SoapBox
D-Tooned/by Rob Pudim
Threat to democracy In mid-May, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) had its annual meeting where GOP movers and shakers plan and strategize for their desired future for America. What’s telling is that they met in Hungary and had that country’s president, Dictator Viktor Orbán, as the keynote speaker. Orbán has eliminated freedom of the press. The only media allowed are proOrbán. We know ex-President Donald Trump would love that. Trump loves hanging out with dictators around the world, kindred spirits. Orbán is one of them. Orbán has packed the courts, as has the GOP. Orbán has promoted “Christian heritage” and cranked up repression of LBGTQ+ people. The pro-GOP religious right wants that in the U.S. But I challenge you to find “Christian heritage” in the Constitution. The GOP works tirelessly to expand and solidify single party democracy in the U.S. The CPAC gathering in Hungary shows they are being more and more open about their goal, despite all the GOP candidates like our own Lauren Boebert who campaigns on protecting “freedom,” whatever that means these days. Not women’s reproductive freedoms, it seems. Following Trump’s ongoing lie about a stolen 2020 election, GOP states are busy making it harder for people to vote in the bogus guise of election integrity and harder for people’s votes to mean anything, thanks to political gerrymandering. And, the GOP is making it easier for partisan election officials and state legislatures to overturn election results they don’t like. The GOP is rooting out state and local election officials committed to free and fair elections, and running candidates such as Tina Peters, who supports Trump’s election lies and promises to make sure votes go the way the GOP wants. They are the ones trying to rig elections. On June 9, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 violent coup attempt made their first big public presentation. Congressional Republicans trotted out various shiny issues to try to distract Americans from how close we came to the overthrow of democracy, instigated by Trump so he could stay in power. No surprise at the attempted distraction, because a majority of Congressional Republicans did their part to support the overthrow of election results from inside the Capitol – including Boebert, who had sworn just days before to protect and defend the Constitution. The GOP has worked hard to whitewash what happened on that day. Lots to ponder as we approach July 4 and the fall election, where these antidemocracy Republicans are expected to take control of Congress. The threat to democracy continues. – Carole McWilliams, Bayfield
6 n June 16, 2022
Health care is a right Since the 1980s, Americans have been told that inserting private health insurers as middlemen between patients and physicians will save money and improve care. After 40 years, that theory has failed at both. Our six largest health insurers have been consolidating for many years, buying up smaller competitors and merging with big pharmacy benefit management companies (e.g. CVS merging with Aetna). Their revenues have quadrupled, and profits have grown from about $12 billion in 2010 to more than $60 billion in 2021. Insurers are also buying up physician practices and clinics. UnitedHealthcare is the largest physician employer in the country. This results in them steering us to providers that they own and/or operate. With their supersized profits, insurance companies are spending more to influence public opinion, sometimes using misinformation to influence public policy as well as elections. These companies are also making us pay more and more out of our own pockets through cost-sharing deductibles, copays and co-insurance before they pay a penny in actual healthcare. They aren’t paying nearly the same percentage of claims or the amounts of claims they used to pay because of their ability to shift more of the cost to us. Most Americans don’t even have $400 in the bank, much less more than $17,000, which is the maximum out-ofpocket for a family policy. This has caused more than one million Americans to file for bankruptcy when they receive care – 80% of medical bankruptcies are individuals or families that have employer insurance. Currently, our overall health care financing system is largely funded by the taxpayer in the U.S. Americans pay higher health care taxes in the U.S. than any other developed country. We have a $4.3 trillion annual health care economy in the
telegraph
U.S., and approximately $3 trillion of that comes from the U.S. taxpayer. The supersized revenues of the big six health insurers last year totaled $1 trillion. They take the profit margin on that revenue and reward shareholders and top executives, and still have plenty left over to spend on media, political contributions and lobbying our legislators. Very little is used to lower premium prices or offer better coverage. Americans are also being priced out of pharmaceuticals these days. More than 45 million Americans forgo medications due to cost. Historically, Pharma quotes the cost of Research & Development as to why these prices are so high. The truth is that drug prices are not set according to R&D costs, but how much the market will bear. The largest pharmaceutical companies spend sometimes twice as much on marketing than R&D. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars buying off competitors to stay away from their most profitable drugs and to keep them out of the market and delay generic production. Insurance and medication inflation is due to unregulated monopoly power. So what do we do about this bleak picture of health care? Pay attention to candidates running for office in each party. Attend town halls and Zoom forums, and ask hard questions. Ask if they’re taking money from healthcare special interest groups and PACs. Ask our current legislators if they do. Health care is not about political parties; it’s about the legislators who write our laws in favor of corporations and don’t enforce anti-trust laws. Indifference is how they maintain the status quo, which can cost us our lives and life savings. Voting is our power. Health care and public education should be considered infrastructure. Education and health care is something everyone needs in their lives and makes both our country and economy stronger. Our voice is our vote. – Jan Phillips, Durango
