Dear Care for Crash Victims Community Members:
Health Care is vital for the survival of us all. But as we have most clearly seen recently, Republicans have long sought to restrict access to life-saving health care. See
https://www.careforcrashvictims.com/blog/red-state-and-blue-state-safety-records-portend-many-more-tragedies-in-america/
Nader has just described the U.S. health care problem as follows:
“Without health insurance, about 35,000 Americans die each year; many more stay sick or injured because they cannot afford insurance to get diagnosed and treated in time. About 30 million people fall into that helpless, hurtful category.
Those tens of millions more Americans who are underinsured can barely figure out where they are covered and how much they have to pay or go without.
For the most vulnerable of these Americans, the choice is morbidly clear: pay or die.”
Nader proposes one way to fight for single payer health care is as follows:
“A majority of Americans, including a significant number of conservatives, favor single payer, full Medicare for all. So do a majority of physicians and nurses, currently in thralldom to corporatist dictates.
How to get there from here? Listen to Warren Buffett, the multi-billionaire and sage from Omaha; he favors full Medicare for all as being more efficient and humane (A single payer system has far less administrative costs and billing fraud). Then he tells us the pathway to turning this whole madness and mayhem around. To paraphrase what he once said, there are only 535 members of Congress (100 senators and 435 representatives), and we’re over three hundred million people. Why can’t we control these legislators?
Imagine if a very rich, enlightened person pledged one billion dollars to fund the organizing of a few thousand serious volunteers in every Congressional District, each having four full-time advocates. Working with these volunteers, each dedicating 300 to 400 hours a year in Congressional watchdog associations, this watchdog initiative would immediately represent a majority of Americans. Within 36 months, with a consequential election in 2018, our country would have comprehensive, universal, affordable, simpler single payer (full Medicare for all), saving lives, livelihoods and endless family anguish and fear.”
See https://nader.org/2017/08/02/will-a-mega-billionaire-rescue-america-from-gops-insurance-mayhem/
According to Forbes there are about 100 Billionaires in the U.S. each worth more than $10 Billion. See
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2016/03/01/the-full-list-of-every-american-billionaire-2016/#13c7d39737ac
Nader is right about the need and potential of organizing people (4 full time advocates and a few thousand serious volunteers) in each of the Congressional Districts.
I have created Congressional Mapping Tools that show the number of crash deaths in each State and in each Congressional District for each year 2002 – 2015. Just click on each and the annual statistics of crash deaths in that State or District pop up. This is a starting point that indicates the potential number of crash victim families that might wish to volunteer.
In addition, imagine office space and personnel in each District that could be volunteered by law firms, labor unions, medical facilities, educational facilities, and citizen consumer groups.
We the people can do this.
Lou Lombardo
