How Corporate Media, Sellouts in Congress and Industry Bigs Have Hijacked the Health Care Debate

More War ...

More Spying ...

More Pollution ...

More Torture ...

More War Criminal Protection ...

More Bankster Looting ...

and

More Health Care Hell ...

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... Said this broke up the flow, but I'm adding it here:

Let’s set aside for a moment the rather glaring fact that there was little discussion about the budgetary consequences of George W. Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, or that few news stories during the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq suggested the policy had to be deficit neutral over the following decade (in fact, it’s estimated that in addition to the loss of life, giving Moqtada al Sadr the chance to hang Saddam Hussein will cost Americans $3 trillion at the end of the day).

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pg 22: Mandates Audits of All employers who self insure
pg 29: Admission your healthcare will be rationed
pg 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (No appeals allowed)
pg 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not will be provided with free healthcare services
pg 58: Every person shall be issued a national ID card
pg 59: The federal government will have direct real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer
pg 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer union health plans (read SEIU, UAW and Acorn)

Looks very oppressive and costly,and that's just the beginning of what's embedded in this massive bill.

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The only thing between the Shrub and BamBam is...?

Looks, ability to put at least two words together and form a sentence...? ahhh, help me here, I am having trouble coming up with any more.

Obamatron is no less a corporate whore than the Shrub. Anyone thinking that he will produce health care that is worthy of the name after the Repukes and the corporate pimps get their way is still smoking the Obama platitudes.

Say what you want about the Shrub, Bammy may turn out to be the only one term president found to not have a spine.

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The only thing DIFFERENT between the Shrub and BamBam is...?

Looks, ability to put at least two words together and form a sentence...? ahhh, help me here, I am having trouble coming up with any more.

Obamatron is no less a corporate whore than the Shrub. Anyone thinking that he will produce health care that is worthy of the name after the Repukes and the corporate pimps get their way is still smoking the Obama platitudes.

Say what you want about the Shrub, Bammy may turn out to be the only one term president found to not have a spine.

(Sorry, left out that word, Shrub must be rubbing off on me.)

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Good Article! However, it remains a mystery to me is that since the Republicans are way in the minority, not even enough to even scare up a fillibuster, and they have nothing to offer but the same old corrupt crap they did during the Bush years, where do they get the clout to say "boo!", let alone completely derail something this important.

Okay, Republicans have determined that Health Care Reform is where the real battle is: Kill Health Care Reform and Obama comes off looking stupid and just plain bad. Then, when it's completely dead, they come along with their shitty ideas and the main stream media shouts Halelujah! Amen! in the headlines and on Faux News and just like that they once again win the Whitehouse in the next election. Simple and effective plan.

The article cites all sorts of graphs, facts and figures, and that is well and good. But the authoritarian mentality we are dealing with cannot be persuaded by reason and especially not by facts. They take facts and twist them to their own ends. Graphs merely feed the enemy fire. Even if it shows that the Federal Government will end up with a profit in ten years, if you use a graph they win.

Refocus and reframe the terms of the debate. The only point is: a first rate Health Care Reform bill must be passed in America.

Now.

If the people of America allow these jerks to steal one of the most vital issues of the day, then they deserve to lose it. But this issue really will be lost if the rest of us don't get busy and really write letters to the editors and call their congressmen every day and keep those guys feet to the fire.

In Communist Russia it was said that the Communist Party members constituted only 1% of the population. And that, it was said, was all that was needed to rule and control the masses. Well, Guess what? In this country, there is an upper 1% elite class that totally dominates the debate in this country. The same percentages lead to tyrannical elitist plutocracy or else a truly Democratic nation.

The price of losing a strong Health Care Reform bill is not back to business as usual, it is total serfdom!

In the words of Dennis Kucinich: "Wake Up America!"

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Who elected the heartless swine who run the casino on your backs? The health industry uses the excess profits they gouged from the people to bribe lawmakers. They will complete the corruption when they allow the industry to increase the profits.
Citizens should stop expecting the government to give them a candy. Jews should exercise their right of return to Israel and universal health care. People needing good treatment at low cost should go to India. Anybody who is employable and healthy might find happiness in Australia. Other Americans already under the bus may roll under a wheel to end the misery. In the next life they should insist on single payer.

