Doctor, my eyes tell me what is wrong

Steve Young, the ever so clever editorial writer for the Right Wing L.A. rag Daily News, writes something that, were it not almost true, might seem clever fiction:

Hasta la vista: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Sen. Sheila Kuehl's universal health care bill, saying he opposes government-run health medicine. "Unaffordable health insurance is not the fault of the health insurance companies, it's the fault of the people who can't afford health insurance," said the governor, who can afford to buy his own hospital. "If people want to make health coverage affordable, tell them to get less costly sicknesses."

Thing is, Schwarzenfartzen has had this to say about SB 840, written by long-time State Senator Sheila Kuehl:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced he will veto SB 840 (Kuehl), which would create a single-payer, government-run health care system. The following op-ed ran today in the San Diego Union Tribune:

I commend Sen. Sheila Kuehl’s commitment and dedication to providing health care coverage for all Californians, but I must veto SB 840 because I cannot support a government-run health care system.

Socialized medicine is not the solution to our state’s health care problems. This bill would require an extraordinary redirection of public and private funding by creating a vast new bureaucracy to take over health insurance and medical care for Californians – a serious and expensive mistake. Such a program would cost the state billions and lead to significant new taxes on individuals and businesses, without solving the critical issue of affordability. I won’t jeopardize the economy of our state for such a purpose.

Bastard! Sen. Kuehl's bill is not the dreaded "socialized medicine". As Sen. Kuehl points out:

“The reasoning behind the Governor’s opposition to universal health care is truly inaccurate, which is no surprise considering he has refused to meet to discuss the issue. If the Governor took a thoughtful look at SB 840 he would see that delivery of health care would remain exactly as it now is, public or private. The main difference is that under SB 840 every Californian would have been able to choose his/her own doctors and hospitals and there would have been no unreimbursed care.”

And remember, this is the Governator that proclaimed he wouldn't take contributions from "special interests":

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has received $775,200 from health insurers and HMOs and $1.08 million dollars from drug companies since 2003. For contribution lists compiled from campaign reports filed with the Secretary of State go to: http://www.ConsumerWatchdog.org/resources/Schwarzenegger_HMO_Pharma.pdf

I repeat: Bastard!

And he hates kids, doesn't want them to have health care:

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Friday vetoed two bills that would have expanded public health insurance programs for children, according to an Office of the Governor release (Office of the Governor release [1], 10/7).

One of the bills (AB 772) would have raised income eligibility for state health insurance programs to allow more children to enroll. The legislation also would have allowed the use of a single form to determine eligibility for subsidized school lunches and state health insurance programs. In addition, the bill would have made state health coverage available to undocumented immigrant children (California Healthline, 10/3).

Read more at the Health Care For All blog.