Hooray for Obama!

There is an intriguing battle being waged in America just now. There are no bodies in the streets, nor are there cities blighted by bombing. President Obama is fighting to provide health care for everyone in the United States, where 50 million people do not have such protection, although there is a similar amount of money spent each year on medical care as Great Britain's total annual gross national product. The amazing thing is that the President is already fighting other major wars, some, such as his determination to bring peace to the Middle East,which others have quietly stepped around, just as they have with health care.

The problem is essentially very simple. Many of the people who have health care protection do not want to help others acquire it, because they will have to contribute to the cost. As the President points out; neither he, nor members of Congress need a national plan: they already have an exceptionally good plan. The people who do not have protection are those whom President Obama has championed as his special constituency: those who are too poor to make their voices known, but to whom the President is striving to give a voice.

The people who will decide whether there is a plan, and what it will be, are the members of congress, representatives and senators. Representative have to seek re-election every two years, and senators every six years, so that all the members of the House will be up for re-election next year, as well as one third of the senators. Elections in America are expensive, and one source of funds is the lobbyists who represent clients with an axe to grind, and there are many who feel that Presiedent Obama's plan will mean that they make less money. The representatives and senators do not represent homogeneous districts. Some representatives come from affluent districts, whose voters worry about laws which will cost them more money. Even senators have such problems, if they represent states which do not have significant percentages of under-priviledged voters.

My hat goes off to this man who could have had a very comfortable and successful life, but chose to fight for the opportunity to help, not just in one area, but everywhere he thought he might make a difference.