The now long-simmering debate over health care reform in this country continues to go on as Congress moves closer to finalizing legislation that will ultimately be put to a vote on the floor of the House and Senate.

For months, we’ve heard Republican congressional leaders like John Boehner and Mitch McConnell tell us the last thing America needs is “government-run health care,” acknowledging they’re opposed to reform even if it doesn’t include a public plan (or public option).

Democrats have made attempts to give Republicans a seat at the table so their input can be incorporated into a bill, to no avail. Republicans are not interested in cooperation. They don’t want to give President Barack Obama a major victory because they believe it would bolster the President’s popularity, which is undesirable to them.

Never mind what’s good for the country. So the Republican position is to embrace the status quo. Republicans have committed themselves to forestalling any progress in the hope that a frustrated electorate will blame Democrats for a lack of action and vote for their candidates in 2010.

I often read editorials or columns bemoaning how partisan politics have become, and always end up chuckling to myself. Politics has always been partisan, ever since the days of George Washington, when the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans harshly berated each other.

What is missing these days – particularly from the Republican Party – is statesmanship. There used to be individual Republicans in Congress who did care (when elections were said and done) about working together with Democrats to craft good policy, but not any more.

Instead, Republicans have Senators like Chuck Grassley, who rail against the idea of a public plan as an option for the uninsured while professing their commitment to defend Medicare in the same breath. The irony is rich.

But it doesn’t stop there.

A number of prominent conservative voices have made it their mission to repeatedly scream from the rooftops that a public option is “socialized medicine,” part of President Obama’s grand plan to turn America into a “socialist nation.” The horror.

Perhaps we should get rid of our socialized fire departments, socialized libraries, socialized schools, and socialized military. Yes, socialized military. The Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines are the largest “socialized” institutions in America. Our country already provides health care for armed service members and retired service members through the Veterans’ Administration, and coverage to seniors through Medicare. What’s wrong with providing coverage to all Americans who need it, young or old?

Health care is a matter of life and death, just like violent crime or fire. Police and fire protection, paid for by our common wealth, keep us safe from those afflictions. What is wrong with allowing Americans who are uninsured and unprotected to receive health care coverage from a government-sponsored plan? The right wing has yet to come up with any convincing arguments for why not. There are some things the private sector simply should not do, and providing health care coverage is one of them.

Again, health care is a matter of life and death.

The idea of government-sponsored coverage does not mean people can’t choose their own doctor, or that they can’t make decisions about their care. Rather, universal coverage is about the idea that we shouldn’t have to worry about paying for care, which is the case today. If we don’t have to worry about paying for care, it’s much easier for we as a society to practice preventive medicine, which is cheaper and more effective.

And people who urgently need treatment for a life-threatening illness will be able to get the care they need without having to broadcast their insurance company horror story to the world in the hopes that someone will listen and help them.

Progressives like me believe that entrepreneurship and free enterprise are good for our economy. But we also recognize the limitations of capitalism. We want markets to be fairly constructed and well regulated. And in life or death matters — where human well being is at stake — we believe that we, as a society, through our government, ought to make sure that people get put before profit.

It’s the American way.

Andrew Villeneuve, a 2005 Redmond High graduate, is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, a Redmond-based grassroots organization. Villeneuve can be reached at andrew@nwprogressive.org.