Snowe Job

Olympia Snowe believes that a public option for health care is divisive. You know what, she's right. It is divisive. It divides those who want to make things better for everyone from those who want to make a buck on your back at any cost. It divides the wealthy corporate elite from the common people they abuse. It divides those with a couple of brain cells to rub together from screaming idiots who act like feces flinging monkeys at the zoo. It divides the people from their enemies, and this is a good thing.

While it has been incredibly frustrating and even infuriating watching Town Hall thugs and Tea-bagger idiots scream nonsense at elected officials, it has also proven that elitists really do want to keep us in servitude. It has shown us that they lack any other method than to scream at the top of their lungs for as long as they can. They have no substance, and now we know it from empirical evidence.

So, why does it bother Olympia Snowe that 60% of the people of Maine want a public option and serious reform? Why does it drive Joe Wilson to expulsions of idiocy during a Presidential Address? Why does it compel John Shimkus walk out of the President's speech due to frustration? Why was John Boehner so dour while Eric Cantor played away on his BlackBerry?

The answer is really as simple as it seems. They have nothing left. They've spent it all and they've been humiliated by the President for doing it. They have lied through their teeth and the people know it. Karl Rove tried like hell to revise the history of "Death Panels" because people are seeing through it. Sean Hannity immediately goes into "Lie Like a Cheap Rug" mode at the conclusion of the speech, claiming that President Obama called insurance execs "bad people," even though we just watched him do exactly the opposite.

They have been driven mad because they have lost everything. The ultra right-wing neo-fascist Christian theocratic government that they have been working for was soundly repudiated in the last election. They no longer have control of Congress or the White House. They have no active roll in legislation and they don't understand why. Fanatics never understand why people don't agree with them.

Make no mistake, they are fanatics just like Al Qaeda, Hamas, or the Taliban. They represent a great threat to American democracy. They are the domestic enemy that we refuse to see. Freedom is not something they want us to share in. They want a religious state run by corporate masters that keep us shackled their their machines of industry. They want our blood, sweat, and tears to grease their cogs. They fight us on employee fair treatment, environmental responsibility, and health care in order to grind us down. To "break" Obama is their stated goal. To return to power and continue what they started under Reagan and W. is their ultimate desire. We are expendable to them and our lives are the currency of choice.

So, why does Olympia Snowe believe it is divisive? Because it would force those who want to keep us enslaved to do something they can't abide, lessen profits in order to provide more for the people. This is the woman that has been so openly courted by the Dems that some now refer to her as Queen Olympia. It's just sad that the Democrats don't see the problem in trying to recruit this so-called moderate Republican. The problem is she has bought into her own Snowe Job.

Obama Meets With Congress

In less than two hours, President Obama will convene a joint session of Congress to address health care reform. I don't believe this will be good for the American people. I want to hold out hope that Obama isn't an 8 month lame duck. I want to hold out that the public option will become a reality. This is the minimum level of reform I can tolerate. I want to believe that the Progressive Caucus has made its point that a public option is a mandatory thing. I want to believe that Candidate Obama, who attended the AFL-CIO event will show up tonight and actually lead. I want to believe that Republicans will be made to sit down and shut up. I want to believe that real reform is coming.

I don't believe it will happen. I believe that tonight will be a dog and pony show where rhetoric will be spouted and warm fuzzies for Progressives will be sold. Then, a few weeks from now, the public option will fall by the wayside. Obama will become a failed president to be opposed by his own party.

This is what I expect. Obama was caught with his pants down by the Republicans in August. Obama was all over the map on the public option. He sold out single payer reform from the very beginning. Progressives have threatened serious rebellion. Blue Dogs have proven to be DINOs. Max Baucus has proven to be in the pocket of the For Profit Health Insurance Industry and not a friend of the American people.

Mr. President, please surprise me. Please, do the right thing and tell the Republicans to go to Hell. Do the moral thing and make real reform a reality.

An interesting editorial

I was emailed this editorial piece from the Commonweal Institute's Progressive Op-Ed Program

Maybe We Really Do Want Government to Make the Decisions
By: Dave Johnson, Fellow
Aug. 31, 2009

Do we really want government making decisions? I hear the same question repeated a number of different ways: “Do we really want government making decisions about our health care?” “Do we really want government deciding how banks should be run?” “Do we want government making decisions on whether drug companies can release new products?” “Do we want government telling businesses what they can and can’t do?”

