Yesterday, in the the three locations where these Barthogems appear, usually only on weekends, a portion of FDR's Four Freedoms speech was published, showing that less than a year from our entry into World War II, our greatest president was still reminding the country who we are and why we fight. The people who are now called tea partiers were, at the time, furiously doing what they could to prevent our entry into the war since, of course, a little fascism in Europe is not anything to get excited about.

A few years earlier, of course, the same sort was telling people that the enactment of the social security legislation was made possible by a government which did not support

an American form of government [but rather] one which at every sunrise finds its administrators facing east in worship of Karl Marx

They never go away, but at our best, neither do we.

So, since a post a day with any meaning at all is not possible from this side of the computer, we call upon our second guest blogger in this truly important week for our nation. He was, at the time he first "posted" this, the President of the United States and his name was Harry S Truman:

In my message to the Congress of September 6, 1945, there were enumerated in a proposed Economic Bill of Rights certain rights which ought to be assured to every American citizen.

One of them was: "The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health." Another was the "right to adequate protection from the economic fears of . .. sickness ...."

Millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. The time has arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and that protection....

People with low or moderate incomes do not get the same medical attention as those with high incomes. The poor have more sickness, but they get less medical care. People who live in rural areas do not get the same amount or quality of medical attention as those who live in our cities.

Our new Economic Bill of Rights should mean health security for all, regardless of residence, station, or race--everywhere in the United States.

We should resolve now that the health of this Nation is a national concern; that financial barriers in the way of attaining health shall be removed; that the health of all its citizens deserves the help of all the Nation....

The principal reason why people do not receive the care they need is that they cannot afford to pay for it on an individual basis at the time they need it. This is true not only for needy persons. It is also true for a large proportion of normally self-supporting persons.....

Everyone should have ready access to all necessary medical, hospital and related services.

I recommend solving the basic problem by distributing the costs through expansion of our existing compulsory social insurance system. This is not socialized medicine.

Everyone who carries fire insurance knows how the law of averages is made to work so as to spread the risk, and to benefit the insured who actually suffers the loss. If instead of the costs of sickness being paid only by those who get sick, all the people--sick and well--were required to pay premiums into an insurance fund, the pool of funds thus created would enable all who do fall sick to be adequately served without overburdening anyone. That is the principle upon which all forms of insurance are based....

A system of required prepayment would not only spread the costs of medical care, it would also prevent much serious disease. Since medical bills would be paid by the insurance fund, doctors would more often be consulted when the first signs of disease occur instead of when the disease has become serious. Modern hospital, specialist and laboratory services, as needed, would also become available to all, and would improve the quality and adequacy of care. Prepayment of medical care would go a long way toward furnishing insurance against disease itself, as well as against medical bills.

Yes, a longer portion of this thing was posted here last October, but it is well worth reading again as illustrating how unspeakably long a time has passed since our President first told us it was time to do something about this.

So, no, it is not time to start over with a fresh piece of paper. President Roosevelt put us on this path and President Truman told how to do this before this blogger took his first breath. Time's up. Let's do this.