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I am tired of the extreme partisanship on both sides of this debate. I support single payor or at least a public option with a big enough pool to protect us from adverse selection. Although I was an early supporter and contributor to Obama's campaign, he and Emanuel are the ones that pulled single payor, not the Republicans or the Blue Dogs. They are unwilling to take on the special interest groups.

The current proposals have no real cost cutting measures in place. And without cost cutting/ dampening measures, this is just a give away to the health insurance industry, big pharma, the hospitals and the AMA types. To pretend that there are no legitimate criticisms of the way health care reform efforts are being handled by the White House and congress is to put your head in the sand. We really need to get this right. We dont have unlimited funds and everybody needs to be held accountable for the waste, fraud and abuse in the system.

I was pretty disgusted watching the "climate control/energy" proposals move through the house. Apparently Pelosi/Waxman decided that prostitution was OK as long as they pass something, whether or not it achieves our goals. So the big give aways to coal, etc. They seem on target to do the same with health care.
I'd rather slow down and implement real change in Health Care. Not just give away billions to the insurers,etc, just to be able to say we did something.

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We see reports that the "disease-care" industry is funneling millions of dollars DAILY into the pockets of some in Congress, and toward corporate, media propaganda.

Those daily millions are millions being denied by that industry to patients with an array of medical needs, some obviously critical.

WE are the people, after all, and we have both a say and actions to determine the system we ultimately get.

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This is getting worse. Much, much worse.

Whose fault is this? US. YOU. ME. THE PEOPLE.

Obama is still waiting for us. He told the reporter on 4/3/2007 that he MUST have a MANDATE from the American people, and he has seen no evidence of that mandate.

Obama is not leading us to have single-payer because of what he already told the reporter on 4/3/2007 after his health care meeting that day. He told the reporter that he requires a mandate from the people. During that meeting he recommended to us that we write letters ..... a thousand to two thousand letters to every one of the 435 U.S. Representatives. That is roughly a million letters. Why do that? He also explained that to the crowd during the meeting. He referred to the lobbying power of the health insurance companies (when a member of the audience pressed him for why Congress doesn't just implement what is best). He definitely indicated that the immense power of the health insurance companies CAN be overcome by the overwhelming force of thousands of citizens sending letters to their U.S. Representatives (he used the word Congresspersons).

The letters are to be sent in the U.S. Mail, which takes about 5-7 days, not the falsely rumored 4-6 weeks or longer.

Are letters in business size (number 10) envelopes in the U.S. Mail better than e-mails? YES! Obama knows that is correct. We must do it.

Obama literally shouted his support for single-payer in 2003.

Barack Obama knew in 2003 single-payer what America and Americans need badly, so he knows it now. However, he is surrounded by pressures on all sides that he feels that he must balance in the ABSENCE of our positively responding to his recommendation.

Why can we DO this? Because we can tell other Americans more and more about the fact that Americans have been taught to fear national health insurance while all the other free-market high-income countries were continuing to implement it. It's crazy for us to continue this insanity.
See the world view.

During the campaign Barack Obama spoke to crowds of thousands of people.
----- He asked everyone to PARTICIPATE in the political process.
----- He asked everyone to be their brothers' keeper and sisters' keeper.

Now's your chance to do what's right for America and Americans.

You have the necessary tool at your fingertips that minimizes the time to print and send letters ... and even minimizes the time to do a critical step: personalizing the letter differently each month before you mail it. Why each month? This is serious business! We need to act unified and keep on growing the numbers each month!

With relatively little effort you can do what's right for America and Americans.

Sign up here.

Sign up at www.medicareforall.org to help Americans and America: less government, no middlemen, huge savings from 1) no longer having premiums to health insurance companies and 2) having the efficiency of paying taxes for health care into one (single) public agency that pays medical bills.

President Obama is a smart man who you can see shouting for single-payer national health insurance in this video in 2003:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpAyan1fXCE

So let's to what he recommended in every one of the 435 U.S. Congressional Districts.