The immediate, emotional reaction is, “Of course not!” But what happens when these questions are examined more closely?

read more...

Mr. Johnson has written an eloquent article on why we need national health care and I strongly urge you to read it and give his argument some very serious thought.

"A Lost Decade"

The AFL-CIO has released the results of a new survey that shows that one third of workers under 35 live with their parents and are less likely to have health insurance provided by their employers. They are also less like to have more job insecurity than they were ten years ago. One quarter of these workers don't earn enough money to even pay their bills.

Richard Trumka said in a press conference:

"We're calling the report "A Lost Decade" because we're seeing 10 years of opportunity lost as young workers across the board are struggling to keep their heads above water and often not succeeding. They've put off adulthood - - put off having kids, put off education - and a full 34 percent of workers under 35 live with their parents for financial reasons. Thirty-five percent are significantly less likely to have health care than older workers, only 31 percent make enough money to pay their bills while putting anything aside in savings, and almost half are more worried than hopeful about their economic future."

More nonsense from those trying to keep you sick

Recently an editorial in Investor's Business Daily claimed that health care reform would lead to a rationing of care that would have deemed the life of Dr. Stephen Hawking not worth saving. They claim care like the British National Health Service would determine that his body was too sickly to spend money on treating him.

"People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

Now, Dr. Hawking has entered the discussion. The Huffington Post has a great article on this.

Dr. Hawking told The Guardian "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS. I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived."

You see, Dr. Hawking is British. He lives there now and he grew up there. He suffers from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. It would seem Dr. Hawking would know a lot better than those idiots of IBD about the quality of care and access to care in the UK. It is worth noting that the UK has a single payer system. Had Dr. Hawking been under the "care" of the For Profit Health Care bastards, I have no doubt that he'd be dead now.

Since Dr. Hawking disproved those morons idiocy they have since "corrected" (you should read that as edited) their insipid editorial to sanitize it. They still refuse to acknowledge that the NHS is responsible for the care that kept Dr. Hawking alive.

Gov. Palin's Death Panels

From the Anchorage Daily News: Troubled Alaska Health Programs Face Federal Restriction

Honestly, can you even say you're surprised? Under Palin's administration, the Alaskan program set up to help the elderly and ill with every-day things like making dinner, getting dressed, or going to the bathroom is so poorly run that people are actually dying from the pathetic "care" they are supposed to be receiving. The Federal government has had to force the state to stop signing up new patients for care until they can fix the situation. The program is funded by Medicaid. I wonder how much the For Profit Health Pirates would charge you for this and how much more quickly they would kill the old and sick.

So very true.

Rush compares Democrats to Nazis.

I'm sorry, what? This can't be serious. Sadly, it is. Rush Limbaugh has decided to hit a new level of low. I know I really shouldn't be surprised by this. The man (and I use the term loosely) has a long history of unsavory behavior and offensive commentary that any thinking, rational mind would be appalled to hear. Having watched the footage of his little diatribe I can honestly say that I believe he's walked right off the diving board and sunk to the bottom of the deep end. He's a wacko to begin with, and spends a lot of time in Looney Land. But this was just amazing. Not only is he factually wrong on every single point, his frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal is just spooky.

It offended me when Liberals and Democrats called Republicans Nazis and compared Bush to Hitler. It disgusts me now when it is even less accurate. There is no legitimate reason to play the Nazi card, ever. Except, of course, when dealing with real Nazis. This kind of political rabble-rousing ends any kind of legitimate discussion and causes people to start screaming at each other.

Then again, that's the point, isn't it Rush? You don't want people to talk to each other. You don't want people taking the time to consider the issues and decide for themselves that there is good to be had with Health Care Reform. No, you and your corporate masters want us at each other's throats. You want us fighting each other so we can't fight you.

You see, that's the real goal here. Divide and conquer. In order to keep us controlled and funding their lavish lifestyles they need us disorganized and in disarray. In order for the Corporate States of America to continue unabated they need us to hate each other and to work at odds. They need to keep us from realizing what is good for us and demanding it. They need us tired, ignorant, and hungry. They want us too sick to resist but not so sick as to punch a time clock. They want us poor. They need us to be this. And they need people like Rush Limbaugh to make us hate each other.

Go here for the video clip.

