Jan 02, 2010
Vermont is at it again.

Hard on the heels of becoming the first state to enact a statute allowing homosexual unions, we are now mounting a credible campaign to bring single-payer, government-administered health care to all our citizens. Bills have been introduced in both houses of the legislature (H.100 in the House¹ and S.88 in the Senate²). With coordination from the Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC)³, the grassroots are gathering to demand passage of the bill (the House and Senate versions are essentially the same, unlike the games-playing variations between versions in D.C.).

Should Vermont pull off this cheeky maneuver, and the feds pass a health care proposal requiring every citizen to purchase, either directly or through their employer, health care coverage from private insurers in perpetuity, we can anticipate a Constitutional crisis of dramatic proportions. The graybeards of the Supreme Court will find their strict constructionist, states-rights positions sorely tried as they are called upon to prop up the corporate hegemony which Vermont’s action will have threatened.

The feds, of course, will believe themselves to have any number of prerogatives available to them for purposes of slapping down the upstarts; however, I would not sell Vermonters short in their readiness to dig in their heels. We have not sacrified disproportionately high numbers of our men and women to our nation’s conflicts because we’re pussies^4,5. And the last time the nation fumbled the Vermont ball, in 1777, we declared our independence for 14 years⁶. Those who forget history may be condemned to see it repeated.

On January 6, VWC and supporters of the legislation will meet at noon at the Statehouse in Montpelier to present thousands of postcards in support of single-payer health care to legislators on the opening day of the new session. There is still time to sign these postcards online⁷. Then, on January 12, from 6-8pm, hearings on H.100 and S.88 will begin.

Should the legislation pass, the two houses have veto-proof majorities which have already overridden two vetoes (unprecedented!) by our lame-duck Republican governor. Can you say “hat trick“?

What fun! Happy New Year.
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¹ H.100: An Act Relating to Health Care Financing and Unviersal Access to Health Care in Vermont
² S.88: An Act Relating to Health Care Financing and Universal Access to Health Care in Vermont
³ Vermont Workers’ Center
⁴ Effects of the World Wars on Vermont
⁵ CARSEY STUDY: War Death Rate Higher Among Soldiers from Rural Areas
⁶ Vermont (Wikipedia)
⁷ Healthcare Is A Human Right Postcard
tags: Health | Governance