A comment I made on FaceBook in response to a question about Obama and healthcare reform

Alan L. Maki

My personal opinion is that Obama and the Democrats are never going to support real health care reform or any other meaningful reforms... we should continue to build mass pressure for single-payer and a vastly expanded public health care sector.

BUT, unless these struggles are undetaken ALONG WITH creating a real progressive political party in this country along the lines of the New Democratic Party in Canada or the old socialist Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party (not to be confused with the corporate, big-business dominated Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party [Democratic Party in Minnesota toaday]), we aren't going to be seeing any REAL change, let alone any REAL reforms of any kind from Obama and the Democrats.




Obama's backers among the "leadership" of organized labor have begun a very deceptive and dishonest campaign claiming that Canadian health care reform began with Tommy Douglas' very small and modest efforts similar to Obama's legislation.


Tommy Douglas' efforts at healthcare reform were not modest, nor were they small. Tommy Douglas from the very first day he entered politics made it known that he was for socialized healthcare and he maintained this position until the day he died in bed.



And these people working with the Campaign for America's Future and the AFL-CIO leadership who will say and do most anything in support of Barack Obama no matter how deceptive or how big the lie, go on to make the utterly false claim that Tommy Douglas began with legislation just like Obama and the Democrats are bringing forward... lies, lies and more lies... the entire Obama enigma is built upon such lies... lies that were spread by these very same people to get Obama elected--- that he was liberal, that he was progressive, that he was some kind of closet socialist, that he was for working people... the entire campaign of "hope" and "change;" it was all lies just like it is a lie that this health care legislation has anything of value for working people when it doesn't.



The leadership of the AFL-CIO and its mouthpiece, the Campaign for America's Future, have a lot of nerve talking about how we need to take "small steps" on the way to health care reform by comparing an impoverished Canadian Province like Saskatchewan where American corporations--- including the huge grain cartels and mining companies--- bled the Province dry helping to create the wealthiest country in the world and then lecturing us about how we need to take small steps towards healthcare reform.



The wealth exists in this country to finance and fund the best socialized healthcare system in the world.



When asked about his position on redistribution of wealth in this country, Obama conveniently joked around that those accusing him of being a socialist in support of redistributing the wealth must be referring to his having shared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a classmate in grade school.



Well, redistribution of wealth is no joke.


Redistribution of wealth in this country is what real healthcare reform is resting on.



We have a government headed up by Barack Obama and the Democrats squandering the wealth of this country on wars and militarism while bailing out the banks and Wall Street.



There is no reason for people living in the wealthiest country in the world--- wealthy because working people created every bit of this wealth--- should have to stand by and suffer for lack of access to healthcare as our tax-dollars fund the Israeli killing machine to the tune of tens of billions of dollars while trying to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan as we pay to maintain over 800 military bases across the globe as this rotten government allows plants to close and remain idle while people's needs and requirements for decent lives go unmet as the Wall Street coupon clippers and parasites seek out greater profits through cheaper labor and resources in other parts of the world conveniently protected by this far-flung and vast network of military bases.



Look, Richard Trumka and these labor leader impostors can't even protect the jobs of 1,100 Whilrpool workers paying union dues for years when the Crown family with controlling interests in Whirlpool Corporation is one of Barack Obama's primary campaign contributors... along with the AFL-CIO.



Richard Trumka and the AFL-CIO can't count on the President they invested so much in electing to help save the jobs of 1,100 workers--- union members--- producing certified "green" energy-saving refrigerators (I own one) and we are supposed to trust these kinds of labor leaders when they tell us we have to rally around Barack Obama and cut him some slack on healthcare reform otherwise it will probably cost Obama and the Democrats the next two elections.



Capitalism has failed in healthcare; capitalism has failed to provide millions of working people with jobs. Capitalism is never going to be "green" and the closing of a "green" Whirlpool refrigerator manufacturing plant proves this, again.



I find it interesting that only socialized healthcare can solve the healthcare mess we are presently mired in... and only the socialist option of public ownership of the Whirlpool plant where "green" refrigerators are manufactured can save 1,100 jobs for working people--- who, by the way, will be losing their health insurance.



Capitalism doesn't work; socialism works.



We had better start including the need to build some kind of socialist oriented political party in this country along the lines of Canada's New Democratic Party or the old Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party if we want any kind of reforms.