There are a lot of sick people in the United States of America.

On March 17, 2010, a video shot by the Columbus Dispatch (view it below) shows Tea Party supporters behaving in a shocking and, quite simply, sick manner in defence of their anti-health care reform stance. In the video, a group of teabaggers mock a Parkinson’s patient with venomous scorn. They call him communist. One angry protester throws money at the man sitting silently on the asphalt with a sign in his lap. As he tosses the bills, he yells that only he will decide to whom he gives his money. And the general feeling in the crowd is that the elderly man is a lazy burden to society who is looking for a free ride.

It is an instructive piece of footage about why the health care issue in the US has become such a divisive and emotional topic. It is not about economics. Republicans have been arguing that the bill, which will change the way health care is paid for in the US and will enact rules about coverage that private insurance companies must follow (it does not affect how doctors treat patients), is too expensive and will drag the country in to deeper debt. But this video shows why those on the political right are so disgusted about allowing 32 million of their fellow Americans without health insurance gain access to doctors and medicine: they equate accessible health care with a government handout; they think health care is a privilege, not a right; and they believe that being poor and sick, and not being able to afford $200 doctor visits and insurance policies with $10,000 deductibles, is the result of not working hard and/or some leftist political leaning. Health care reform in the US is about prejudice and class issues.

Those screaming no to universal heath care are not against rising deficits (George W. Bush produced some of the biggest deficits in US history and helped take US debt to record levels, while the health reform bill projects long-term cost savings to the government) they are against the poor who they believe have made a choice to be poor. They are against the vulnerable. They are against compassion.

US President Obama’s landmark health care bill was passed by Congress on Sunday night. But this video, shot three days before the historic vote, is proof that the fight to kill the bill isn’t going to die. It also ironically shows that most of the people protesting against accessible health care need serious medical treatment themselves – now.