--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Liberal that I am, I support health-care…" description: "\"Liberal that I am, I support health-care reform on its merits alone. My liberal blood boils, for example, when I read that half of the personal bankrup..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/261/thomas-frank-4078_alone_liberal-that-i-am-i-support-health-care_1519503.jpg" --- # Liberal that I am, I support health-care reform on its… ![“Liberal that I am, I support health-care reform on its merits alone. My liberal blood boils, for example, when I read that half of the personal bankruptcies in this country are brought on, in part, by medical expenses.” quote by Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/261/thomas-frank-4078_alone_liberal-that-i-am-i-support-health-care_1519503.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/261/thomas-frank-4078_alone_liberal-that-i-am-i-support-health-care_1519503.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/261/thomas-frank-4078_alone_liberal-that-i-am-i-support-health-care_1519503.jpg) > “Liberal that I am, I support health-care reform on its merits alone. My liberal blood boils, for example, when I read that half of the personal bankruptcies in this country are brought on, in part, by medical expenses.” [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Health‑care reform should be judged on its own merits, not partisan bias, especially as medical costs cause personal bankruptcies. **In simple terms:** Judge health reform by facts, not politics. Key Takeaway Support policies that reduce medical debt. Themes healthcare justice economics Mood analytical concerned Type policy social When to use this quote - legislative advocacy - community health programs - financial counseling Key Concepts policy analysis social equity Questions to Reflect On - How can we separate ideology from health policy? - What reforms best protect vulnerable patients? A Different Perspective Partisan debates can obscure real impacts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alone/) [Bankruptcy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bankruptcy/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [Health care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health-care/) [Health care reform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health-care-reform/) [Liberal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal/) [Medical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medical/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Reform](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reform/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) ## Related quotes > [Many of us believe that we need health care reform. That being said - Americans felt like they weren't being listened to. There were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-of-us-believe-that-we-need-health-care-reform-that-being-said/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Only in America does 'health' 'care' 'reform' begin with the hiring of 16,500 new IRS agents tasked with determining whether your insurance policy merits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/only-in-america-does-health-care-reform-begin-with-the-hiring-of-16/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [It's been a mystery to me and a disappointment why conversation about health care reform hasn't turned more attention to the subject of food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/it-s-been-a-mystery-to-me-and-a-disappointment-why-conversation-about/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [Democrats believe we must have comprehensive health care reform that includes giving the federal government authority to negotiate lower prices with drug companies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-clyburn/democrats-believe-we-must-have-comprehensive-health-care-reform-that/) [Jim Clyburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-clyburn/) > [One of the best aspects of health care reform is it starts to emphasize prevention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-wojcicki/one-of-the-best-aspects-of-health-care-reform-is-it-starts-to/) [Anne Wojcicki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-wojcicki/) > [Furthermore, we believe that health care reform, again I said at the beginning of my remarks, that we sent the three pillars that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pelosi/furthermore-we-believe-that-health-care-reform-again-i-said-at-the/) [Nancy Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pelosi/) > [What can defeat health care reform? Polls - or more specifically, Democratic politicians misreading them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neera-tanden/what-can-defeat-health-care-reform-polls-or-more-specifically/) [Neera Tanden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neera-tanden/) > [During the summer of 2009, the debate on health care reform was emotional and intense. At its best, it represented the free exchange of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chellie-pingree/during-the-summer-of-2009-the-debate-on-health-care-reform-was/) [Chellie Pingree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chellie-pingree/) > [After a century of striving, after a year of debate, after a historic vote, health care reform is no longer an unmet promise. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/after-a-century-of-striving-after-a-year-of-debate-after-a-historic/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [We will have health care reform in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-durbin/we-will-have-health-care-reform-in-america/) [Dick Durbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-durbin/) > [I think health care reform is challenging and challenged. We will see what happens, but this is a difficult topic that touches every American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-blunt/i-think-health-care-reform-is-challenging-and-challenged-we-will-see/) [Roy Blunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-blunt/) > [Yes, I do agree we need health care reform; however, this bill badly misses the mark. Congress can and must do better for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mica/yes-i-do-agree-we-need-health-care-reform-however-this-bill-badly/) [John Mica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mica/) > [I believe in health care reform. I don't believe in the way this bill was passed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-manchin/i-believe-in-health-care-reform-i-don-t-believe-in-the-way-this-bill/) [Joe Manchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-manchin/) > [ This \[health care reform\] cannot pass. What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-bachmann/this-health-care-reform-cannot-pass-what-we-have-to-do-today-is-make/) [Michele Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-bachmann/) > [Opponents of health care reform would take away consumer protections - siding with the insurance industry instead of the middle class. We can't afford…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sander-levin/opponents-of-health-care-reform-would-take-away-consumer-protections/) [Sander Levin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sander-levin/) ## More by Thomas Frank > [I was in a bad mood when I wrote that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/i-was-in-a-bad-mood-when-i-wrote-that/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“above all, intellectual. Anti-intellectualism is one of the grand unifying themes of the backlash, the mutant strain of class war that underpins so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/above-all-intellectual-anti-intellectualism-is-one-of-the-grand/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [The only truly individualistic health-care choice - where you receive care that is unpolluted by anyone else's funds - is to forgo insurance altogether,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/the-only-truly-individualistic-health-care-choice-where-you-receive/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Conservatism is not a doctrine of contentment. Not a doctrine for the satisfied and the smug. It's a politics that's at war with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/conservatism-is-not-a-doctrine-of-contentment-not-a-doctrine-for-the/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [A president aiming for 'Great' or 'Near Great' status must do more. He must give lots of interviews, make records accessible, and heap the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/a-president-aiming-for-great-or-near-great-status-must-do-more-he/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“Innovation liberalism is "a liberalism of the rich," to use the straightforward phrase of local labor leader Harris Gruman. 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At the beginning of the 20th century, socialism looked like it was going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/a-lot-of-populists-after-populism-died-just-became-socialists-at-the/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [“And so the catastrophe of 1929–33 did to the certainties of laissez-faire economics what science did to nineteenth-century religion and what the slaughter of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/and-so-the-catastrophe-of-1929-33-did-to-the-certainties-of-laissez/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Vibrancy is so universally desirable, so totemic in its powers, that even though we aren't sure what the word means, we know the quality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/vibrancy-is-so-universally-desirable-so-totemic-in-its-powers-that/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Under the administration of George W. Bush, you will recall, federal spending grew pretty significantly. At the same time, the number of people directly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-frank/under-the-administration-of-george-w-bush-you-will-recall-federal/) [Thomas Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-frank/) > [Massive inequality, we have learned, isn't the best way to run an economy after all. 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