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Humor Times blog - by James Israel

I publish a monthly paper called the Humor Times, available via subscription anywhere in the world. This blog allows me to comment in a more timely manner on current events, etc., since, after all, I have plenty to say!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Drop the toxic health care bill, implement the simple solution

The health care bill has been thoroughly polluted with a stifling complexity, a result of all the haggling and trying to please all sides. The best solution is the simplest one, the one that has worked well for decades in every other industrialized democracy in the world (in various forms): single payer. In fact, it has even worked just fine here, in the form of Medicare for seniors. What we need is Medicare for All.

I firmly believe it is immoral to deny health care to anyone, and that's what our system does on a consistent basis. It denies care to those who can't afford insurance, the cost of which has risen astronomically in recent years, as have insurance company profits; and said insurance companies regularly deny health care to even those who have been paying into their greed-lined coffers. They deny for 'pre-existing conditions,' or because they don't like a procedure the doctor orders, or for whatever reason their legions of deniers can come up with.

Putting a profit motive in between doctors and patients is quite simply morally indefensible.

Congress, drop this toxic bill and give us what the majority wants, and what we all need: single payer.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Paranoid "doctor's" email making the rounds thoroughly debunked

A letter by a supposed Dr. Stephen E. Fraser, MD to Senator Bayh has been making the rounds as an email since at least August, but is still a hot topic among obsessed Republicans.

There is a thorough debunking of these recycled fabrications at the Read,Think,Go blog. Please spread it around to your Repub friends to try to counter the insanity.

The health care bill we'll end up with is far from what we really need, which is a single-payer system. But the lies being spread need to be countered, as they reinforce the paranoia that Dems are out to 'destroy democracy' and will help bring the power hungry neo-cons back to power if we let it.

For example, the paranoid letter says:

"Pg 22 of the HC Bill - MANDATES the Government will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!"

Uh, no, the only thing mandated is a study:

The Commissioner, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor, shall conduct a study of the large group insured and self-insured employer health care markets.

And:

"Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC Bill A government committee will decide what treatments/benefits you get."

No. There will be a choice of essential, enhanced, premium and premium plus plans for the Public Option. You get to choose what you want to pay for beyond 'essential,' as well as the option to buy more coverage if you want:

There is established a private-public advisory committee which shall be a panel of medical and other experts to be known as the Health Benefits Advisory Committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced,and premium plans.

And on and on. Pure bs. This debunking should make people question their sources, if they are truly seeking the truth.

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Thursday, November 05, 2009

Stop the Socialism for the Big Banks

I don’t envy President Obama. While I can take issue with some of his strategies – I believe we should get out of Afghanistan, for example, and he should stop compromising away real health care reform – I can appreciate just how monumental the task of turning this country around is.

Reforming health care? It’s only been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first campaigned in 1912 for it. As Obama told Congress on September 9th of this year, “I may not be the first president to tackle health care reform, but I intend to be the last.” A bold statement, to be sure, something Mr. Obama is very good at. But accomplishing that goal, even with majorities in both houses – as we are seeing – is something else altogether.

Add to that the job of recovering from the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression, and you’ve already got a Herculean task. And we haven’t even mentioned all the other sticky issues, like averting a climate crisis, nuclear proliferation, environmental challenges, etc.

One could say that dealing with health care reform just now might have been taking on too much, although it is urgently needed and with Democratic majorities, it seemed like a good time to take it on. But averting financial disaster was not a voluntary task, it was thrust upon the new president. Unfortunately, out of ignorance on the subject, or a blind faith in those in the top echelons of the financial industry, or for whatever reason, Obama chose to trust the wrong team to help him. Now he must recognize his error, and find a new team, and a new strategy. The country’s long term financial health, and even our democracy, depend on it.

In a October 9th interview on PBS’s Bill Moyers Journal with Ohio Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, she said, “What they’re doing is they’re taking their mistakes and they’re dumping them on the taxpayer... It’s all at risk because of their behavior. We aren’t reigning them in. The laws of Congress passed last year in terms of housing, were hollow... It’s socialism for the big banks.”

Referring to the president, she said, “I think some of the people that he trusted haven’t delivered. I urge him to get new [financial] generals. It’s time.”

I have to agree, and I’m very sorry Obama couldn’t see from the start that you can’t fix a broken system by hiring the people who broke it, and who are invested in bailing it out. But now that it’s completely obvious, it is time to get a new team in there. Don’t be afraid to admit your mistakes, Mr. President, otherwise you’ll be just like the failed president before you.

Unfortunately, the opportunity inherent in the original crisis may have already slipped away. It may, in fact, be a nearly impossible task, but we’ve got to try. The financial sector needs fundamental reform, and it needs it now.

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

I guess Palin and Hannity showed them liberals!

By backing an independent conservative in a New York race (23rd Congressional District) over the Republican nominee who was too "liberal" for them, Sarah Palin and the rest of the rabid neo-con pack hoped to really sock it to Obama and show the country that conservatives were on the rebound. Oops! The strategy backfired! The Democrat was elected to the historically Republican-held seat!

Talk about a rift in the party -- the GOP is reeling! By letting the loony neo-con talking heads on Fox and talk radio take over their message, they are reaping a bitter harvest. Maybe it's time to head back to the center, eh, Repubs?

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