Whose fault is all of this? It is OURS! You! Me! We must tell our fellow Americans and get them to sign up!

Sign up today and be "ONE IN A MILLION"

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The Dems have 60 votes in the Senate, they can reinstate Slavery and if there is a 60 vote then point me to the cotton fields Massa!

You vote for this stuff and this is what we are getting? You refused to believe that your guy also does suck because there is a (D) because God forbid we have to vote for the (R) or even the (I). Corporations sold you the laptop your writing on so they have the cash to buy off your fav politician so shut the (bleep) up and take it

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I'd like to thank Pete Stark for at least trying to get back to single payer. CA needs a major reform and not the type that favors Big Insurance and Big Pharma.

As for Enzi, anyone in WY care to tell us why they vote for such comatose pols aside from guns? I understand that Wyoming is a hell of a lot worse than Texas and is the home of John Wayne style conservatism but still. One question for you Wyomingites out there. I hear David Freudenthal is a populist Democrat for a governor. If he were to be senator, what are his chances that he would slip into the Evan Bayh Blue Doggy faction of the Democrat Party?

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Thanks Josh Holland-

In addition to outright greed I've become convinced that some of this is about fear of change

I'm amazed and freightened that in the face of overwhelming evidence that there is still obstruction on US health care reform.

I guess there really is no limit either on individual's or institution's self destructiveness?

To me this is an example of being literally willing to die than change?

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa

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Joshua, you are missing an extremely important aspect of the "hijacking" of health care reform. Big business, notably the insurance and computer industries, are vastly overstating the cost savings from computerized medical records, report cards on doctors and hospitals, "pay for performance," and a new form of managed care called "disease management." These "reforms" are NOT going to save money, and some of them (notably "pay for performance") will probably damage quality of care. You should investigate this aspect of the "hijacking." You should investigate the framing of the debate in a manner that distracts attention from the bloated insurance industry and their contribution to the health care crisis. You should investigate the framing of the debate that results in smart people thinking the insurance industry has a role to play in solving the health care crisis, a role that includes, among other things, using EMRs to collect ever more data on patients for the purpose of rewarding doctors who get good "grades" on report cards and punishing doctors who get "bad" grades on report cards.

Instead, you're contributing to the hijacking you criticize. By asking your readers to trust the paper by David Cutler and a RAND Corp. employee, a paper published by the Center for American Progress, you perpetuate the nonsense that there are huge savings to be achieved by EMRs, report cards, disease management, and "pay for performance." These proposals will either damage quality of care as much as or more than they improve it or, in the case of good disease management, they will improve quality of care but the intervention required to improve care will cost at least as much as the medical costs saved because of improved health.

I don't know why Cutler (a key advisor to Obama during his presidential campaign) is so far off base, but I have a good idea why the RAND Corp. is --they receive lots of money from the computer industry to promote electronic medical records and to hype the wonders that will inevitably follow if all doctors switch from paper to electronic medical records. Among the wonderful things that will follow from universal electronic medical records (EMRs) are report cards on doctors and hospitals (I call them No Patient Left Behind report cards) and "pay for performance," which means we start paying doctors based on their grades on the No Patient Left Behind report cards.

My greatest concern about our nation's failure to create a single-payer system is, of course, that we will continue to let so many uninsured and underinsured Americans suffer the consequences of lack of insurance. But right behind that concern is this one: The longer we fail to do the right thing, the longer the insurance and computer industries have to mislead us with their red-herring proposals, and the more likely smart reporters and smart progressives in general will be hornswoggled into thinking the brave new world of "pay for performance" and measuring everything that moves in the clinic is a good idea.

If we don't wake up soon and realize that what David Cutler and the RAND Corporation and the Center for American Progress are talking about is a recycling of the awful HMO experiment, we will suffer some very predictable consequences. These consequences will include much more control of our doctors by bureaucrats. The next HMO experiment will make the first look like a walk in the park. Please write articles that help the public understand this. Please do not lend AlterNet's name to the propaganda that is paving the way for this brave new world.

