A hat tip to the FiberNet Monticello homepage as source of this quote:
I therefore lay down the following principle: That where a community, a city or county or a district - is not satisfied with the service rendered or the rates charged by the private utility, it has the undeniable basic right, as one of its functions of Government, one of its functions of home rule, to set up, after a fair referendum to its voters has been had, its own governmentally owned and operated service. That right has been recognized in a good many of the States of the Union. Its general recognition by every State will hasten the day of better service and lower rates. It is perfectly clear to me, and to every thinking citizen, that no community which is sure that it is now being served well, and at reasonable rates by a private utility company, will seek to build or operate its own plant. But on the other hand the very fact that a community can, by vote of the electorate, create a yardstick of its own, will, in most cases, guarantee good service and low rates to its population. I might call the right of the people to own and operate their own utility something like this, a “birch rod” in the cupboard to be taken out and used only when the “child” gets beyond the point where a mere scolding does no good.
By: Franklin D. Roosevelt, September 21, 1932 Portland Speech
While that is in the context of having a "public option" for utility services available, as a means to keep the privately owned service providers honest, it fits healthcare, now. And while a national public option and not local community alternatives is called for to unify and fix the healthcare mess, nonetheless, seventy-five or so years after Roosevelt spoke, the words resonate as true now as then. And true for our nation, into the future. Roosevelt was onto something we all can see as obvious, yet, he said it so purely.
_____________UPDATE____________
I have criticized thousand page bills.
This site post, commenting on the Baucus committee's butchery; links to a committee posting of proposed amendments; here; a 348 page long smörgåsbord.
Then, this site post, cleanly summarizes things and links to the Baucus mark up, here, a mere 223 pages long; i.e., shorter by over a hundred single-space pages than the tedious string of dilatory amendments by the GOP together with the fewer reform amendments from Dem committee members.
571 pages, total.
Then, the previous link's author trenchently notes,
"Take a look at the Social Security Act of 1935 — cut and paste and put into Word (12 point Times New Roman), it’s a mere 33 pages long."
I welcome any reader wanting to email or post a comment in defense of the current bunch, their bunk, and the wordiness in which they hide their extreme collective mediocrity.
Or you can say I am too judgmental.
However, remember that I have 33 time tested pages vs 223 + 348 = 571 pages, in my favor.
I urge readers to search the web to learn the meaning of "death by a thousand cuts."
Make that death by a thousand paper cuts. Our congress, single digit public approval ratings and all.
__________FURTHER UPDATE_________
Remember the single sentence answer, "Medicare is made available to all citizens."
Or it can read, "Any citizen not satisfied with current provision for his or her healthcare, or for his or her family's healthcare, can, regardless of age, opt to enroll in Medicare for its coverage."
Then spend all the huffing and puffing on Medicare reform. For example, this past reform of Medicare, is suggestive of how the drug companies can be handled. It was fixing something wrong in the package, without accompanying sound and fury signifying nothing.
(links here and here)