Stand and Deliver Indeed

What a profound coincidence that on the very day the House is voting on groundbreaking health care legislation, I came across an LA Times article about Jaime Escalante, the famed Los Angeles math teacher that was immortalized in the film Stand and Deliver. The teacher is battling bladder cancer and his family has run out of money to pay his medical bills. Now, the actors from the movie, including the man that played him, Edward James Olmos, are trying to raise money to pay for his care.

Actors paying medical bills? If this is not a wake-up call about how broken our health care system is, I don’t know what more evidence we need. Jaime Escalante taught and inspired inner-city kids to think about themselves beyond their gang-riddled neighborhoods. He led them to pass the AP Calculus test, not an easy thing to do, even for the brightest students in America. Now, he sits in a hospital in Reno, hoping that the generosity of Hollywood can give him the care he needs.

Just during the past few days, I’ve heard anecdote after personal anecdote about how incredibly expensive it is becoming for ordinary middle class families to pay for the most basic health care. The list is long and horrifying: $600 prescriptions, life-saving procedures denied as unnecessary (a three month old baby with a heart condition!) and 40-50% price hikes on plans in California.

I just watched a GOP congressman on the floor of the House argue that America used to be great because they required their citizens to be self-reliant, to pay their way to get their entitlements. I guess this guy’s parents are ripping up their Social Security checks and not using their Medicare benefits. These, my mentally challenged friend, are single-payer systems. If those who stand against this bill truly are standing on principal, each of them should have their parents relinquish their benefits as part of a socialist system. Each of them should have to pay full price for every procedure, every pill, every check-up they need. Each of them should have to pay out of pocket to help their parents navigate retirement with costs rising on everything from groceries, to gas to electricity.

Stand and deliver indeed. Let’s hope that our legislators have the courage to make the sweeping change that is needed for all Americans, including Jaime Escalante.

Barbara Bush Promotes Precious

There was a time that I NEVER thought I would utter the words Barbara Bush is cool. My fascination with her began in 1993 when she gave the commencement address at my graduation from Pepperdine. Far from an old biddy in a polyester skirt suit, she was warm, effusive, self-deprecating and dare I say it again, COOL! She even hi-fived a couple of our basketball players (Doug Kristy amongst them!) on their way off the stage.

I just read an article that she wrote for Newsweek where she endorses the movie Precious. Yes, that’s Precious, the movie produced by Oprah and Tyler Perry about a 300 lb black teenage girl who is abused by her mother and impregnated by her father and finds redemption in learning how to read and write. Barbara Bush heads up her own literacy foundation which has given more than 700 grants for literacy programs nationwide. While her commitment to literacy is certainly admirable, the idea that she would be so open to a story like Precious completely blows my mind.

Now, for all of you who thought I could never pay tribute to a member of the GOP, let alone dedicate a blog post to them, I go on record saying that Barbara Bush is one cool lady.

Have they lost their minds?

Watching the President address a special joint session of Congress last night on health care I was reminded why so many politicians are loathed by Americans. I have never witnessed a group of more petulant, arrogant, rude and downright unruly people in my life. Grown men scowling, waving papers, shouting “You Lie!” These wingnuts have lost their minds! Has anyone ever seen this level of disrespect in our government? Articulate, draft a counterproposal, argue your points but don’t sit in chamber with your GOP friends and act like complete hooligans. It was like watching one of those English soccer matches gone bad. I am horrified. The GOP has become less than a joke. They now represent a party of legislators that exist only to tear things down and risk the future of this country.

During the primaries, the GOP stirred up a hornet’s nest when they saw that the then candidate for President, Barack Obama wasn’t wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. Given what I witnessed last night, I cannot understand how they could have ever questioned his patriotism.