March 31, 2012 6:27 AM

When satire mimics actual policy, you get our health care system

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - The following message was released today by the National Alliance of Funeral Directors:

This week, several Republican Supreme Court Justices have argued that the Affordable Care Act supported by the Obama Administration is unconstitutional. At the National Alliance of Funeral Directors, we couldn’t agree more.

It was Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry who said, in 1775, “Give me liberty or give me death.” From that moment on, legal scholars have agreed that the Constitution guarantees every American the liberty to be dead. Here at the Alliance, we will fight for your right to be dead to the death.

Yes, it’s satire, but Andy Borowitz’ mining of the health care debate for laughs rings with an element of truth. If there’s one thing that opponents of the Affordable Care Act agree on, it’s that Americans have no “right” to health care and the social contract is an abstract, outdated concept. All one really needs to do is examine Paul Ryan’s budget to understand that the GOP wishes to treat health care like any other commodity: if you have money, you can purchase it. If not…well, if you’re going to get sick, at least have the decency to die quickly so you won’t be a drain on society.

Is that too much to ask?

I may be a clueless bleeding-heart Librul, but I can’t fathom how any reasonable person could consider our health care delivery system to be anything but seriously flawed and biased toward those who have. America, still the world’s economic powerhouse, is a place where an individual can literally die from lack of money. No, an empty wallet isn’t a symptom, but it can prevent one from securing needed treatment and medication. In the largest, most powerful economy in the world, no person should be denied health care for lack of money. Yet here we are, becoming the sort of dog-eat-dog, self-absorbed, every-man-for-himself society that Ayn Rand would be comfortable in. We’ve not only lost our connection to, and sense of responsibility for, our fellow human beings. I got mine; you can damned well get your own.

WE DESERVE BETTER.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on March 31, 2012 6:27 AM.

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