Dear lawmakers-
We are witnessing a moment in history when massive, fundamental shifting is possible. There are very powerful people in this country who are interested in preserving the status quo of profit-driven politics that keep millions of Americans uninsured and underinsured, not to mention addicted to processed food and sick enough to require medication. It is only during a crisis that powerful players who helped create our crisis don’t have the influence that they are used to having. These simultaneous economic  and health care crises are giving us a tremendous opportunity; to finally shift the status quo in our health care system.

The old guard might suggest that it’s “unAmerican” to insure everyone. But when our banks and car makers are being nationalized and the bonuses at AIG are being taxed at the “unAmerican” tax rate of 90%, it might be time to revise what it means to be American. Do we want to be a country that chooses corporate welfare over citizen welfare?  Is it really more important that our corporations thrive than to rescue our people from sickness, desperation and early death?

There is no other entity but our government that can protect us– the consumers– from enormous, predatory corporate giants. Indeed, we have just witnessed the giants getting so big, the government itself was unprotected from the potential systemic corrosion. (Thus, they are “too big to fail.”)

We must revise our systems.

Of course the government is responsible for assuring a safe food supply. Who else will do it? Of course our government is responsible for the security of its citizens. Who else would do it? There is no question that the government is responsible for the basic education of its citizenry and the reliable delivery of the mail. Why on earth is it such a leap to imagine an American government that would offer basic health care and a refuge from over-powerful corporate entities who would rather continue to profit from an overweight and unwell population?

The time is now to not only redefine what it means to be American by prompting you, our law makers, to support President Obama’s health care plan proposal with a public option– but to take back the sovereignty of our own bodies by getting interested and proactive about our health. Prevention is accessible, affordable, and most of all, it’s patriotic. We’re all in this together.

If we have a public option plus a major new emphasis on prevention, that will indeed be a modern America.

Holly Noonan

Maine Citizen

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