posted November 6, 2006
I voted for the first time in 1976 and I’ve never considered myself a single issue voter, until now, 30 years later.
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, who is also the founder of HealthAmerica Corporation, changed that for me and several hundred thousand other Tennesseans when he ignored his campaign promise to reform the state’s TennCare program. Instead he pulled a bait and switch routine on the sick and working poor in this state. Not only did he not reform the already broken health care system, he dismantled, without replacing, the vital programs that can easily obtain matching funds from the federal government, in most cases at 2 to 3 times the state’s investment.
I was wrong when I voted for Bredesen in 2002 because he turned out to be a Republican wolf in Democratic sheep’s clothing. Now nearly one million of Tennessee’s uninsured are closer to the final solution. That’s a term I don’t use lightly because you don’t really need hyperbole to show that people are suffering, and people are dying. Tennessee’s holocaust does not compare to Europe’s holocaust, where more than 6 million were targeted for death, but many of us feel that the governor abandoned the 1 million uninsured (in a state of nearly 6 million people), to the streets, and to the grave.
What’s more, Bredesen has maintained a clever public relations campaign to make Tennesseans not yet affected by the health care crisis in our state, believe that only slackers and out-of-state AIDS patients would be cut from TennCare. He said that getting the budget under control, building up the state’s Rainy Day Fund (now at $497 million, or 5% of general-fund revenues), and avoiding state income taxes, was his priority.
Special interests, both profit and nonprofit, have dictated increasing health insurance premiums, patient dumping, reductions in benefits, lower reimbursements to hospitals and doctors, elimination of essential services to those with little to no access, and certainly, no bargaining for fair drug prices. Georgia’s governor has already asked for Wal-Mart to bring their new $4 generic prescription program to his state, and Target will be following the lead, so why doesn’t our governor want us to have the same affordable medications? What does it say when a profit-making operation like Wal-Mart, not known for it’s progressive thinking, proves to be more responsive to the crisis, than the governor who casually tosses around the phrase, “It’s the right thing to do” in his campaign ads. Bredesen does not deserve a second term, not while there is a better way to go.
Though the poll numbers indicate that Bredesen will easily be re-elected, you don’t have to vote for the Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson, or skip the race altogether this Tuesday in order to make your values known. There are six independent candidates running, but I believe that only one is worthy of your vote: Howard W. Switzer, the Green Party candidate. Howard is the anti-Bredesen, in that his policy positions are polar opposites of the current governor’s, yet he still believes that government should be fiscally responsible. He just recognizes that a Single-Payer health care system is more humane and efficient. Howard calculates that a single-player plan would cost around $15 billion, which is $10 billion less than the current spending for health care, both private and public. He says that’s because “profits are a big bite out of your healthcare dollar.” His is a simple plan -- focused and well thought out. Howard has array of practical ideas and policy positions: on immigration; marriage; egregious “Corporatism;” responsible management of our planet’s resources; and of course, health care solutions. Howard feels that his campaign is a referendum on our current non-solutions to the health care crisis. His analysis and extensive knowledge of what other areas of the country are doing to cover more people and curb costs, presents an opportunity to save lives, the very ones we are losing everyday through denial of rudimentary care. On Howard’s web site, you will note that his positions are untainted by special interests. And that’s who I want minding the store in Tennessee, in good times or bad.
Solving this crisis involves eliminating the expensive middleman bureaucracy for delivering health care. And that means fighting against the very powerful framework of businesses and individuals that conspire to maintain the status quo, and their profits. They siphon off money that should go directly for health services and instead, put it into administrative costs, golden parachutes for million dollar executives and things like the $300 million headquarters of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, under construction now on Cameron Hill above downtown Chattanooga.
