
hands of the vultures, otherwise known as the health insurance
companies. The individual mandate was a huge gift to the private
insurance companies, guaranteeing them billions more from millions of
new customers. And many of the key provisions of this law don't even
take effect until 2014 – and if the Republicans win in November, you can
kiss all of that goodbye.
So, yes, the bill is highly flawed and somewhat wrong-headed – but what
it IS is a huge step in the right direction. And today's court decision
cements that. The right wing knows this and they are probably unraveling
in some not-so-pretty ways right now. And that's why today is a great
day. The Right has been smacked down by one of their own! They
know what we all know — that the path of history has been, and will
continue to move toward the basic human right that all people are
entitled to see a doctor and NOT have to worry about losing their home
because they can't afford to pay the medical bills. Those days are over,
or will be soon, and that is where civilization is headed. It's not
headed back to the days of Oliver Twist. Today's victory is momentum, it's forward motion, and we WILL have true universal health care in this country in the not too distant future.
So take some time tonight to celebrate; this is a victory for the people. Actually, more than a victory, it is a mandate
that all of us must now make sure that a second-term Obama continues to
move the ball down the field, toward a system like they have in every
other First World country on the planet. He simply has to improve
Medicare and then expand it to every citizen in the country. The
countries that do this, their people live an average of two to four
years longer than we do. Is there a reason anyone doesn't want an extra
four years of their lives? Or that our babies would have a better chance
of surviving their first year like they do in the 48 countries that
have a better infant mortality rate than we do? Exactly who is opposed to this? You'd have to be a bit…crazy.
And that, I've come to believe, is the true divide in this country. It's
not blue state vs red state, liberal vs conservative, Democrat vs
Republican. The split we have in America can be boiled down in its
simplest form to this: On one side are the people who believe Adam and Eve rode on dinosaurs 6,000 years ago – and then there's everyone else.
On that first side are the people who've been fed a diet of fear and
lies and hate. And who is feeding them? The 1%. The richest people in
the country, the ones who aren't done with us yet because they still
don't have enough wealth, have done their best to dumb down the
population through destroying our educational system and using media to
provide them with a vastly distorted sense of reality. The rich's only
obstacle is that they only hold 1% of the votes in the country. So they
have to try to get a slim majority of Americans to vote their way. And
fear, plus keeping them stupid, usually works.
So that's the battle ahead of us: Organizing and mobilizing the majority
of Americans to push for true universal health care, Medicare for All.
At one time, back in Illinois, that was the position held by Barack
Obama. He will not make this happen on his own. He will only be able to
do it when the mass of American people rise up and demand it. Demand it. Why not start tonight?
Five years ago this week, my health care documentary, Sicko,
opened in theaters across the country. I have spent the better part of
the decade on this issue, and for me, personally, fully aware of the
current law's limitations, I am very happy with today's news – not
because of its specifics or nuances, but because it is a road sign, and
that sign points in the correct, humane and sane direction. THAT makes
this a great day.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@MichaelMoore.com
@MMFlint
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. I will appear on Lawrence O'Donnell's show tonight to discuss this issue – 10:00 pm ET/7:00 PT (replay 1:00 AM ET/10:00 PM PT) on MSNBC.
P.P.S. To learn more and get involved in the campaign for real universal
health care – to complete the job that's been started – get in touch
with National Nurses United and Physicians for a National Health Program.
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