Sicko’ Health System Themselves by EVELYN V
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Page: A13 Edition: DN - DNCOMMON - 13 - 09/20/07 Typeset by: TDYSON09/20/07 10:54 CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK dailynews.com DAILY NEWS / THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007 / NEWS — 13 Nations Now’s time to cure must build ‘sicko’ health system themselves BY EVELYN V. MARTINEZ California seems far from achieving this goal. Enrollment caps have been F nothing else comes out of the Iraq N Michael Moore’s “Sicko,” a war, it should banish the concept of placed on programs like Healthy father whose toddler is hear- Kids, which facilitates access to care I “nation-building” from our language ing-impaired in both ears com- I for more than 800,000 of the state’s and our minds. “The track record of plains that his family medical-insur- nation-building and Wilsonian grandios- children, ensures that eligible young- ity ought to give anyone pause,” as was ance provider will only pay for an sters stay enrolled, and secures access said in this column before the Iraq war implanted hearing device in one of to Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. In began. the girl’s ears because the mechanism Los Angeles County, First 5 LA helps We can now add the track record of is consid- fund Healthy Kids for children ages 5 Iraq to the list of local view ered and younger. But more than 10,000 disasters. “experi- children ages 6 to 18 are being The very exist- mental.” turned away from the program in ence of Iraq is a How can the device be experimental this and other counties for lack of result of Woodrow for one ear, the father asks, but not funding. Wilson’s grandiose the other? Why deny coverage for a With thousands of California’s Kurdish Iraq since the war began — or ler was elected democratically. In much device that is all the more critical ideas about “the maybe ever.” of Africa, democracy in practice has children uninsured and thousands because his little girl is learning to right of self-determi- The Kurds are a people. They are not meant, “One man, one vote — one time,” more in danger of losing their cur- nation of peoples,” just some folks thrown together by oth- as elected leaders put an end to both talk? rent coverage as early as January if which led to the ers who drew lines on a map. They had elections and freedom. “She has to hear from both sides of funding is not renewed, we don’t dismemberment of their own leaders before there were any It would be wonderful to have free her head,” the father complains. need the bombastic Michael Moore to the Ottoman national elections in Iraq. and democratic nations throughout the When it comes to the debate over tell us that this or any other state’s Empire by the As Agresto points out, democracy is a world, and that would very likely reduce universal health care coverage, it’s health care system is sicko. victorious allied means, not an end in itself. military conflicts, as Sharansky and time for public officials to hear sto- Nonetheless, a political cure for powers after the First World War. Natan Sharansky’s book “The Case for others say. But we do not ensure free- ries like these — and for both sides what ails health care in California Some of the most bitter and intracta- of the political divide to listen closely has never seemed more possible. ble conflicts of our time have arisen in to them. The state is at a historical turning nations carved out of the Ottoman Even families with insurance, like point on health care reform. The Empire, whether in the Balkans or the Whatever the situation when we went in, the father whose deaf daughter was governor and state lawmakers have a Middle East. at a critical stage in language develop- unique opportunity to define the You cannot turn a territory and its international terrorists have chosen to make this ment and could have greatly bene- future of health care services for population into a functioning nation fited from two hearing aids, are not generations to come. with the stroke of a pen or the drawing the place for a showdown battle. getting the coverage they need and After nearly a year of discussion, of lines on a map. deserve. Imagine what it’s like for the state Legislature has amended Real nations evolve over time out of We can win or lose that battle but we cannot families with no coverage. Actually, it and passed the Democratic leader- the mutual accommodations of peoples, doesn’t take much imagination ship’s health care reform bill. not by imposing the bright ideas of theo- unilaterally end the war. because those families are all around Although the governor has indicated rists from the top down. us. that he will veto the bill, he has also No small part of African nations’ prob- Even as state and local called for a special session to finalize lems comes from the fact that most health-insurance programs like details on a mutually agreeable became nations only in the sense that Democracy” argues persuasively for the dom by holding elections. Medi-Cal, Healthy Families and reform plan. The window of opportu- conquerors carved up African territories international, as well as internal, benefits According to John Agresto, in Iraq Healthy Kids are running into govern- nity to effect change is small, but among themselves to suit their own of democracy, seeing it as the kind of “the ‘democratic’ government now ment funding roadblocks, thousands with bipartisan support we can convenience. government that reduces the dangers of entrenched is as sectarian and incompe- of uninsured children are falling secure state-funded health care. There was no nation of Nigeria until war. tent as we ever could have feared.” He is through the cracks right now. All the Democrats and Republicans need the British drew some lines on a map President George W. Bush became an unwilling to say that the invasion of Iraq while, Democrats and Republicans in to listen to struggling families who enthusiast for the idea and spent hours and gave it that name. There is no rea- “as originally conceived” was a mistake Sacramento and Washington, D.C., want quality health care so that their son to think that such a nation would talking with Sharansky in the White continue to debate the nuts and bolts kids can grow up to achieve their full have evolved on its own, given the mutu- House. but he fears that it has become “a trag- of their specific health care reform edy.” potential and be successful contribu- ally antagonistic peoples living in that Perhaps he should have spent a little proposals. tors to our society — like that father vast territory. time talking with Amy Chua, whose book This is not a plea for withdrawal. Debate is healthy and needed. But who wants his hearing-impaired child Iraq is an object lesson in another “World on Fire” points out that democ- Whatever the situation when we went in, we also need to listen, to really hear to be able to learn from “both sides sense. You seldom hear about the area of racy — in certain kinds of societies — is international terrorists have chosen to the real-life horror stories of parents of her head.” When he puts it like the country controlled by Kurds because a recipe for disaster, despite how valu- make this the place for a showdown of uninsured children with critical that, it doesn’t seem like too much to that has been the most peaceful and able it has been in Western nations. battle. We can win or lose that battle but illnesses, chronic conditions and ask for, does it? orderly part of Iraq, and the media are Democracy means voting. It does not we cannot unilaterally end the war. disabilities. Their pain and suffering drawn to death and destruction. mean freedom. When we lump the two It is the terrorists’ war, regardless of should motivate us to do more to Evelyn V. Martinez is executive director In his insightful new book, “Mugged ideas together, we confuse ourselves and where it is fought. ensure the health and well-being of of First 5 LA. by Reality,” author John Agresto says: “I others. families, especially children, our most do not believe one American, soldier or Britain was a free country long before Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the precious resource. civilian, has been killed or even hurt in it became democratic. In Germany, Hit- Hoover Institution. His Web site is www.tsowell.com. OUR LINEUP INCLUDES: MONDAY: RICH LOWRY TUESDAY: THOMAS FRIEDMAN WEDNESDAY: RICHARD COHEN THURSDAY: THOMAS SOWELL FRIDAY: MAUREEN DOWD SUNDAY: BILL O’REILLY DOORS • WINDOWS • HARDWARE GOT DINGS? Act Now Before The Fed Lowers Rates! W DENT MAN, Inc. “Minor Dents, % $50,000 Vinyl Windows W 6-Month Certificate Minimum Deposit • Wood W M Dings & Scratches 5.25 APY* $ .T CO • Vinyl HEDENTMAN. 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