Here’s what Bredesen said recently: “I think, particularly in the first couple of years, I’ve shown it’s OK to cut things, that the world does not come apart at the seams.” Well speak for yourself Mr. Bredesen, because taking life-sustaining health benefits away from 225,000 Tennesseans and ignoring the three-quarters of a million other uninsured, is not “OK.” What’s worse, he justifies it by saying that it’s more important to have “room to consider other priorities.” That’s the equivalent of Marie Antoinette’s infamous “If the people have no bread, let them eat cake” philosophy. The Bredesen version is “If the people have no health insurance, let them die.” Again, no exaggeration needed.
You get the sense that Bredesen dislikes the middle and lower class, and that it translates into unconscionable public policy. It’s as though anyone below his $7 million income bracket is considered weak and undeserving. He appears to ignore the problems of average Tennessee families and he steadfastly refuses to provide any responses to questions about the effects of the TennCare cuts on Tennesseans while critics of his policies have been effectively silenced.
This is the very same man who said that he did not favor removing the state sales tax on food because you would be “giving someone in a suburban grocery store a break on the tax they pay on their steak.” News flash Governor, the families who would most benefit from removing the sales tax off food, aren’t buying steak - they’re buying essentials like milk, bread and peanut butter, expenses that are increasing at more than twice their wages.
For those who think that “People before profits” is a socialist slogan and that I’m stirring up class warfare, please look again. You are only one paycheck, one life-threatening illness, the loss of once guaranteed retirement benefits or one divorce away, from joining our “uninsured” club. The health care for all cause is the path of Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists. It’s the morality of Jesus and Gandhi. Of Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr.
For us, the 225,000 who lost their TennCare and the thousands whose benefits have been reduced, well, we are mid-fall off a cliff and there is no parachute and no safety net. I know this first hand as I’ve spent the last 17 months navigating my way through the next-to-nonexistant safety net, clinic closings, exorbitant drug prices and people treating me like a leper because I don’t have health insurance. My inability to get an accurate diagnosis and treatment for a serious illness has been physically and emotionally debilitating, even though I’m diligent and professional in seeking that care. But intelligence and persistence aren’t worth a damn when you’re up against a wall of indifference and denial. Like other TennCare cut victims, none of Bredesen’s “solutions” will help me. Not “Cover Tennessee,” not “Cover Kids,” not “Access Tennessee” or “Cover Rx.” In fact, 18 months after the cuts, the state is still taking bids on these programs. And guess what businesses will probably win those profit-laden contracts? Even Mitt Romney, the conservative Republican governor of Massachusetts, understood that you have to have some plan in place and work out the kinks before you knock the ground out from underneath people. Which makes Phil Bredesen the true “cut and run” politician. He cut life-sustaining care for 1 out of 6 Tennesseans and now he and his soldiers are running from the unpleasant consequences.
The price of continued health care inequality will astound you. Tennessee has more than 150,000 uninsured children (9 million nationally) and 88% come from families where at least one parent works - you do the math on future social spending, knowing that dollars and lives could have been saved if Bredesen had only tackled the problem today. The governor initially promised that his “Cover Kids” program would pick up those 150,000 kids, but now he’s revised it downward -- to maybe covering 75,000 after three years!! And here are some other important facts. As to the reform part of the TennCare equation, with all the propaganda about ending TennCare fraud, there have only been 300 arrests (not necessarily convictions) of individuals abusing the system and most of those were for petty crimes like getting painkillers that weren’t legally prescribed, or other minor schemes of deception. It’s hardly worth the cost to state and local governments for investigation, arrest and prosecution. I dare say that in terms of dollars, there is a lot more fraud and larceny going on in the insurance companies and amongst the pharmaceutical drug kingpins.
