Once again, dear friends, we find that our interests as citizens of the United States of America is being subverted by our political “representatives” that WE elect and send to Washington.

As full disclosure, let me start off by saying that I am really angry, actually pissed off is a better word at our Congress, our President, and our entire process of governance. Some of this is very personal anger and some is simply an old man getting tired of seeing the same old crooked sleazebags continuing to rape and pillage this nation when they are supposed to be “doing the people’s bidding”.

As my disclosure, I should tell you that on May 9th of this year, my son, Mike, at 44 years of age and in excellent physical condition, died because of a lousy mis-diagnosis in an emergency room in one of our “excellent” medical facilities. He was diagnosed originally with a “raging sinus infection” on Friday morning after 5 hours in the ER and the sent home. My daughter, who had taken him to the hospital at 4:30am that morning stated that my son was crying from the pain in his head.

My son NEVER cried!

After bringing her brother home to the apartment they were sharing, my daughter called my other son’s wife and asked her to come and sit with Mike while she filled the prescriptions provided by the ER doctor. This was around 10am. At one oclock in the afternoon, they were taking Mike BACK to the ER in an EMT Ambulance because he was totally non-responsive.

When they admitted my son to the ER for the SECOND time that day, he had to be heavily sedated because he was thrashing around on the gurney. A second ER doctor took over Mike’s case at that point and began to suspect that he was suffering from MENINGITIS!!! They wanted to do a spinal tap to confirm but he had become unstable. They placed my son on a helicopter for a lifeflight trip to the major trauma center in this area for advanced treatment capability. He arrived there at around 3:00pm that Friday Afternoon. At 10 pm that evening, the neurosurgeon came to tell us that Mike’s brain had swollen pushing his brain stem into his neck. He was “CLINICALLY BRAIN DEAD” and our family had sufferred the loss of our son, brother, uncle and friend to hundreds of people across the country. At eight oclock the following evening, we asked that the machines be removed and we let Mike’s body shut down completely.

It is my confirmed opinion, opinion only folks, I am not a medical person, but I beleive, that my son died due to the fouled up medical system we have in this country. Because we have a for profit bent to our enire medical system, things like my son’s death happen every single day. Had we had a more comprehensive medical system in place, such as the majority of the countries in the world, there is a high likelihood that my son would still be here with us, his wide smile lightening the room as he entered.

The current state of Emergency Rooms has deterioriated to the point where they are part ER, and part Urgent Care CLINICS. That is not their function! They are supposed to be 100 percent, focused on emergency care of patients who come there in a critical state and require immediate and FOCUSED attention. This ER doctor totally missed a major symptom of Meningitis, my son had informed him that he could not bend his neck down toward his chest. This was a classic sign of meningitis. This happened at 5:00am the morning that my son Died that evening. Could Mike have been saved at that point? A bit late to say, since he is DEAD. But everyone we speak with in the field said that Meningitis was corrective if it is caught in time. Perhaps that five hours in the ER could have been better spent treating my son for a suspected case of meningitis instead of brushing off his cry for help as simply a sinus infection because there were too many patients most of whom were there because they had no other recourse. They had no medical insurance and therefore their only recourse was the Emergency Room. My son was mis-diagnosed, EVEN after the doctor asked him a pertinent Meningitis diagnosis question (Can you move your head up and down and my son answered no!). Had this doctor been able to pay proper attention, he would have probably picked up on the fact that my son was suffering from more than a “sinus infection” and Mike, my beloved son would be with us today, his grin still infectiously bringing smiles to all around him.

This is why I am really angry, not upset, damn angry. Angry at our Senators, angry at our House Members and certainly damned angry at our President. Why? Because they are knuckling under to the special interests, the insurance companies, the HMO’s, the Pharmaceuticals and the lobby industry in general. They are allowing these special interests to divert their attention from the very reasont that they exist,, to serve the needs of the American People.

The overwhelming majority of people in the United States have indicated that they would like to have fully access to health care, through a government sponsored national health care plan. Not a pool of private sector plans, not additional insurance billions in profits, and certainly not to have some clerk in an office up in Omaha or some similar location deny your claim for health care payment. The idea fo a single payer universal health care program is simple, straightforward and would save the country billions through a better program of health care outcomes. Actuarial professionals have shown where the SP-UHC envisioned in the HR-676 bill would save the country over 300 billion dollars in health care costs beginning in the very first 18 months of its existance.

Yet we hear on the television, on the radio and in print ads how a government bureaucrat will restrict your access and deny your medical claims. Bull pucky simply not true, and besides who the hell do they think denies all the medical claims each day currently>? Private Sector Bureaucrats, that’s who. This wonderful private sector medical system that the right wing and the lobbists have convinced our legislators is so wonderful is directly responsible for thousands of deaths each year through DENIAL OF SERVICE or through CANCELLATION OF COVERAGE with no warnings.

We have more than 18,000 people each year who die simply because they cannot have decent access to health care. That is more than 50 people EACH AND EVERY DAY. And, as I have heard over and over again from right wing pundits and political prostitutes, this is supposed to be the greatest health care system in the world? Bull! We are 37th in the list folks. We are only ahead of a couple of third world countries for crying out loud.

It is time to quit screwing around folks. It is time that we all got off our colletive asses and let these political hacks in Washington know that we are damn sick and tired of their giving us the shaft in favor of these damn special interests. It is time we let them know in no uncertain terms that we will definately watch their actions in regard to American health crises response and we will VOTE ACCORDINGLY. That they should not get too comfortable in their fat cat chairs on the Hill.

Frankly even after they take this coming vote for health “reform”, we will still be screwed folks. Nothing will change in reality. The insurance companies will get billions more dollars in their pockets and we will wind up losing our sons, daughters, wives, husbands, well you get the message. I was already involved in the health care battles for several years, but now, since the health care system KILLED MY SON, I am more dedicated than ever before.

Even when the Congress and the President put this piece of garbage into law as the “Health Care Reform”, people like me will not stop hammering on their butts. They are going to screw over every man woman and child in this country with the abominations that the current congress is talking up. Hell these bills were written by the lobbyists and their clients, and we the people get the shaft once again. WE need to keep the fight going, month after month, year after year, until a national health care plan is put into law and incorporates the tenets of HR-676 at minimum. No more private for profit greedy bastards involved with health care systems. No more will these greedy slugs have the opportunity of killing more sons and daughters like they killed my son.

HR676, SPUHC, National Health Care Program, what ever. We must keep up the fight until the battle is one. Kick the political hacks out of congress if they can’t support the people who elected them. IF they vote for anything except TRUE HEALTH CARE REFORM, not the Obama plan, not the Democrat Plan, of course the Republicans have no plan, then by all that’s holy, let’s dump them fat fannies out of their cushy congressional pig trough. Find a representative and a senator who will listen to the people and vote for THEIR interests. The damn companies don’t vote, WE do!

The capitol hill cretins need to remember that. WE need to remind them of that on Election Day and through Marches on Capitol Hill. Let them know that Health Care is NOT a consumer product and that we are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore!!!