Gabe Gonzalez: Don’t Compromise Mr. President

Don’t Compromise Mr. President
Administration officials mused this weekend about surrendering the public option and giving into the insurance industry. Gabe Gonzalez muses on what a sad move this would be.







Gabe Gonzalez . Tuesday, Aug 18, 2009
National Director, Campaign for Community Values
Center for Community Change

Administration officials mused this weekend about surrendering the public option and giving into the insurance industry. Gabe Gonzalez muses on what a sad move this would be.

I watched the news shows last Sunday, and like everybody, I saw the trial balloons being floated by the Administration around health co-ops. Like many involved in this struggle, I watched with some dismay as it appeared the President backed off his commitment to a public plan. And I kept thinking about my last trip to the hospital, just the week before.

I was visiting my mom. It wasn't a big deal, scheduled surgery on her knee. She's doing fine, but while I was in her room I saw an amazing discussion between her and her nursing aide.

People talk a lot to their aides. They count on them. Aides provide comfort and help. And sometimes they need help, too. This particular aide found out that my mother used to work for the Employment Department. Very quickly, the aide asked mom if she knew about other state programs. When mom answered yes, she asked about support for poor families, specifically, amazingly, she asked about Medicaid. Who was eligible, how you got it, and whether the aide, a mother of two, the only breadwinner in the house, qualified.

My mom was taken aback. This woman worked at a hospital after all. Mom asked about professional courtesy, asked about income and other supports, and then, quietly, but with some determination, told the aide how to get the help she needed for her two boys.
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Gabe Gonzalez is the National Director for the Campaign for Community Values at the Center for Community Change. The Campaign for Community Values brings together hundreds of diverse grassroots groups to win real victories for low-income communities, challenge the "on your own" mentality of the right and build a new politics for the common good.