Kip Sullivan

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Consider the Connection to:
A Plug for Health Care Reform 09
Please plug this in (search):
Health Care Profiteers & Lobbyists
www.consumerunion.org
www.aft.org/fight4america
www.WeWantThePublicOption.com
CTC123GREEN

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I'm sorry. I had to say it. And, let me say, too, that my disappointment in Obama is multiplied daily.

Like every president who proposes progressive changes in their campaigns, then when elected gives in to right wing/corporate demands, Obama's been injected with the "government-is-like-a-giant-ship crap" that can only be turned slowly drug.

Well, I can play with that metaphor too. Has Obama ever heard of tugboats that can spin a ship around?

Or, like the Edmund Fitzgerald, Iron Ore Obama can break the old ship in half and sink it. Okay, I don't know what that means, exactly, but if Obama isn't willing to exercise his power to keep a campaign promise, then, we need to be the Iron Ore and sink the government ship that refuses americans a genuine health care reform plan, like a single-payer system, or at least a real public option.

What would it take to organize a march on Washington? This is the one issue progressives should not let by.

I say, we organize a march when Congress resumes its Fall session.

Who's with me?

Peace

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A Government option that would provide real competition to the health insurance industry to survive in pending legislation......?

Yes, yes, there was noise.....but it was just a matter of when it would go away, not if....

You can blame Obama, you can blame the Blue Dogs, you can blame the Republicans...

You know something....you are right....they are *all* in on the process of selling you out...

And I'm sure you've some of the onerous and ominous new paperwork burdens proposed...Folks are reading this thing and summarizing it, so the sellouts in DC won't be able to claim ignorance....

I didn't think it was possible to screw up health care any worse than it already is, but we're on the track to do so....

BOHICA*

And remember folks....our erstwhile reps in Washington DC are not going to have to live with what comes out of this mess....They have their own cushy setup...

You and I are going to have to.....

*(Bend Over, Here It Comes Again)...

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Obama was a huge shill before being elected. That's what he did for Exelon and Archer Midland Daniels and his "tort reform".
He made it clear in the campaign he wasn't going to go there with single payer or any real progressive reform. The only way he "seemed" progressive was his big corporate media allies and crooked debate commission shutting out Nader & McKinney from the discussion.

There were 6 candidates on the national electoral statistics, and Obama and McCain were the only two that were going to perpetuate patriot act, fisa, wars on lies.
Granted, we only options for single payer, or a populist discussion on health care, but neither of those were Obama. Few seemed to know this. That's why the levels of his lies are so important to point out if we're going to get back on the ground.

One reason it wasn't hijacked is Obama made it clear he wouldn't discuss single payer as far back as the election. He even dismissed his own single payer comments in the past. Once he was president, true to form, the people didn't get one drop of voice. We get rationalizations and tricks. A "gateway" to single payer that's not a gateway, that's going to shovel even more money into the health care industry and still leave many uninsured, and hurt the people already getting assistance that need it. It's based on a model that we've seen what happens, but still we get no voice. It's because so many people are "progressive" and their eyes are glazed rationalized for him and our base is gone.

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He shopped this complex project out to Congress and all the lobbyists who run congress. He has been vague and general in describing how the bills would work.

Why for example is a public system better in quality of care and cost than the current system? He doesn't say.

Nor does he articulate how people will be required to participate, crucial to make the reforms economical.

I think he gets a retainer from the health insurance companies. Also Ted Kennedy is assured a miserable death:his life now amounts to nothing.

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....reminds me of the old joke- What did you get in the hospital?- "a walletectomy"

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa

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Where are all the public health experts in this debate? Why aren't they pointing out that in the event of public health emergencies such as virulent contagious diseases, for example, if some people are uninsured and do not seek treatment it will be impossible to control outbreaks? Public health officials know that single payer is the only system that offers a chance of controlling the epidemics of the future which they all say are coming. They should be speaking out strongly in favor of universal(and equal)coverage.

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In a discussion, the other day, it came to me; The US has had (socialized) absolute free health care for over 200 years. It’s one of the better health care systems that exist, today. However, it is limited to Senators, Congressmen, The Supreme Court, the Executive branch, some government workers and all branches of the Military. So, let’s keep it out of the hands of the people who are paying for it: The American People.

