The following is a statement I submitted in hopes that it would be read at yesterday’s Health Care Rally in Omaha Nebraska. Despite my best efforts and those of other supporters it just was not possible and the voices of the disabled were left unheard yet again. That is why I have decided to publish thbe statement for the entire world to see.
Good afternoon fellow Patriots!
My name is Brian Donegan. I am the Chairman of the Can-Do Conservatives of America, a grassroots organization dedicated to giving a voice to the least represented group in the Conservative movement, the disabled. I am sorry I can’t be with y’all this afternoon but it is a long way from Georgia to Omaha on such short notice.
Just as this event was planned on short notice, the entire Health Care debate has been on short notice. Senator Reid’s attempt to ram this bill through as quickly as possible has prevented the American people from considering its ramifications. For example, though the provision to require insurance companies to cover all people, regardless of preexisting conditions, would seem to help people like me the most who cannot get coverage, we would ask a simple question: how can you cover an additional thirty million people with the same number of doctors and at the same time and spend less? Isn’t it more likely that when the money runs out, it will be the disabled and those with serious medical conditions who will be the first to have our benefits cut? We believe this bill actually holds down the very people it is supposed to give a hand up!
The health care debate has been of great concern to me because it is extremely personal to me. I was born 27 years ago legally blind, with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, and many other birth defects that I call “blessings.” My doctors and nurses tested me for every disease and disorder known to man back in 1982 but despite the fact that all of those tests came out negative, I was given six weeks to live, at best. They told my parents that if I did happen to live past six weeks that I would be a “vegetable.” At two months I developed pneumonia and my heart began to fail. I had to have emergency surgery but thanks to skill of my doctors, the love of my family, and the blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ, the surgery was successful and I am still here defying the long odds that I faced back then.
During the August recess I was able to attend a town hall meeting and I asked of my representative the same question I ask today. My burning question is that if we went “Back to the Future” and this bill that Pelosi, Reid, & Co. are trying to ram down our throats was law would the Government have deemed my life worth saving? The answer to that sobering question is sadly in the negative. That is why this issue is as personal as it gets to me.
We find ourselves aligned with Americans of all political persuasions: from Howard Dean, Keith Olberman, and the Daily Kos to independents and centrists to Rush Limbaugh and conservatives everywhere. The American people have spoken loud and clear: start the process over with open and honest debate. Any legislation that dramatically affects the life of every single American deserves at least as much, and legislation that risks the lives of society’s most vulnerable should be handled with the greatest care. That certainly doesn’t include “Dashing through the snow in a one (donkey) open sleigh” to pass the Senate version before Christmas, let alone on the eve of the most sacred of holidays.
Senator Nelson, please reconsider. 66% of Americans are opposed to the current bill. Voting for this monstrosity would not only be selling out your state, but your country as well. To my fellow Patriots, come what may we must not give up our fight! WE THE PEOPLE are in control. If not now, than at the ballot box next November!
Merry Christmas & may God bless the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America!
Brian Donegan
-Founder & Chairman, Can-Do Conservatives of America
