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2005 Seattle Elections General Elections Voters' Guide Health Care Advisory Ballot Measure Statement For Our "Yes!" vote on Advisory Ballot Measure No. 1 will drive home to our elected representatives from City Hall to Washington, DC, that the people of Seattle consider quality health care the right of everyone in the United States. Not a privilege, restricted to people with insurance, but the birthright of every man, woman and child. This is a totally new use of the ballot. No measure quite like this has ever before been presented to the electorate. We, the people of Seattle, have a dramatic opportunity to sound a call for action that will resonate throughout the land. In Abraham Lincoln's phrase, this measure is "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Recognizing what nearly everyone now acknowledges, that our health care system is in deepening crisis, the Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans and Health Care for All -- Washington launched a bold initiative. These two low-budget organizations, staffed entirely by volunteers, conceived of a way to give all Seattle an opportunity to endorse the idea of health care as a right. People at the grassroots gathered more than 11,500 signatures of Seattle residents on petitions in support of this fundamental principle. A grassroots delegation presented the petitions to our City Council and won their unanimous agreement to place the measure on the ballot. No profit-oriented special interest had any part in this endeavor. We in the United States spend more per capita on health care than any other nation. Yet 48 million of our people are uninsured. Other millions find the coverage offered by their employers eroding or disappearing entirely. Millions confront continually rising out-of-pocket costs -- premiums, co-pays and deductibles. City, county, state and federal governments labor to keep abreast of health care's budget-busting inflation. Deepening public concern has given rise to widely differing corrective proposals. This ballot measure takes no position for or against any of these proposals. Instead, it provides the people of Seattle with an historic opportunity to initiate a nation-wide movement for a solution -- a movement directed toward action by the federal government, which alone has resources commensurate to the task. Health care is indeed a right. With Advisory Ballot Measure No. 1, we can take a pioneering first step toward making this right a reality throughout the land. Every "Yes" vote on Advisory Ballot Measure No. 1 adds weight to this grassroots citizen mandate for action. Statement prepared by: Will Parry, Steve Williamson, and Brian King Rebuttal to Statement For By "universal health care," proponents mean they want higher taxes and more regulation rather than choices. But in a free country, who should make your health care decisions… politicians, or you? Please vote "NO." Rebuttal prepared by: The Libertarian Party of King County |
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