It has been proven that Republican Political Party philosophy is a flawed and a failed concept.

By definition, the average Republican Party voter has below average intelligence.
a) Half of all humanity has a below average IQ.
b) Predominantly Republican states have below average IQs.
c) By definition, the average Republican Party voter has below average intelligence.
d) In American History, the contemporary Republican philosophy is a failed concept.
e) History has shown that implemented Republican philosophy leads to failure.

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Last Night I saw a fellow who formerly was a health Care Lobbyist and he pointed out that in the 70's the Insurance Industry paid out 95 cents of every dollar on paying Claims . Today that is down to 80 cents of every dollar . Right there is the reason for the problem and yet the main Stream Media NEVER mentions this fact .
The latest from the wing nut crowd is the accusation that the bill would lead to the killing of the elderly through denial of care .
We may wind up with the WORST of all worlds if the Senate Finance Bill becomes law .It has no public plan and no employer mandate but does have a mandate for YOU to purchase Insurance . IF GOD FORBID this were to be the final Version Obama should VETO it and tell the American Public WHO killed it .
It is disheartening to see that the wishes of over 70% of the public can be so TOTALLY ignored .
Suddenly these guys are concerned with deficits after the decades of them run up by Republican Presidents from Reagan to Bush . However I offer this RADICAL idea to finance Health Care : LEGALIZE and TAX Pot

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After telling us that our healthcare system is broken and does not work the congress proposes a bill that perpetuates the most egregious evils of our present system and adds a few tweaks.
Congress, and the President, have opted to take care of the insurance companies rather than taking care of the rest of is.

What little we have been shown of the healthcare reform bill will cost billions and will not cover everyone, It will give the insurance companies a license to print money while pushing high risk patients into the public option (if there is one).

Single payer is the only plan which would cover everyone and still be affordable, H.R.676 is the bill which should be dicussed.

Any plan that includes the for profit insurance companies is bound to fail.

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The destructive Republican Party and the Democrat Blue Dogs are doing anything and everything, legal or otherwise, to kill the Obama Health Reform effort, hoping to kill Obama's presidency in the process. Along with millions being spent by elements of the medical establishment and by med insurance lobbys, they spreading false rumors, lies, and calumnies about the plan and about individual Democrats who favor a change in our current health care "system". The most outlandish misinformation is being spread abroad.

The latest example of this foul garbage is that the Democrats intend to KILL "old people" (I'm one of them !) with the reform, letting them die without medical care. Thank garbage loudmouth Rush Limbaugh for that little bit of drivel. But he is far from alone in his campaign to destroy anything the Democrats propose, especially the health care reform.

The underlying problem is that those opposed to the reform are on the payroll of the greedy med insurance companies and the equally greedy medical business community opposed to the reform.

And a vast number of ignorent, gullible, and stupid people BELIEVE this mindless, politically motivated crap.

BUT - - the Republicans seem to forget the last time they launched a politically motivated campaign to destroy a Democratic president resulted in a fiasco for their Party, and it has never really recovered. Of course that foulup also followed the criminal behavior of not very many years before of Dick (I AM a crook) Nixon and his troup of petty felons. The more recent events of 9/11 prompted the frightened, gullible, and stupid conservatives among American voters to put the Cheney/Bush cabal into the White House for 8 years, again resulting in an even worse fiasco for the Republicans. And now it seems that Republican members of the Congress are engaging in freewheeling, outlandishly illegal and/or objectional behavior (check out the whacked out, womanizing religious boobs in the Republican Congressional fascist "church" on C street in DC) and issuing the most stupifyingly brainless statements imaginable. THEY MUST BY NOW BE SO LOST THAT THEY ARE DESPERATE, SO ANYTHING GOES.

And in regard to their positions in the health care reform package, it must be said that the Republicans and the Democrat "Blue Dogs" in the Congress are the best legislators that the money of the med insurance and med lobbys can buy.

