NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE
 

I’ve just flown in from Exuma where we had two huge rallies tonight.

I wish you could have been there.

I wish you could have been there to see for yourself just how ready all of Exuma is for May 2nd.

I went to Exuma to deliver a message but the people of Exuma gave me a message too.

And the message they gave me to bring back is simply this: we’ve come too far to turn back now!

That’s why the PLP is not only going to win Exuma.  The PLP is going to win it big!
 
And that’s the way it is all across our country, wherever I go.  The Bahamian people are sending the message that there can be no turning back!

No! Forward we must go!  Forward with the PLP!

Forward ever, backward never!

And so, my friends, I have come here tonight, to let you know what this upcoming election is about.

I have come here to talk to you briefly about the big choice that every voter faces on May 2nd.

And here’s the choice:  Do you want to go forward or backward?

It’s as simple as that.

Over the last five years, we’ve made a lot of progress and we’re determined to keep this country moving forward so it can work even better for every Bahamian.

The FNM, on the other hand, represents the past.

And let us not forget that they had their day!  They had their time!  They had 10 long years!  And they didn’t get the job done.

That’s why there can be no turning back!   Not now……….not ever again!

Yes, this is a critical election.  And yes, we’ve made tremendous progress under the PLP over the past five years.
 
Economic growth has surged to new heights.  Job creation is way up.  Unemployment is way down.  The international rating agencies have given your PLP government an “A” grade for managing the economy so successfully.

We have brought Family Island economies back from the dead, and in just five years we have made it possible for more Bahamians to own their own affordable homes than the FNM was able to do in its entire 10 years.

Yes, we have made tremendous strides in the last five years and we want to do even more in the next five years!

One of the things we need to do in our second term is the one thing I want to talk about tonight because it’s really so vitally important.

It’s National Health Insurance.

We passed the National Health Insurance legislation.  We have laid the foundation for National Health Insurance.  And in our next term, we will make it a reality.  I promise you that.

We have to!  We must!

If we don’t do it, nobody else will, that’s for sure!

Let’s be clear about this: we, in the PLP, are irrevocably committed to making National Health Insurance a reality in our next term.

But let’s also be clear about something else:  the FNM has not made the same commitment.  That’s because deep down they really don’t believe in National Health Insurance.

That’s because deep down they believe in a dog-eat-dog, every-man-for-himself kind of society.

How can any of us forget Brent Symonette’s famous speech about “market-forces” having to prevail over trying to save jobs for poor, struggling Bahamians.

But that’s the FNM philosophy.

Today I was looking at the FNM’s campaign brochure – the one their candidates have been handing out door- to- door.

This is the brochure that summarizes what the FNM intends to do if they get elected.

I went looking in the FNM brochure for National Health Insurance but couldn’t find it.

I used those same binoculars they say they were using to try to find all those billion of dollars in new investment under the PLP.

I used those same binoculars and couldn’t find a thing about National Health Insurance in the FNM’s campaign handout.

What I did find, though, was a vague reference to “effective health insurance”.  What does that mean?  What is that word “effective” all about?

I’ll tell you what it means.  It means nothing.  Just empty words…..words that are so ambiguous the FNM can always come along later and say they meant something else.

And that’s because deep down they simply don’t believe in National Health Insurance to begin with.

The PLP philosophy is different.  But that’s because we are – and have always been – the party of social compassion in this country.

We see hurt and we try to heal.

We see need and we try to help.

That’s the PLP way.  And that’s what sets us apart from the FNM.

That’s why this National Health Insurance initiative is so important.  Literally, it’s a matter of life and death.

We believe that access to health care should be a right, not a privilege.

We believe that whether you get better or stay sick should not depend on whether you have money in the bank or not.

We believe that whether you live or die should not depend on whether you have private insurance coverage or not.

Too many people in this country – this same country that God has blessed so abundantly with the riches of this world – too many of our people are simply dying because they don’t have the money or the insurance to stay alive.

That’s cruel!

That’s a moral outrage!
 
That’s a national disgrace!

There has to be a better way!

And there is a better way.  And that better way is called National Health Insurance.

It’s the only way we can create a society in which the poor man, the low-income woman, and the middle-class child has the same right and the same chance that the rich man has to get the best of medical care when he gets sick.

We have to do it.  We must!

That’s why I will not rest until every Bahamian has access to high-quality, affordable health care, including major medical care, under a properly funded, well-regulated scheme of National Health Insurance.

We have to do it!  And we will do it in our second term!

That’s why it’s so important to vote PLP.

That’s why it’s so important to keep moving forward with the PLP and not turn back.

We have to keep moving forward on things like national health insurance.  The FNM will only take us backward. They’ll roll back the progress we’ve been making in the lives of ordinary Bahamians – those who really need our help because they can’t do it on their own.

But be on your guard: don’t underestimate the forces that want to take us backward.

You can already see that Ingraham and the FNM will say and do just about anything to try to get back into power.

But on May 2nd, you have the power to send them a message.

By voting for the PLP on May 2nd, you will be sending your own, personal message:  “FORWARD EVER, BACKWARD NEVER!”

By voting for your PLP candidate on May 2nd, you will be sending your personal message: “I’VE MADE MY CHOICE -- I’M MOVING FORWARD. I’M NEVER TURNING BACK!”

Yes, we’re moving forward.  And if you think we’ve made great strides already, just wait and see the even greater things we will accomplish in our second term.

In our second term, we have an ‘Action Agenda’ that will expand our economy, increase job growth and take Bahamian empowerment to new heights.   We’ll strengthen health care through National Health Insurance, and we’ll crack down on crime and step up our fight against illegal immigration.

You’ll be hearing more about our plans for these, and all the other important issues, when we officially unveil our election platform on Monday.

Yes, we’ve only just begun!

This has been a great evening of fellowship for all of us.  The spirit of love among us is something that warms every heart that is here.  But I want you to listen very carefully to me now.

This campaign is far from over.  Don’t celebrate yet.  You can do that on the night of May 2nd but between now and then, there’s still a lot of work to do, a lot of ground to cover.  So don’t fall asleep at the wheel and don’t take anything for granted.

Be on your toes and hold your head.

And, let me stress once again, how important it is for all of you to keep the peace.  I don’t care how much they may provoke you, keep your cool and keep your head.

Don’t get in anybody’s way, don’t pick any fights.  And if anybody tries to pick a fight with you, just walk away.

And I call upon Mr. Ingraham to give the same admonition to his own supporters.

There’s something else I want to leave with you tonight, and it’s this: make it your mission over the next two weeks to tell every voting member of your family, all your friends on the job, everyone you know, about why this election is so important.

Let them know that they have to make a simple choice but a big one.

Ask them whether they want to keep going forward or whether they want to turn back.

Ask them whether they want to go forward to a deepening of the social contract through initiatives like National Health Insurance, or whether they want to turn back.

Ask them whether they want the march of economic prosperity to continue forward or whether they want to turn back.

Tell them, tell your family and friends; tell them that we’ve come too far to turn back now.

Tell them that there is only one way to go, and that way is forward, not backward but forward; forward with the PLP….forward all the way!
 
FORWARD EVER, BACKWARD NEVER!

I Love you all!