Reform Health Care Reform

Despite the hyperbolic cries of "socialism" from misinformed Limbaugh-listening, Fox 'news'-watching ditto heads, this bill is far too friendly to the corporate insurance industry.

To really bring health care costs down to where it should be in a truly market-driven economy, we need a robust public option or a Medicare buy-in option. Currently, there is very little competition between health insurance companies, as they have divvied up areas and pretty much charge what they want.

This bill, despite the exchanges to be created, will not reign in these greedy companies sufficiently, as their motivation is money, not the health of the American people.

Health care reform has been a long time coming, and the battle this time around has been fierce. The insurance companies and their corporate lobbyists threw everything they had at Congress and at the public to try to sway Congress in order to kill reform and keep things just the way they are.

Thanks to representatives like ours, Congresswoman Doris Matsui of Sacramento, California, we are on the way to true reform.

But please don't stop now. Let's get a public option (or the option to buy into Medicare) done, and that will not only bring down costs, it will insure we keep the "Corporations-First" party in the minority, where they belong.

Happy friggin’ new year

I’d like to say “Happy New Year,” but it’s not looking very good for so many people. “Hope and change” seems to have dissolved into despair and more of the same.

I’ve developed a pretty thick skin, politically speaking, over the years. Idealistic in my youth, as the youth tends to be, I thought our generation (I’m 55) could turn things around. When politician after politician dashed my hopes, I decided it was the system, and things would never change until fundamental changes were made there.

I still believe that. Most of all, we must somehow, as a nation, get the big money out of politics. It is corrupting everything, especially Congress, as the recent health care fiasco so obviously shows. (When over 70% of the nation says it wants a robust public option, for example, you’d think it’d be a slam dunk. But no, the insurance companies that pile on the cash for Lieberman and his ilk get their way, yet again!)

I allowed myself to believe Barack Obama was really going to be different. After all, he wasn’t part of the privileged class, like so many of our presidents have been. He worked hard to make something of himself, then eschewed high-paying lawyer jobs to work for the downtrodden on the streets of Chicago. Surely, I thought, this man could not be so easily corrupted.

But there’s something about holding high office, apparently. Now, he does the bidding of his generals and wages war, as is the American custom. He sits on the sidelines and twiddles his thumbs as the very issue that got him elected gets debated in Congress, seemingly oblivious to the fact that botching it would piss off the majority of people who voted for him. He didn’t even defend the things he campaigned for, like the public option.

He and the super-majority of Democrats we elected compromise before the debate even starts, then compromise some more. Any real bargainer knows you start with something way beyond what you expect to get (in this example, Single Payer), giving you a bargaining tool, in order to end up with something acceptable (like a robust public option). You don’t start with what you really want. Not when you’re negotiating with such a powerful force as Big Money, which is, in the final analysis, the actual opponent.

So, surprise, surprise, we end up with something Big Money (and Big Insurance) is very happy with, but which helps the public very little, if at all. And now we’re set to do it all over again, with bank “reform.” Yeah, right! I can save everyone a lot of time: just ask the banks what they want. They’ll get it anyway.

As I see it, every group fighting for change on any issue ought to all come together and fight for campaign reform. Because until we get the big money out of politics, we’ll keep witnessing the same charade, over and over again.

So, happy friggin’ new year.

Corporate chokehold

Once again, the corporate interests that have a chokehold on our elected representative bodies have succeeded in derailing any real change for the better.

The health care bill is now a bloated corpse – a rotted, stinking shell of what was once originally envisioned. All this thing will succeed in doing is reward the soulless insurance corporations for their intransigence by making them even richer.

The Democrats promised that if we would just give them a 60 seat majority in the Senate, a majority in the House and a Democratic president, they would be able to finally deliver. Instead, the spineless bunch has caved, again, even on abortion rights.

What could have been their greatest moment, when they finally stood up for the people against the big-moneyed interests, has instead disintegrated into the predictable mind-numbing process we helplessly witnessed this summer and fall: Just another giveaway to the mega-corps running the country.

The big mistake, of course, was compromising right off the bat, then compromising some more, then some more, ad nauseam... all in a futile attempt to come up with some kind of “bipartisan” bill, so that the Dems could say they are “mainstream.”

Rather than take Single Payer off the table at the start, they should have used it as their bargaining position. Then, perhaps, we might have been able to at least get a real, robust public option.

Personally, I think Single Payer is the way to go. The rest of the democratic industrialized world runs its variations of it quite successfully, and we even run one already ourselves – in the form of Medicare for seniors. It’s true that when this process started, it didn’t seem could pass such a bill, being that our legislature is what it is. Still, as any negotiator knows, you don’t start out giving away the store.

But there is still a Single Payer bill alive, HR 676; and a California bill, SB 810. Now that the public option plan has become a Frankensteinian monstrosity, it’s what we ought to fight for. Thousands of doctors and nurses nationwide back it. Let’s dump the bloated giveaway bill, and go for the gold.


P.S. It’s that time again! This holiday season, give a unique, thoughtful gift, one that keeps giving all year long – the Humor Times!

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.

Hilarious! Will Ferrell stands up for the real health care victims.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Bush Tax Cuts Cost 2.5X as Much as the Democrats' Health Care Plan

From Citizens for Tax Justice:

Newly revised estimates show that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010). Preliminary estimates from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office show that the House Democrats' health care reform legislation is projected to cost $1 trillion over a decade after it would be enacted (2010-2019).

And yet, many of the lawmakers who argue that the health care reform legislation is "too costly" are the same lawmakers who supported the Bush tax cuts. Their own voting record demonstrates that health care reform is not a matter of costs, but a matter of priorities.

