[Peace-discuss] Goodman interview with Kucinich & Nader

[C. G. Estabrook]

While our friends are demonstrating in favor of the Obama Democrats' foreign and 
domestic policies, under the guise of demonstrating against Karl Rove, we should 
note what Nader said:

"...this is the latest chapter of corporate Democrats crushing progressive 
forces both inside their party and against third parties. There’s nothing new 
here. It’s being pointed out in my former running mate’s autobiography, the late 
Peter Camejo, which is coming out in a couple weeks from Chicago.

"What we’re seeing here is a legislation that doesn’t even kick in until 2014, 
except for one or two items on staying with your parents’ insurance policy until 
you’re twenty-six. That means that there will be 180,000 Americans who will die 
between now and 2014 before any coverage expands, and hundreds of thousands of 
injuries and illnesses untreated. This bill does not provide universal, 
comprehensive or affordable care to the American people. It shovels hundreds and 
billions of dollars of taxpayer money into the worst corporations who’ve created 
this problem: the Aetnas, the CIGNAs, the health insurance companies. And it 
doesn’t require many contractual accountabilities and other accountabilities for 
people who are denied healthcare in this continuing pay-or-die system that is 
the disgrace of the Western world.

"For the drug companies, it’s a bonanza. It doesn’t require Uncle Sam to 
negotiate volume discounts. It allows these new biologic drugs, under patent, to 
fight off generic competition—that’s a terrible provision. And it doesn’t allow 
reimportation from countries like Canada to keep prices down.

"Congressman Kucinich’s points are not respected, either. There is no public 
choice or public option in order to keep prices down, so it’s an open sesame for 
these giant insurance companies that are concentrating more and more power, in 
violation of the antitrust laws, over the millions of American patients. And it 
doesn’t safeguard the states from the kind of litigation that’s heading toward 
Pennsylvania and California, that are now trying single payer.

"So what we should recognize is nothing is really going to happen in this bill, 
if it’s passed, until 2014, because there’s a gap here, including a presidential 
campaign and the contest in 2012 and a congressional elections in 2010, for the 
single-payer supporters in this country. Majority of the American people, 
majority doctors and nurses, support single payer. They’ve supported Dennis 
Kucinich all over the country on this. They have supported 
singlepayeraction.org, which I hope a million people will visit in the next few 
days in their outrage over what’s happening here.

"So I think what we have to do, Amy, is see this as a four-year gap before this 
bill kicks in and try to get the single payer as a major issue in the 2010 
campaign and as a major issue in the 2012 campaign and try to save some of those 
180,000 Americans that will die because they cannot afford health insurance to 
get diagnosed or treated. And that figure comes from Harvard Medical School 
researchers."

Brussel Morton K. wrote:
> As no doubt many of you know, Kucinich and Nader were guests of Amy Goodman
> on her show today.
> 
> They were both questioned about the health bill in Congress. If Kucinich had
> some credibility before his big switch to support the health bill, I believe
> he has now lost it. It was a dismal performance on his part. Nader, on the
> other hand, didn't mince words and, politely, in effect said that Kucinich
> was making a big mistake, under pressure to be sure, a pressure he couldn't
> withstand.
> 
> On the wars and occupations, Kucinich still maintained his position of
> opposition to them, but said we ought to be careful not to criticize Obama
> too much, because that could lose the forthcoming elections to the
> Republicans. Here too was a loss of credibility.
> 
> Nader told it like it is.
> 
> CCHCC in town should also learn a lesson from all this. They support the
> passage of this miserable bill, which Nader pointed out may not even deliver
> its promised benefits to the now uninsured.
> 
> Tune in to DemocracyNow! if you have the intestinal fortitude for it.
> 
> --mkb
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

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