Advocating for national healthcare reform

Citizens hold silent signs of support

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — The national healthcare debate that’s been raging in town halls across the country for the past several weeks spilled out into the streets in our area. But there was no rage evident at this gathering, just a group of people holding signs urging passing motorists to support healthcare reform with a public option.

The group gathered on August 26 at about 7:30 p.m. outside the Town of Thompson Town Hall, located on Route 42, near Home Depot. A few of the passing motorists honked their horns in a show of support for the demonstrators who held their signs, despite the light rain showers.

The event was organized by Thomas Brown, who has been teaching U.S. history and government for 23 years at Fallsburg High School. Brown cited the preamble to the constitution as motivation for the demonstration.

The preamble says, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. ”

Brown said, “So the Constitution says that we, as a federal government, are supposed to promote the general welfare, and that’s why I’m here; I want to do it.”

Graham Bond, who lives in Monticello, but recently visited his native Australia, said he recently returned from a visit there. Australians, he said, spend about half as much money on healthcare as Americans and everyone is covered. That’s why he attended.

Nada Clyne, who was with Bond, said, “A friend of ours passed away this spring and one of the reasons she died so young was because she couldn’t afford healthcare, and that really motivated me. And it just feels like taking responsibility to put your voice out there and put your body out there when something as important as this comes up.” She said the opportunity to reform healthcare now was “a chance of our lifetimes.”

Dr. Nancy Eos, who has a family and holistic medicine practice in Liberty, said she was holding a sign because, “I believe in the healthcare reform act of President Barack Obama, and I definitely want a public option to go with it. I think it’s very important to have reform now, because there are an awful lot of people out of work now who need a good type of insurance or a better way to pay for their healthcare.”

All of the demonstrators expressed frustration at the many myths that surrounded the proposed healthcare legislation. They reiterated that it will not create death panels, that it will not call for illegal immigrants to be covered, and that it would not force people to leave their existing health plans.

Visit www.healthcarereformmyths.org for a list of some of the myths and information debunking them.