Obama's Call

Barack Obama says that all American’s have a right to health care. He uses the story of his Mom’s battle with ovarian cancer as a justification for his position. He and Michelle both utilize the picture of his fifty-three year old mother arguing on the phone with the insurance company as the backdrop for their position. They explain that no one in that situation should have to spend their last days on earth convincing their insurance company to cover their medical costs, and they are right. No one should have to do that.

I find the picture that Michelle and Barack Obama paint to be an indictment, but not an indictment of the healthcare industry; not an indictment of insurance companies. No, the picture of this deathly, sick woman, battling ovarian cancer, arguing on the phone with her insurance is an indictment of her son and his wife.

Why was he, this educated, well spoken, successful man watching his mother's struggle. Why was he not on the phone himself, why wasn’t he helping to pay for the care of his dying mother? Why were they by-standards to the injustice they felt his mother to be suffering, when both of them have law degrees from prestigious schools?

The picture is meant to stir sympathy for this dying woman and her plight; meant to shame insurance companies around the country; meant to point a finger at those in the healthcare industry, but what it really does is to reveal the character of Barack Obama. He chose to let his mother fight her own fight, even while he was on the streets of Chicago telling others to stand up for injustice. He presents himself as a defender of the weak, as the righter of injustice, yet he never puts himself on the line. He organizes other, but stays out of the fray, allowing those weaker than himself to stand on the front lines, fighting for themselves.

Is it really the responsibility of a faceless person on the other end of a phone to care for all the needs of the person they are talking to, or does that responsibility fall on the shoulders of the son or daughter actually sitting in the room with their sick parent?

Liberals like to attack institutions for not caring, for not taking care of the needs of people, but the amazing thing is that they themselves walk by those in need. Joe Biden said paying taxes is patriotic, Obama wants to tax those making over $250,000 a year in order to make the playing field even for others, but neither man gives freely of his own wealth to those in need. Based on the tax returns the Obamas released, they gave only 1% of their income in charitable giving from 2000-04. In 2005-06, they contributed 5% of their income. That number was said to increase in 2007, but the returns for that year have not yet been released.
Compared to the frugal, Scrooge-like giving of Joe Biden, the Obamas look like Santa Clause. Joe Biden, in a ten-year period, contributed a total of $3690 to charity. Even though, the Biden’s would be considered one of the wealthiest 1% by their own campaign, because they make over $250,000 a year.

Biden's Adjusted Gross Income Charity

1998 $215,432 $195
1999 $210,797 $120
2000 $219,953 $360
2001 $220,712 $360
2002 $227,811 $260
2003 $231,375 $260
2004 $234,271 $380
2005 $321,379 $380
2006 $248,459 $380
2007 $319,853 $995
Total $2,450,042 $3,690

These men decry the lack of care showed for the poor in our nation, they demand healthcare for every citizen, they criticize the educational system and yet, neither man opens up their own wallets to feed the poor, to provide healthcare for the members of their own families, or to aid another in their pursuit of a higher education. They deny their personal responsibility, yet attack those who fulfill their personal responsibility to those around them. They believe themselves to be modern day Robin Hoods, taking from the rich to give to the poor, yet they won’t even reach into their own pockets.

Barack Obama’s Mom should not have spent her last hours on earth fighting with the insurance company. Her son should have taken care of that for her, he should have been her community organizer, he should have been the one on the phone.