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A sampling of pictures from the health-care town hall meetings being held across the country over the past few weeks are dominated by shades of blue and gray -- hair, that is. Many of those in the "angry mobs" are grandmas and grandpas.Recent polls show that there's a generational divide over Obama's proposed health-care plan. Explains CNN Polling Director Keating Holland: "Obama's plan is most popular among younger Americans and least popular among senior citizens."
And, says CNN's Bill Schneider, recent polls also showed that "opponents of the president's health-care reform seem to feel more intensely about it than Obama's supporters."
Not Just for the Old
It makes sense that those with the most experience with the health-care system would feel most passionately about the subject. But our generation and the ones following us actually have the most at stake.
Click here for more after the jump.
Whatever plan is eventually enacted, the full effects won't be seen for many years. Young Americans not terribly concerned about the issue now are the ones who will live under the new system for decades to come. And as hard as it might be for those of us in our 20s and 30s and 40s to believe, one day we will be old.
Sure, many in our generation are scarfing down cheeseburgers and smoking and drinking like there's no tomorrow, but that's exactly why we're going to need quality health care in our old age. Plus, some of us have an additional stake in the system as we pursue jobs in the industry. And even if you (somehow) don't rely on the health-care system for services or employment -- as long as you're a taxpayer, you'll be picking up the tab.
More Than Faith
Michael Barone recently pointed out that those under 30 voted 66 percent to 32 percent for Barack Obama, "an unprecedented margin." Those older than 30 also voted for him, but only by a 50 to 49 percent margin. This is another likely reason those under 30 are not as concerned about the proposed changes in health care as their parents and grandparents -- they have more faith in Obama already, as their votes demonstrate.
But the stakes are too high in the health-care debate to base support or opposition on faith. Citizens of every age (and hair color) should read the bill, or at the very least demand that their congressional representative read it in full. The issues involved are complex and numerous, but anyone armed with a keyboard and a search engine can access the information needed to form an opinion based on facts, not faith.
Lorie Byrd has been political blogging since 2004. Read more from her at Wizbangblog, Townhall.com and AmericanIssuesProject.org.
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Thursday 20 August
By Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
If you are in your 20s and this health reform is passed, you will carry the debt of it for the rest of your life. I am in my 40s and in great health, but some day may need medical help just like everyone else. I don't want to see the government in charge of my welfare as well as my children's and grandchildren's... This country and our policies were founded on freedom of choice and independence. If this goes through, it will never be repealed and we will be forced into the downward spiral of socialism that has killed so many other societies. Think of the future, not just for you, but all those you love. Lorie - this is a terrific piece. Thanks for taking the time to write it...
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Thursday 20 August
By Elizabeth
Actually, we don't have to wait for old age to be affected by a bad nationalized healthcare plan. In the UK a lady had a baby on a sidewalk b/c of their inefficient system. In Canada a woman in labor had to be flown two provinces over to deliver her baby in a hospital, and it can now take up to 7 months for your first pre-natal appointment. We don't need to take the best health care system in the world and make it like those others. Obamacare should be just about at its peak inefficiency when younger people are really, really in need of top-quality care.
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Thursday 20 August
By Andrea Shea King
Well written argument, with sound rationale and logic for fighting this legislation. But here's the bottom line:
Yesterday on the Glenn Beck Show, Fox News Sr. Legal Analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano spoke with CATO Institute attorney Tim Lynch and attorney Jay Sekulow from the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice). The discussion centered on one point: the Constitution does NOT authorize the Congress to establish a health care program.
Key to that is the fact that, as Tim Lynch pointed out, the Constitution is incapable of enforcing itself, and if Congress will not abide by it and defend it, it falls upon the people to exert pressure on Congress to see that it does.
Congress has historically violated the Constitution's limitations and they cited examples: Congress has prevented insurance companies from selling health care policies to customers in other states, in violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause.
Now, they also said that a lawsuit cannot be brought to prevent Congress from passing a law that is unconstitutional, BUT... once Congress votes to approve and the president signs the legislation, then the suit can be brought, challenging the constitutionality of it. And Sekulow said that is already being prepared.
Also, they pointed out that the 9th and 10th amendments serve as backstops to the Constitution's 18 enumerated and limited powers.
So, bottom line: If every voter/citizen who goes to a townhall meeting, or writes to their congressman, their ONLY question should be:
"Show me where the Constitution authorizes the Congress to establish a health care program."
The rest of the arguments about public option, blah blah blah is just noise that obfuscates the real issue: it violates our Constitution.
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Thursday 20 August
By Bookworm
Excellent point and what you're saying isn't just a theory. If 20 somethings need confirmation about the truth of your article, they only need to look at the social security system. All of them know that, as the population ages, they're paying into a system that will become bankrupt before they ever use it, so that the grayer members of society get benefits far in excess of those they ever paid in.
The new health care plan won't even wait 60+ years to take on that pyramid shape. It will start that way instantly, with a vast and regularly growing deficit, funded by people who don't use it, with those same people assured that it won't be there when they need it.
Just because something doesn't affect a 20 something RIGHT NOW doesn't mean that the smart 20 something doesn't look down the line and recognize that s/he's being cheated, with the negative payoff to come in a few years.
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Tuesday 25 August
By james
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Tuesday 25 August
By james
We want to hear what you think!
When you enter your name and e-mail address (we won't publish or share it -- promise), you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. If you use the password at the bottom of that e-mail, you won't get any more confirmation requests from us.
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