Just a week ago Republican candidate, Rick Santorum left his campaign and did what any parent would do, be there with his daughter. Santorum's daughter Bella, was hospitalized and I am not sure what the reason was. This is a private matter for the family. The reason I bring this up is when I heard the report, I quickly said a prayer for little, Bella and the Santorum family. This is not a political response, it is the response that all parents have when they hear about a child suffering. We all care about each other, but care even more deeply when a child is involved.
Yesterday I was shocked to hear Santorum's response to a woman at one of his rallies. This lady was sharing the fact that her child is going through treatments for cancer and while the child has receiving chemo, she listened to the mothers of other children and heard about the struggles they were going through to pay for the life giving treatments. Mr. Santorum had a smirk cross his face and then gave a very heartfelt , at least from his standpoint, answer. He stated that it is wrong to have the drug companies have to sell their products at a loss. He went into a discussion about the idea that a company should be able to expect a good profit and return for their money. He pointed out that the companies spend money to develop and make a drug and should see a profit. Seriously, your response to a child dying is to lecture on the need for profits. I understand that the viability of the drug companies are what drives them investing in newer and life saving drugs, but that is also the problem. These companies receive federal funds to make the drugs. They then, after using some of our money to develop the drug, turn around and charge enough money to have huge profits for them. They even sell the same drugs to patients in other countries at a smaller price then we can get here in America.
I am not writing today about the profits of drug companies, I am writing about the callous far right and Rick Santorum. He has run his campaign proclaiming to be the family, Christian values, Republican. Where did Christ talk about, letting people die, so profits for the rich and companies would go up. This must have been another sermon I missed! Where are your Christian values, Mr. Santorum? I would like you to think about one thing. Imagine how you would feel if you had to look at your wife and little Bella and say, "I am sorry but the money is not there to save you." How would you feel? Can you even begin to have that thought in your mind? Could you sit there and know your daughter would die, because it is not fair to the drug companies and their profits? I sincerely hope that you never have to face that for your precious, Bella, but I would also hope that you would work to make sure that no parents had to face their child and deal with them dying because of profits. Everyday in this country, parents and families loose small helpless children because, the health care companies and the drug companies care more about profits then lives. I think it is about time that the hypocritical right wing Christians start to actually live by the standards that Jesus set and start to help the average citizen to deal with these issues. Otherwise Mr. Santorum, I suggest you get a transplant and hopefully get a heart that actually cares.
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