Please Do Not Underfund Or Repeal The Obama Health Reform

Americans are angry. Unemployment hovers around 10% and it seems like the people in Washington are not doing anything about it. I also am unemployed, but I do not want to let anger dictate how I will vote. It is true that I am a Democrat and will probably die a Democrat, but any Republican that I have taught or had a conversation with will tell you that I listen to any good idea—liberal or conservative. For example, I think that there is a compelling post-modern argument for school vouchers: since we have become aware of the reality that we all know from within particular traditions, it makes sense to educate children in traditions. The rest of the school vouchers issue I will leave up to the conservatives to figure out.

There is something else conservatives need to figure out: why does the United States have a higher infant mortality rate than South Korea, which sixty years ago was involved in a devastating war and which up until 40 years ago was a poor country with a significant military budget? Why does the United States have an infant mortality rate that is double that of France, a country so many Americans have derided in the past decade? Why does the US have a higher infant mortality rate than Canada (ours is 6.22 per 1000 live births to Canada’s 5.04 per 1000 live births)? To put it bluntly, why do American babies die in infancy more frequently than babies in 44 other countries, including Cuba? The answer is that in most, if not all, of those countries health insurance is universal. Many of the countries have single payer socialist (gasp) health systems. This is one of the imbalances that the Obama reform sought to address.

Now, I am bipartisan and I hope that the Progressive Olympic Movement that I have been campaigning for attracts liberal and conservative support, but we really need to think here. Representative Boehner and other Republicans have publicly stated that they will repeal the Obama health reform if they can. Short of that, if they take control of the House, they will deny funding for the stipends that will enable the working (emphasize working) poor to finally buy health insurance. If that happens, the US will continue to have an abysmal infant mortality rate. If you doubt my statistics, take a look at the CIA World Fact Book (not an instrument of the liberal press).

The answer is simple: do not drive angry, do not make decisions in anger, and do not vote in anger. Middle class rage is about to condemn the working poor to more suffering. We are Americans. We are better than that. Let’s use reason, not invective. As for the rationality of making the Bush tax cuts permanent, listen to Ronald Reagan’s own advisor David Stockman. He calls the idea half-baked. If you want a corresponding liberal critique, read Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman.

I love this country. I value liberal and conservative thinkers. I respect our military. I revere our Constitution and our Declaration of Independence. I love what this country does for the world. We take risks for the suffering of Afghanistan and Iraq. Let’s think of the suffering here at home. Let’s do something sensible for the poor of this country: however we vote, let’s not repeal the Obama health plan. It’s the best news the working poor in this country have had in years.

Do Not Burn the Qu'ran

The world now knows that Terry Jones, a preacher in Florida, is planning on burning the Qu'ran on September 11. Many people have urged him not to do so. I will add my voice to the chorus of intelligent, charitable human beings who respect the religious experience of others. It is very simple. Reverend Jones just needs to apply the golden rule: do unto Muslims as you would have Muslims do unto you. How would you feel if a group of people organized an event to burn a Bible? As Christians revere the Christian Scriptures, Muslims revere the Qu'ran. My argument does not need to delve into highly abstract theology. I am simply stating that we just need to follow the teachings and example of Jesus. Please respect others.

Moreover, respect for others is part of the moral fabric of America. Burning the sacred scriptures of another person's faith runs contrary to the spirit of our diverse society, a society whose very constitution requires that we do not interfere with the religion of others.

Finally, General Petraeus has commented that burning the Qu'ran will put our military in danger.

For all of the above mentioned reasons, please do not burn the Qu'ran.