Henry Waxman: The Moustache of Justice

On November 19, 1945 -- barely 6 months after the death of FDR, President Harry S. Truman gave a major address to both houses of Congress.  Unbelievably, his subject matter was neither war nor peace, economy nor education; it was the urgent need for a . . . NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM!  Yes, you read that correctly: a NATIONAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAM!  And this was 1945 . . . nearly 65 years ago. 

   In his speech, the president argued that the federal government should play a major role in health care, saying "The health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility."  After addressing five areas of concern -- including the lack of doctors, dentists and hospitals in rural and otherwise depressed areas of America -- Truman got to the controversial meat and potatoes of his talk: NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.  The plan that Truman outlined that day long ago called for a NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE fund, to be run by the federal government.  This fund would be open to all Americans, but would remain optional. 

 Truman's health care proposals came to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill, co-sponsored by Democratic senators Robert Wagner (NY) and James Murray (MT), and Representative John Dingell (MI).  For this reason, it was known popularly as the "W-M-D Bill."  (In light of the fact that today, "WMD" refers to  "Weapons of Mass Destruction," the acronym is more than a bit haunting.) Predictably, the AMA characterized the bill as "socialized medicine," and as a forshpize (Yiddish for "appetizer") to the rhetoric and inanity of McCarthyism, called Truman White House staffers "followers of the Moscow party line."  Eventually -- and despite his prescience -- Truman was forced to abandon the W-M-D bill. 

   Harry Truman was certainly not the last president or national political figure to seriously ponder or propose a system of NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE.  In the 1960s JKF and LBJ got America part of the way there with the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid -- two programs, which despite being disparaged in some circles as "socialized medicine," have both weathered the test of time.  In the 1990s then-First Lady Hillary Clinton came up with an ambitious NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE proposal which, due to a series of clumsy, ham-handed political maneuvers, died  not with a bang, but rather a whimper. 

   Now, after many years of relative silence, a NATIONAL HEALTH CARE proposal has made its way back to center stage.  But this time it feels different; this time it has a couple of added ingredients:

• A widely supportive American public, a growing percentage of which, can no longer afford health insurance.
• A highly popular, politically deft president who is willing to spend a good portion of his "personality capital" on behalf of something he believes in his heart of hearts is "a right, not a luxury." 
• A business community that is not quite as vociferous or venomous in its opposition as in times past.
• A loud-mouthed opposition that is finding fewer and fewer takers for its dire warnings of "socialized medicine" and other slippery-slope prognostications; and last but certainly not least,
• Representative Henry Waxman.

   How's that?  Henry Waxman?  Why Henry Waxman?

   Henry Waxman has been involved in health issues ever since 1969 -- the year he was appointed to the California State Assembly Health Committee.  A member of Congress for 35 years, Henry is, to my way of thinking as a Congressional historian, one of the five most important and significant people ever to serve in that body -- and that's out of more than 11,000.  It is also likely that Henry Waxman has been responsible for more successful health care legislation than anyone in American history. He has been the sponsor of such measures as:

• The Ryan White CARE Act.
• The Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality and Prevention Act.
• The Safe Medical Devices Act.
• The Orphan Drug Act.

   Over the years, Representative Waxman has successfully led the fight for improved prenatal and infant care for low-income families, and for more services in the community for people needing long-term care.  He has been an advocate for prescription drug coverage in Medicare for people with high drug expenses, and has long pushed for a system of NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE. And now, as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Waxman may finally see his dream come true.

