by Deb Cupples | According to a recent poll, the verbally violent (perhaps industry-staged) protests at health care reform townhalls seem to have affected public opinion. USA Today reports:
"Independents by 2-to-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now."
Maybe it's the protests, themselves, if indeed they have swayed public opinion. Or maybe it's media coverage of the cartoonishly uncivilized protests.
That's not a left-field train of thought. Many media outlets certainly have a stake in killing the public, non-profit health-insurance option. Consider some of the core folks who oppose allowing us hardworking Americans the freedom to choose a public option:
- Insurance company executives (obviously)
- Drug company execs
- For-profit hospital execs
- Some cash-conscious doctors -- excluding the group Physicians for a National Health Program, which has 14,000 members who support a public option.
Other anti-public-option folks include the politicians and lobbyists who receive cash from insurance execs, drug execs, hospital execs, and cash-conscious doctors.
It does seem to be all about money for these folks: as in, how many of our health-care dollars can they stuff into their personal bank accounts.
Yes, even the politicians and lobbyists are getting money that originally came from us (i.e., we paid for drugs, insurance premiums, doctor visits, hospital stays...).
Every health-care dollar in an execs' pocket is one less dollar to pay for our actual medical goods and services.
It's really that simple. Yet, some media outlets have managed to convince many barely-making-it working class folks -- the very people who would save money through a public option -- to show up at townhalls and raucously demand the right to funnel their hard-earned dollars into the pockets of health-industry execs.
Why do said "protesters" even care if a public option exists? They don't have to take that option. Let them continue funneling their hard-earned money into health execs' pockets.
Why do they expect the rest of us to devote our money to making health execs even richer? Isn't America supposed to be about freedom to choose?
Personally, I'd rather take the public option and put my savings toward a new car.
The whole thing is Twilight Zone bizarre -- but not at all surprising.
Many media outlets rake in piles ad revenues from insurance companies, drug companies, private hospitals, etc. The more hardworking Americans who choose non-profit insurance coverage (if Congress ever establishes it), the fewer dollars those health-industry players will have in the future to spend on advertising.
It's sad to see so many hardworking Americans being scammed and screwed by a relative few. Memeorandum has commentary.
Related Buck Naked Politics Posts:
* Are Polls & Media Misleading Us re: Health Care Reform?
* Were Health Care Protests Industry-Staged?
* Business Columnist Refutes GOP Talking Points re: Health Care
* More Specious Arguments re: Health Care
* Public Option Needed Because Insurance Execs are Robbing Us
* Insurance Companies Get Away with Overbilling Medicare
* Cash-Conscious Doctors Oppose Public Option
* Drug Companies Scammed Taxpayers, Cancer Patients, Others
* Death by Hospital (infection)
* Contractor Fraud: Driving Up Healthcare Costs?
Comments