Startup Fiance

I could hardly believe my ears today when I heard Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Florida) flexing his spine on the House floor.  In case you missed C-SPAN yesterday; I know, most of you have it constantly streaming at work, home, in the car, etc., so excuse me while I provide a brief framework for the others.  Basically, Representative Grayson commented that the Republican idea of a health care plan is for you to not get sick, and that if you do actually get sick, for you to die quickly.  Of course this did not sit well with the Republicans, who subsequently demanded an apology from Grayson.  So today, Rep Grayson gave the Republicans an apology, but I really do not think it was what they had in mind…

Speech Text -
“Last night here in this chamber I gave a speech. I’m not going to recount every single thing that I said, but I will point out that immediately after that speech, several Republicans asked me to apologize.Well, I would like to apologize. I would like to apologize to the dead. And here’s why.According to this study, “Health Insurance and Mortality in U.S. Adults” which was published two weeks ago, 44,789 Americans die every year because they have no health insurance. That’s right, 44,789 Americans die every year, according to this Harvard study called “Health Insurance and Mortality in U.S. Adults.” You can see it by going to our website, grayson.house.gov.

That is more than ten times the number of Americans who have died in the war in Iraq. It’s more than ten times the number of Americans who died in 9/11. But that was just once: this is every single year. That’s right: every single year.

Take a look at this. Read it and weep. And I mean that – read it and weep because of all these Americans who are dying because they don’t have health insurance.

Now I think we should do something about that, and the Democratic healthcare plan does do something about that. It makes healthcare affordable for those who can’t afford insurance, and it saves these peoples’ lives. Let’s remember that we should care about people even after they’re born.

So I call upon the Democratic members of the House, I call upon the Republican members of the House, I call upon all of us to do our jobs for the sake of America – for the sake of those dying people and their families. I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America. ”

UPDATE – Congressman Alan Grayson on The Situation Room with (my favorite) Wolf Blitzer

If Obama truly wants health care reform, he needs to get Grayson on board as soon as possible. This is probably the best argument I have heard in favor of real health care reform since the movement started. During his time on The Situation Room he stayed focused and did not waiver in his convictions. Blitzer and cronies are absolutely clueless, and Grayson has truth on his side. No plan, or the plans currently pushed by the GOP, do worse than perpetuate the status quo, they worsen the problem by conveying further protections to both big insurance and big pharma. Competition across state lines accomplishes nothing if the corporations have zero accountability and no regulation of premiums. There’s no GOP plan that calls for coverage of preexisting conditions. No plan=don’t get sick=die quick if you do., just like Grayson said. It is due time that someone told the truth and made people realize that Americans are DYING because they do not have health care.