Concerned Citizens of Brooksby invite former governor to speak

By Chris Shott
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

The man who would have been President of the United States two decades ago has a new message for Americans today—our nation’s health care system is busted and needs to be fixed.

Michael Dukakis, former three-term Governor of Massachusetts and the Democratic Party’s unsuccessful candidate for President in 1988 (he was defeated by George H.W. Bush), delivered that message recently to an overflow gathering of people in the McIntosh Clubhouse at Brooksby Village.

During a one-hour speech entitled “Health Care in America Today: What’s Right and What’s Wrong,” Dukakis said little is right and much is wrong about a system that he said should provide all Americans with comprehensive health insurance coverage.

“Every American should ask: ‘How can every advanced industrialized nation in the world today offer its citizens comprehensive health care insurance at costs 50% lower than Americans pay and with better results than we get?’ Our health care system is complicated, confusing, and crazy,” Dukakis told the crowd.

Concerned Citizens of Brooksby
Dukakis was invited to speak on campus by Concerned Citizens of Brooksby Village, a group dedicated to promoting the values of the national Democratic Party and independent voters through public presentations by notable political figures.

“He was splendid and we had such a great turnout,” says Joan Smith, who lives at Brooksby and is a member of Concerned Citizens. “Everyone here was focused on the topic he was discussing.”

‘Public utility’
Dukakis said the American system is laden with bureaucracy and rising administrative expenses, both of which impact costs to taxpayers and availability of services. He said health care should be treated as a “public utility” in the U.S., replete with government controls and regulations, to reduce costs for those insured and expand coverage to uninsured people.