Greg Livingston: Why don't our leaders speak out on health care cuts?
From Greg Livingston in Austin Weekly News:
The first line of this column posed the question, "Where is everybody?" The everybody I'm referring to are the Black and Latino political caucuses. Where are our Black and Latino State of Illinois elected officials? Why don't we see them caucusing before television cameras, demanding that the governor fight for the poor. Where are the state representatives and state senators? Are West Side preachers the only ones who are supposed to wage this battle?Well, they did just vote, and as Carl Nyberg writes,
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Our politicians must never forget that the people do have a voice.
It's called voting.
For all those people who bad-mouthed Stroger's Republican opponent Commissioner Anthony Peraica, it now looks like more clinics in the hood would have stayed open under Peraica.Before people band together into Livingston's caucuses Livingston might want to reflect on the nonsense said of Peraica during the campaign. Peraica put out a hand to those West Side Preachers but they didn't reach back in return. Maybe they wouldn't be in this lonely battle today if they had.
Where is everybody is the right question but it should be asked of many.
2 comments:
Among ethnic groups, African Americans have the lowest rate of uninsured in the state. In other words, African Americans are more likely to have some type of health insurance, private or public, than any other ethnic groups in Illinois.
African Americans attend public health clinics, but for many this is a matter of convenience rather than cost or uninsured status.After all, most public health clinics are located in areas with high African American populations as they have been there for decades...and decades ago African Americans were more likely to be uninsured than they are now.
The need for public health clinics is far greater downstate than it is in Chicago But you won't hear African American leaders talking about that. If there are free public health services for their communities they want to keep them, whether they need them or not. It's a power thing.
Can you back that first stat up with some statistics anon? How much is more likely i.e. 50/50, 8 out of 10? Show use you're numberate.
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