"And this is the cause of my life, new hope, that we will break the old gridlock, and guarantee that every American, north, south, east, west, young, old, will have decent quality health-care as a fundamental right and not a privilege. We can meet this challenge with Barack Obama, yes we can, and finally yes we will."
These were the rousing words,
spoken by Senator Edward Kennedy, that lit up the faces of the attendees to the opening night of the Democratic National Convention. (It was also the only policy pledge made over the duration of the entire night.)
Senator Kennedy's words, like so many who pledge government freebies, sounded spectacular, generous, even utopian.
The challenge of course ends up in the reality that in order to achieve what he promises Senator Kennedy knows that the quality of care will diminish and the cost for everyone will increase. Nothing is given away for free, and no one should have a universal right to health.
Our health, like our bank account, is something we need to steward. That responsibility begins with us, not the Government.
Senator Kennedy also left out one more important aspect of the matter. The law already guarantees emergency care for all Americans.
So no one is presently denied life-saving medical care, though Senator Kennedy's candidate for President Barack Obama
did once radically vote to deny such care to children who had been born.