Read the new report from Citizens for Tax Justice. (PDF)

These figures make clear that costs cannot be the real concern of lawmakers who oppose the House health care legislation and yet supported the Bush tax cuts. Their position seems to be that showering benefits on the wealthiest five percent of taxpayers and leaving the bill for future generations is preferable to making health care available for all at a much lower cost and paying that cost up front. That demonstrates a different set of priorities than most Americans have, but it doesn't demonstrate much concern about costs.

Spineless Dems ready to fold again - after all, Public Option only has 76% support

I consider myself an independent, even though I wind up voting Democratic most of the time. But they usually disappoint me. Like now.

Why do I vote Democratic then? Because our unfortunate 'winner take all' system means votes for minority candidates are pretty much wasted, other than for 'sending a message,' which never gets heard anyway. And Republicans seem to be against anything that might help regular citizens - especially if there's even a remote chance a bill might affect rich folks' bottom lines. Heaven forbid! After all, don't Americans worship at the feet of the rich, hoping one day to win the lottery and be just like them?

In any case, the system is rotten to the core. As I've said many times, we the people will not be served by our so-called 'representatives' until and unless the big money is taken out of politics. Because that is what our 'representatives' are representing now. They work for the people that give them the money to get re-elected. Thus, the system is rotten to the core.

The current health care debate is a perfect example. 76% of voters have consistently said in polls that they want a strong public option in any health care bill. 76 percent! Holy cow, do Democrats need more of a mandate than THAT??? Apparently so.

Because, after all, a few hysterically vocal right-wingers were whipped up by lies told them by the insurance industry, and made some noise at town halls this summer. Therefore, Dems have taken this as their cue to fold! Like they always do. Nothing new here.

We expected some results this time, what with 60 senate seats and a huge majority in the house, and, oh yeah, that 76% public support. But no-o-o-o. A few corporate sponsored 'blue-dog' Dems can take down the whole thing for their insurance company supporters.

If we lived in a just society, those 'blue dogs' would pay dearly for their obstinance in the next election, regardless of how much tainted insurance company money they will have amassed to throw at smarmy TV ads. They have failed their real constituents, and deserve to be replaced. Will voters in those states have the intelligence to see through the lies? I doubt it, but if they did, it would go a long way to restoring my faith in democracy.

Best health care solution yet!

Thom Hartmann has the best idea for health care reform, laid out in an open letter to the prez entitled
A Modest Medicare Proposal.

In it, he proposes the simplest solution yet, which is completely revenue neutral and has no complicated provisions that give the right-wing corporate health care deniers (not providers -- let's be honest here) nothing to sink their teeth into.

The idea is to let citizens buy into Medicare if they so choose. Brilliant! Medicare is so cost-effective that allowing people to buy into it should be way cheaper than paying for health insurance from these profit-crazy crooks that are fleecing us now.

Please read Thom's article and send a letter to Obama and your reps today!

Opposed to Socialized Medicine? Now's your chance to pledge to deny yourself Medicare for life!

Finally! All who are opposed to "socialized" health care can now sign a petition created to let you pledge to refuse to use the Medicare you already have, or to promise to never sign up for it. That's right, Medicare is a government run insurance program, much like that evil public option!

If you choose not to sign it, I'm sorry, but you're a hypocrite!

Next up: We hope to create "Thanks but no thanks" yard signs you can put up in your yard, telling those socialistic police and fire departments that you're against all socialist institutions like theirs! After all, our taxes pay for their services! And we all know the government can't do ANYTHING right! So, buy one of these signs (yes, they're for sale -- what'd you think? This is capitalism), and tell those commies where to go! Next time your house is on fire, you can hire help to put it out -- that's the American way!

We were promised real reform if we could just get the Dems 60 seats...

Well, now's the time, Democrats. If you blow this one, don't be surprised when you find you lose your majority after just two short years.

We need health care, not warfare. Yet Dems continue to authorize funds for war, but are looking pretty sheepish on health care reform.

Face it, we need single-payer health care. Every other proposal out there is hogwash. As Dr. Dean says, we are 60 years behind the times on this issue. But even if the "public option" goes through, you can be sure the lobbyists, who have congress by the balls, will make sure it is completely neutered of any real power.

We were told as voters that when the Democrats got 60 seats in the Senate, we would finally get the important things this country so desperately needs. Health care reform is at the top of the list.

So, the question is, are you going to follow through, Democrats, or once again prove that you have no spine? Even with total control in Washington, and the entire country behind real health care reform? If that's the case, you will have not only blown an historic opportunity for the real "change we need," you will lose your majority in 2010.

Insurance industry suddenly finds ways to cut health care costs! Wow, aren't we impressed!

So, NOW the insurance industry finally comes around, saying it can reduce costs! Gosh, what were they waiting for? The threat of a public health care option, that's what.

Don't let them fool you, and keep the heat on your elected representatives for real reform.

All the industry's proposal will do is cut a mere 1.5% from the price INCREASES they were hoping to leach our economy further with.

Private insurance is the whole reason our health care is in such a mess in this country. The huge amounts wasted on overhead and unnecessary bureaucracy caused by these greedy companies is bloating our system. They sit in their cubicles, in between you and your doctor, and tell your doctor what he can and can not do for you.

This proposal is nothing more than a desperate attempt to avoid their worst nightmare -- a public health option. They know that if Americans have that option, they'll end up gravitating to it, because it makes so much sense.

Private insurance advocates always talk about preserving choice. So why are they against this choice? Make sure your representatives know you want a public health care option.