Here’s one final quote from the governor: “I said, ‘Look, I just want you to know that I’m here, and if you need me to be a convener of people around the table - or if I need to have a meeting in my office of federal officials and some of your officials and be a convener or facilitator - I am very willing to do so.’ That’s one of the things governors can do.” He said that to the Chattanooga Times Free Press on 9/27 of this year. Wanna guess what he was talking about - a summit of community leaders to discuss their problems, a pow wow on how to help working families, or a convention of knowledgeable problem solvers? No, our governor was beaming with pride as he offered up his power and position to the walking horse industry. More indication of Bredesen’s priorities comes from a snippet of one of his current campaign commercials. He brags that “our Rainy Day Fund [almost $500 million] has never been higher.” I take that to mean that those of us struggling for access, and willing to do almost anything to obtain it, aren’t even worthy enough to warrant consideration for funds that are just sitting there waiting for disaster. The disaster is here and now. Our plight doesn’t stand a chance against one man’s lack of conscience unless you vote your own conscience.
In addition to Switzer for governor, I’m voting for Harold Ford, Jr., and Brent Benedict for the U.S. Senate and House, but not because I agree with all their positions on important issues of the day. It’s more because I believe that a Democratic majority in the U.S. Congress is our nation’s only hope for change and for returning some semblance of constitutional balance to Washington. Bob Corker should be rejected for public office, if not for his radical right agenda, then for giving a wink-wink on those contemptible Rovian ads against Ford, while publicly disavowing them. Zach Wamp should not be returned to office for another term. Even though he supposedly brings the Federal bacon (earmarks?) home to his district, how do we know that those benefits actually trickle down to the middle and lower income residents of the 3rd District. Wamp only perpetuates the good ole’ boy system of quid pro quo among the privileged.
You may be concerned that your vote for Switzer might be wasted. But it’s not, for two important reasons: 1)The more votes that Howard gets, the greater a message it will send to the governor. Bredesen will be reelected, but it wouldn’t hurt him to know that the number of Tennesseans unhappy with his policies, continues to grow. We’re suffering, but we’re also unifying and multiplying. 2) This gubernatorial race is the perfect opportunity for you to think outside of the 2-party system box. You’re not limited to the lesser of two evils or wedded to an uninspired business-as-usual kind of politics.
It all comes down to a few simple things: you have to vote your interests and not your prejudices; and you only need to use your religion to motivate your own heart to care about others, rather than preaching that your beliefs are the only path. With a candidate like Howard, you know you’re part of a new era in public discourse and problem solving. If Howard doesn’t get elected this time, there is always the year 2010 and plenty of other options for public service. He certainly doesn’t need the accouterments of power and privilege that the current governor enjoys. For other Green Party candidates across the state, go to www.h4gov.com.
I’m voting for Constitution Amendment 2 - tax relief for seniors is a no-brainer. But I’m voting a strong “NO” on Constitution Amendment 1, the ban on gay marriage. It’s an unnecessary diversion that wastes time in the arena of public policy. To vote to make it a law to deny lawful citizens the benefits of responsible unions doesn’t even make economic sense, much less being worth the cost of government interference in our constitutional rights. Eight states have this diversion on the ballot.
Besides, it’s the loving, responsible gay couples that are making a dent in reducing the number of unwanted children in foster care across this country by adopting special needs children and creating safe, supportive family homes. Not only are they saving us scarce tax dollars, they are not even asking for money to raise the children. Their commitment to healthy, productive families is honorable and all they are asking the rest of us is that we allow them to live in peace and family security. If the sanctity of your marriage depends on what people are doing in the privacy of their own bedrooms across the street, then your marriage is not as sanctified as you think. If you vote for this amendment, you are voting for the spread of prejudice and discrimination, not protection of marriage vows that aren’t even being threatened by gay marriage. Unfortunately it just proves that some people don’t have a GLBT person in their life or family, because if they did, they would see that gays aren’t trying to take something from you, they are too busy working, caring for their loved ones and making meaningful contributions to our communities. Just look around you for proof.
One final recommendation as you consider your vote - watch the HBO documentary “Hacking Democracy.” a film about our compromised system of voting that is so disturbing, the special interests tried to prevent HBO from airing it. If you don’t have HBO, beg, borrow or steal (not really) to see the film because it accurately underscores the grave threat to our democracy. Kudos to HBO for not giving in to intimidation.
Bambi Evans
stonyirons@aol.com)
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