The desperate Republican Party is on its last legs, digging itself into so deep a hole that it will not emerge for at least a generation. Too bad. Although it's fun to watch them sink themselves so low, it is unfortunate, for we do really need a two party system - - at least a reasonably honest one - -to keep the Democrats honest.

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The destructive Republican Party and the Democrat Blue Dogs are doing anything and everything, legal or otherwise, to kill the Obama Health Reform effort, hoping to kill Obama's presidency in the process. Along with millions being spent by elements of the medical establishment and by med insurance lobbys, they spreading false rumors, lies, and calumnies about the plan and about individual Democrats who favor a change in our current health care "system". The most outlandish misinformation is being spread abroad.

The latest example of this foul garbage is that the Democrats intend to KILL "old people" (I'm one of them !) with the reform, letting them die without medical care. Thank garbage loudmouth Rush Limbaugh for that little bit of drivel. But he is far from alone in his campaign to destroy anything the Democrats propose, especially the health care reform.

The underlying problem is that those opposed to the reform are on the payroll of the greedy med insurance companies and the equally greedy medical business community opposed to the reform.

And a vast number of ignorent, gullible, and stupid people BELIEVE this mindless, politically motivated crap.

BUT - - the Republicans seem to forget the last time they launched a politically motivated campaign to destroy a Democratic president resulted in a fiasco for their Party, and it has never really recovered. Of course that foulup also followed the criminal behavior of not very many years before of Dick (I AM a crook) Nixon and his troup of petty felons. The more recent events of 9/11 prompted the frightened, gullible, and stupid conservatives among American voters to put the Cheney/Bush cabal into the White House for 8 years, again resulting in an even worse fiasco for the Republicans. And now it seems that Republican members of the Congress are engaging in freewheeling, outlandishly illegal and/or objectional behavior (check out the whacked out, womanizing religious boobs in the Republican Congressional fascist "church" on C street in DC) and issuing the most stupifyingly brainless statements imaginable. THEY MUST BY NOW BE SO LOST THAT THEY ARE DESPERATE, SO ANYTHING GOES.

And in regard to their positions in the health care reform package, it must be said that the Republicans and the Democrat "Blue Dogs" in the Congress are the best legislators that the money of the med insurance and med lobbys can buy.

The desperate Republican Party is on its last legs, digging itself into so deep a hole that it will not emerge for at least a generation. Too bad. Although it's fun to watch them sink themselves so low, it is unfortunate, for we do really need a two party system - - at least a reasonably honest one - -to keep the Democrats honest.

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Next year, Tom Coburn is up for reelection but I'm voting to reelect him next year now that I'm angry as hell that Obamacare aka Affirmative Action Care for Selected Minorities is all the Democrats can come up with. As a Black American, I hate affirmative action because it makes us blacks, brothers and sisters alike, look like welfare queens. If Democrats weren't racists, they would be enacting single payer health care by now instead of Obamacare.

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I’m a poor person. One of the 58% of Americans who fall below the poverty line at some time during their life. I’m poor not through lack of education or ability to work, I’m poor because of a lack of decent paying jobs.
I wonder if anyone on Wall St, in our banking system, or in government has any idea how it feels to watch how our taxpayer money is spent? How to comprehend $700,000.00 bonus’s for three months work to the employees of a company my taxes just bailed out? Or to hear that Republicans main goal is to scuttle President Obama’s attempt at health care reform?
I can tell you this, I know of nobody who does not think that Wall St, The Fed and our government are in cahoots. I see, as do many others, a large class of people running our country who have grown rich of the system at the expense of the American people. All the winks and the nods, the lobbyists, the sweet deals, the pork, within this group that is supposed to represent we the people, but in actuality represent the biggest businesses, have become so appallingly obvious that it is jaw dropping.
Most Americans simply want to work a decent job and live a decent life. We don’t need millions in our bank accounts, we don’t need real estate all over the world and we don’t need gated communities to live in. We could care less for $4000.00 suits and caviar. We simply want to live our lives with an eye toward our children's and granchildren’s future’s, to see that they are educated and healthy and free of violence, and live in a better world for all. Is that too much to ask of the people who have very comfortably sat in Washington making decisions and deals that have made American people ever poorer as they have grown richer?
So why is there such an ever increasing and obscene imbalance between the monied people who buy our government and the rest of us?
Surely, as a nation, we can show more equality than this. It isn’t a matter of not enough. It’s purely a matter of distribution. Some people have so much excess they could on their own, literally build hospitals and schools and end hunger in their home states. Far, far too many others like me, spiral down for lack of work. We lose our houses, our transportation, our families break up, we end up on the streets, homeless and without health care. Yet someohow the rich continue to amass more and more wealth.