  Ironically, the man Waxman replaced as chair of the committee --  the legendary John Dingell, Jr., -- is the son of the representative who sponsored President Truman's original HEALTHCARE PROPOSAL back in 1945. (The Dingells, pere et fils, have represented Michigan's 15th District since 1933. John Jr., first elected to replace his deceased father in 1955, has now served in Congress longer than anyone in American history.)  Unlike John Dingell, Jr., whom President Bush once called the "biggest pain in the ass" on Capitol Hill, Henry Waxman is well-liked, well-respected, and well-known not only for his tough, principled stands, but for his relentless investigations.  Turn on the TV news almost any night, and there will be Henry Waxman, investigating everything from the use of steroids in Major League Baseball, electrical problems in Iraq, governmental secrecy, and U.S. trade agreements, to military contracts, Medicare fraud and "shortcomings in the third-party food safety audits performed on behalf of the Peanut Corporation of America." If there is one common thread in the myriad issues that capture Representative Waxman's attention, it is justice.  As a short, myopic, unprepossessing man who grew up over his parents' grocery store in a Jewish section of Los Angeles and now -- ironically -- represents some of the richest, most glamorous folks in the world (his district includes Beverly Hills), Henry Waxman has always been on the side of the little person.  To some, he is a self-serving political pariah; for many, he is both a revelation and a legend.  Even Waxman's moustache has a nickname: the "Moustache of Justice."    

   To be certain, there are those who proclaim Waxman to be nothing more than a diabolic, demagogic Democrat -- a man who can barely contain his enthusiasm for having the government "take over" everything from the day-to-day operation of G.M. to health care.  According to these finger-pointers, if Waxman and "his kind" have their way, then health care will become "substandard, subordinate, and apportioned . . . just like Canada and Britain," and "it will be up to some petty bureaucrat whether or not you can see a specialist." Funny, they never say anything about the insurance company wage-slaves who do the same thing -- for the sake of corporate profit.

   The lack of affordable health care has gone beyond the crisis stage in America.  Nearly 50 million of us go without; even a basic HMO-insurance plan now costs more per month than the mortgage on a quarter-million dollar home.  And for many within this group, the only place they can go when they become ill or fall victim to an accident is to the emergency room at the local hospital -- where medical care is not always the best, generally it is the most costly and is always covered by the entire community. Then again, how about all those "preexisting conditions" that health insurers won't cover?  Isn't it wonderful to learn that although they absolutely will not cover you for the high-blood pressure, bad back or digestive tract problems you've had [and could be in remission], they will gladly pay all the costs for anyone contracting Chistosomiasis, Dengue Fever or the Yaws?

   For too many years, our leaders, our legislators, were scared away from promoting -- let alone enacting -- meaningful NATIONAL HEALTH CARE legislation by that great phalanx of lobbyists and interest groups that could make or break them.  And, for far too many of the uninsured, they were told in so many words that NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE was something straight out of the Marx and Engels rule book. Or, if not "socialistic," then a luxury that  one could either work hard enough to afford -- like a Cadillac -- or else admit that the lack of was their own damn fault.   Well, times and understandings have changed.

   Thanks to people like Barack Obama and Henry Waxman, word is fast getting around that NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE is a right, not a luxury.  Thanks to a new generation of activists, NATIONAL HEALTH COVERAGE is going to be enacted.  Thanks to "we the people," the dream of Harry Truman is going to become a reality.  And who knows; perhaps Representative George Miller (CA) and Senator Chris Dodd (CT) will join Henry and make up the new "W-M-D Bill."

   My money is on Henry, so please, let us all pray for the health and the success of the Moustache of Justice.

©2009 Kurt F. Stone

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Comments

[Art G]

Maybe THIS time we can wax(man)poetically about National Health Insurance.

[Robert]

I liked this article a lot, I also liked Waxman very nuch without knowing so much about him. I wish him lots of luck in ALL his endeavours.

[DBB]

Viva the moustache of justice!
Enjoyed the history lesson. Have always had a good opinion of Henry W.
This time, let's get the job done!
Kind thoughts for your well being. You do such good work.

[Alan Weiss]

Young people are claiming (rightly so) that Medicare is breaking the country's back. The price of health care is through the roof (just ask the author). A great portion of the world is using programs similar to what he is proposing. I believe it can work here.