At the debate tonight a woman in the audience asked Obama: "Should health care be treated as a commodity?"
The moral, ethical, and American answer is, "No."
Obama's answer? A laundry list of what his plan will do, but no answering of the question. His plan was laden with health care policies that co-exist the status quo. He missed an opportunity to explain that the health of our nation's citizens cannot be held hostage to a corporate profit motive.
He said that health care was a right, but how can a purchased "commodity" for only those who can afford it be a right?
Obama needs to clarify his answer.
The problem with the state of health care in this country (among other social issues) is that it's pegged to the bottom line of a corporation instead of the common good. If Obama is unable to attack an industry as large as the health care industry as a candidate, will he be willing to take it on in office?
I'd like to think that maybe he is, which is why I hope we hear more about health care from the Obama camp and they make it clear that the health of our nation can't be treated as a commodity.
If we don't hear this from the Obama campaign, a vote for Nader seems all the more likely.
(Bryan Young is the producer of Killer at Large)