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One thing that has not been brought up here is the fact that when asked, ALL of those in charge of deciding on OUR health-care plan adamantly refused to be covered under the same plan. In other words, it is good enough for the people, but they have no intention of letting the governement make the decisions on their OWN health care!!!!
Not only will these plans cost us for generations, we will be allowing them to decide who receives what as far as health care. In addition, NONE of this legislation addresses reigning in the ourrageous costs that are the real reason for our health-care system being the way it is. Insurance companies, hospitals, pharmacuetical companies, and doctors have all raped the public for so long now that it is standard practice, and therefore not something ANY of these bought and paid for politico's are willing to put a stop to.
If it is to be forced onto us, then it should be mandatory for EVERY public official as well, no more priveledged medical for them at tax payer expense. No more runaway costs by the system either.

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I like the article, but like so much of this debate it is vague.'Way back in the election, obama was also vague promising change and hope as if he was addressing high schoolers It is clear to me that this bill as it stands is a continuation of the culture war the Dems started in order to get elected. Young against old. I keep hearing that funds for the health care costs will come from medicare. Now I ask you, why would you take money form an already taxed system in which govt. is already penny pinching/?
The Dems clearly want to pull away from costs to the elderly and continue to transfer wealth to the insurance industry.

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That blue dog motherfucker spoke against Single Payer several times and he's a supporter of more wars. Why not just have a Republican in his place? See you in hell Dan Boren when we whoop your ass next year ! We won't be fooled in our district ! DEATH TO THE BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS !!

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If there is nay up side to this debacle it's that now we can no longer deny that our entire system is corrupted...and Corrupt..!

We have a system of legalized bribery..!

Much of it due to Corporate "Personhood" which our corrupt Supreme Court is preparing to expand the parameters of in September driving yet another nail in what used to be our democracy.!

We must reform our corrupt system this is not how democracy works what we have now is more and more everyday is Corporate Fascism America Style..!

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Here is Dan Boren's own words from the article on his site:

My view on a public plan is mixed. I am ardently opposed to single payer health care. I believe that America’s free market health care system is the primary reason our country has the best specialized medical care in the world. Thousands of foreigners travel to the United States every year to get medical treatment at prestigious facilities like the Mayo Clinic, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and the University of Oklahoma Medical Center.
-----------------------------------------------

There you have it folks. Anyone who wants to defend Blue Dog fuckers like DB can have him as your rep. It's time to TERMINATE THE BLUE DOG COALITION even if that means electing more Republicans in their places.

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...shows an understanding of the basic principles of insurance.

You don't insure your house against fire because you intend to burn it up every year.

You don't insure your auto because you plan to crash it into something every year.

Do you have dental insurance just to cover regular cleaning? Wrong!

Do you insure your contact lenses because you plan to pinch them to pieces? Wrong!

Insurance should be only for unplanned events that have extraordinary costs.

Health insurance has become a farce. True reform is needed, and it's not forthcoming.

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I'm tired of being told that we are not good enough activists. We sign petitions, make phone calls, write e-mails, talk to our neighbors and donate funds. We have been lied to, manipulated and talked down to by both parties and the media. I refuse to be treated like I'm stupid. Count me out of the Democratic party. I'm a progressive. I have seen what comes of Democrats' promises and they are not worth my efforts. Healthcare is a huge issue that impacts all aspects of people lives. If they can't get a better bill that considers the people before the healthcare and health insurance industries, then that bill deserves to die. We activists need to get off our asses and make our problems with this government known. We elected Obama and look what we got in return. We elected the Democrats to Congress and look what we got. Enough is enough. We tell them that they either shape up or lose our votes, and all of our support.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Q14HOBThM&feature=related

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If you live in a state that has Blue Dog Dems as Senators, it is time to let them know if they do NOT support universal healthcare, you will find someone to run against them who will! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Why let some corporate shill decide whether you will live or die???