Cash For Clunkers

Politics just amazes me. Republicans and their Fox News flapping-heads are already declaring the Cash for Clunkers program a failure. Why? Because it's overwhelming success has required more money to keep it going. What happened is that the money allocated to the recovery program was designed to last for 90 days. It ran out in a much shorter time. Here's the real question; why? The program that offered up to $4500 in government aid for a new car has been so successful that sales are through the roof. Auto sales, which has been in the toilet, is currently sky high because of this program. Interest exceeded expectation. The American People are more than happy to part with their money in times of economic distress and save the ailing auto industry, the auto dealers, and put money into active circulation. All of this results in a much needed boost to the economy.

So, should we be mad that the program that is seeing American auto sales boosted to a high not seen in ages needs more funds? After all, the Obama administration did underestimate demand. The truth is that we should be thrilled that the program needs more funding. It needs more funding because it's working. In order to save our economy we need to put money into the programs that produce results. The expectations for sales were wrong, but they were based on good estimates drawn from the data that existed. You can't always predict what will garner more interest than it ought to. Does anyone remember Beanie Babies? We should be happy the program is working and that auto sales are way, way up.

What is truly sick is all of this noise coming from the Conserva-fascists is that they are trying to use this as a stepping stone to make attacks on health care reform. It's an Apples to Oranges pseudo-equation that has no merit. They want to label the "failure" of the CARS program as evidence that health care reform will lead to disaster. Politics by any means necessary, I guess. Please, ignore the man behind the curtain. You don't need affordable health care that you are in control of. The current system of corporate greed is just fine, for them. Don't believe us, just listen to our astroturf mouthpieces who we hire to disrupt any conversation at Town Hall meetings we don't want you to have.

From the LA Times

A Canadian doctor diagnoses U.S. healthcare

Commentary on this article to follow. I wanted to link it for record keeping.

The Health Care Industry Doesn't Want You To Have Real Options

Have you heard about the disruption at Town Hall meetings where "Anti-Reform Advocates" throw temper tantrums to make a mess of things? According to reports from Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show, many of these "protesters" are corporate shills receiving compensation from the HMOs for their activities. The truth of the matter is that they don't want you to hear about reform options because it's bad for business. Real care for Americans is being derailed by the corporations. When I say the Pledge, I don't swear loyalty to the Incorporated States of America. Republicans fear reform because it means a continued loss of power for them. The "Health Care Providers" interfere because they don't want the system to change. They want us to suffer for their benefit. What more do we need to know than this? The only real road forward for reform is a government run Single Payer system. No other option places health care in our hands. Until we are in control of our own care, the corporations will work against us in order to make a profit.

The Health Care Conflict of Interest

Over time I will have a lot more to say on Health Care and Health Care reform. Right now I want to focus on the conflict of interest that exists in the current system. The very nature of the For Profit industry conflicts with the needs of the insured. A For Profit organization has the inherent goal of bringing in money and spending as little of it as possible. In this case, the Insurers sell policies to pay for medical costs. When the customer uses the policy, the Insurer pays out, lowering the profitability of that policy. The conflict of interest has been set in motion.

In order to maximize profits, the Insurer will resist paying out benefits and leaving the customer with expenses that they expected their policy insurer to pay. We have seen more and more Insurers decrease coverage while raising rates. They then deny coverage to those most in need of medical care because it hurts their profits.

The primary way in which Americans receive health care insurance is through their employer. When people change jobs, there is often a delay in receipt of new coverage from the new employer. Many times there is no coverage for "pre-existing conditions" that were treated under the old policy but not covered by the new insurer. Many employers don't offer health care to their Part-Time employees at all. There is also a dearth of privately available policies, and these come with higher rates and are harder to get if you have any health issues.

This formula has lead us right into the current health care crisis. We have millions of Americans who can not afford health care or are not offered it through their employer. It is not in the interest of the Insurer to cover those most in need. This conflict of interest can only be stopped when primary health care is no longer under the control of a For Profit provider. These providers are not interested in what benefits the customer, but only in what benefits the company.

This is why a public option is the only real option for serious care. When medical decisions are made solely between the patient and the doctor, with no interference from a third party company who stands to lose money, then care is genuine and beneficial. When all Americans can receive care, we will have a healthier nation more able to function and increase performance in the work place. When we reduce the cost of medical care to the people there is more money for savings and, ultimately, to spend. It also allows people to have greater freedom in pursuing better employment because health care is no longer a consideration.

Whenever a company has a conflict of interest with its customers, the company benefits and the customer loses. Health care is not just a service, but a vital part of our national welfare. We can not afford any conflict of interest in keeping our people healthy and well.