My letter to Congressman Tim Johnson, in response to his health-care op-ed

Tim Johnson is a run-of-the-mill Republican who represents east-central Illinois. He is most famous in this district for not showing up to votes, and because of ludicrous gerrymandering, manages to comfortably carry his district every year, a district which comprises true-blue Urbana-Champaign, but also a large swath of ultra-conservative Indiana border towns.

I always vote against Tim Johnson, but never really gave him much thought, because he never says or does anything. Until I saw this op-ed on his website:

http://timjohnson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=29§iontree=7,29&itemid=264

He is my congressman, and he is paid - and receives a cushy guaranteed healthcare plan - to represent MY interests. So I wrote him a letter.




Dear Mr. Johnson,

I was just directed to your op-ed about healthcare reform, and, being your constituent, was quite concerned to see where you stand. I am sorry to say that you, sir, are a fool, and a callous one at that. I won't even address the numerous and tawdry lies in your op-ed; study after study after reputable, objective study has shown that Americans pay FAR more and receive FAR less benefit for their money than every single other industrialized, advanced country in the world. America only has the "best health care system in the world" for people like you - people who are guaranteed insurance because of their personal wealth or their employer. As a taxpayer, *I* pay for *your* insurance - how is that socialized healthcare working out for you, Mr. Johnson? And yet you would begrudge people like myself the exact same opportunity for quality care that you receive? For shame. Hypocrisy at its finest.

I have a pre-existing heart condition, Mr. Johnson. I am 24 years old and I was born with a congenital heart defect. I will *never*, under our current system whose praises you sing so effusively, be able to afford insurance on my own - assuming I'm even *offered* it, which is not likely due to the for-profit HMO tendency to deny coverage for people like me. The only prayer I have of receiving the quality care of which you speak is to get a job which offers unconditional health care - in other words, a job like yours, in which I too can live off the benevolence of taxpayers.

I don't expect you to care about my plight - you have made it abundantly clear, through your words, that you do not. I wish I could at least persuade you to realize what a stark and appalling hypocrite you are, but I have no doubt that my words will fall on deaf ears. But it is my absolute duty as an American citizen, as YOUR constituent, to make my voice heard. YOU represent ME. NOT the insurance companies. NOT the Republican Party. ME. And if you are derelict in your duties, then I will do everything in my power to remove you from office.

I sincerely beseech you to do the right thing for your constituents and for America and help pass health care reform. This has NOTHING to do with politics, liberals, conservatives, Obama, or the Democratic or Republican parties. It has to do with JUSTICE. What kind of nation are we? The kind that allows the poor, the middle class, and the sick to die while the wealthy and elite receive the lion's share of our "world class care"? Or the kind of nation that believes that the right to life should not be determined by a person's financial worth?

You might consider sending that letter to your local newspaper, too.

Unfortunately, you're right. I doubt he will care, but have you considered sending it as a letter to the editor with just a light tuning to see if they published it. It is important to people to hear about real stories.

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

:applause:

:dem:

-Laelth

and to the paper which published the op-ed

:kick: