Being un-American

Yesterday I remarked to my friend that this past summer I've slowly turned into a Socialist. I may or may not have been kidding, I still haven't decided, but one thing I am sure of is that I fully support universal health care for this country, and all countries.

That's why I was infuriated to read the today's NYT article, "Many Eligible for Child Health Plan Have No Idea." It reported on the fact that 1.7 million children that have qualified for the State Children's Health Insurance Program are not enrolled and are unaware of their eligibility. This is a disturbing figure, but what I found more disturbing were the small tidbits of information dropped into the article about the Bush administration's attitude towards expanded health care coverage.

Last week, the article says, the administration set new standards to discourage the expansion of state-run health care to children of middle-class families. Bush has threatened to veto bills in the House and the Senate that add billions of dollars into health care coverage of children because both are a "major step toward nationalized health coverage." The administration's main reason against this funding increase is that

the expansion...would transform the program into a broad entitlement. Many families, they predict, would cancel private insurance in favor of government coverage (one study found that 14 percent of enrollees did).

It seems like Bush is forgetting that the president should keep his or her citizens' best interests in mind. If people prefer universal health care, then the president should deliver universal health care. Bush, and many others in Washington, have politicized health care, making it "un-Republican" and "un-American" to want universal coverage. Most people realize there is a health crises in this country. It is just too bad those enlightened people don't run it.