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and that 1,000 page monstrosity of health care reform is voted in and Obama signs it??? from my view we will see...

unemployed americans, 40 million and counting who have no way to pay for mandated health insurance let alone basics of life... bring on the debtors prisons again because that way you might get some form of health care...

the cutbacks of health care for kids keeps on shrinking... nothing for the 18-65 set without kids under 18 at home...

medicare goes bust and elders are left penniless... over 80% of one's health are costs are within 2-4 years of death...

insurance companies go crazy with policies within the next 3 years to stockpile $$ for when the bill kicks in...

more bankruptcies on the horizon basically because people can't find jobs!!!

jammed to the rafters ER's from folks who can't pay for care, don't qualify for assisted care and finally the big kiss off to the hospitals when the bills roll in... so sue me!!! no assets to attach!!!

heck of a way to thin the herd, the neediest and sickest will die off, the rest suffer...

got a copy of the bill as it sat yesterday and still reading it... these are just the tidbits up to page 250 or so...

my suggestion... Obama use the power of an executive order and institute single payor while shutting down private insurance companies until they prove they are not for profit and play by the single payor rules... use the 'summer vacation' of august to our advantage... grandfather in existing claims but otherwise, shut em down...

30 days of single payor should convince our elected officials and lobbyists we mean business this time when they come back from recess... a page from wombat's playbook turned on it's head... he was famous for using executive orders and signing statements while both houses were out on break...

why demonstrate to a closed for the season DC in august heat???

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Americans are so dump they equate health care with profit. What a fucking country.
The only industrialized country in the world that doesn't have an universal health care system.
Note: Senators and all others in government have a universal health care system, so what's wrong with this picture. Suckers.
Look north to Canada and learn.

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This part of human behavior is always a curiosity to me. When we have clear evidence of wrongdoing and corruption, we know it is wrong and still it is allowed to continue. Why is that? I once had a judge in a civil case say to me, “I know it’s wrong but it’s not illegal.” Have we shown that what is going on in our government is wrong but it’s not illegal? And then that somehow is O.K.? With our current system are we allowed to do things that are dishonest, wrong, harmful to others as long as it is not illegal? If this is the case then do we need laws that punish wrongdoing?

The Law at one time, or so I think this was the case, was based on principles. Principles were the guiding force behind a civilized, harmonious society. Principles were a code of ethics that were applied, even implied in the law. I think a clear example of principles and ethics applied to the law is the Declaration of Independence, the spirit of the law, and out of that came the letter of the law, The Constitution. Neither is perfect, of course, but a very good starting point. And their most endearing quality to me is in their simplicity, clear and concise language that leaves little to interpretation, except where the Supreme Court is concerned. But that is something else again.

I think it is very difficult to write and apply laws fairly and equally without principles and ethics as the guiding force.

Here are some Maxims from the 6th Edition of Gilmer’s Revised Law Dictionary where I spent much of my research time at one point. I just think if these principles were applied to the actions and actors in many of the instances we are struggling with today things would be much clearer and manageable. Clear is always good.
“The law speaks to all in the same way.”
“No right of action can arise out of a fraud.”
“Where there is a right, there is a remedy.”
"It is useless to prove that which, when proved, is not relevant"
“He who stands on his own rights injures no one.”
“All things are presumed against one who destroys evidence.”
There are more but I will end on this one. “He who gives the order is taken to be himself the doer.”

I think things would be different, better actually, if our response to the truth was based on some principles and then justice applied according to the law.

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"So, next time you see some congressional meat-puppet on TV discussing how much a plan will cost, or lamenting its limited potential for cost-containment, keep in mind that it's his or her ideology that is directly to blame for those shortcomings."

100% correct! Great stuff again my man!

It's well known that the US health system today is the most wasteful and expensive system ever. A public, single-payer system would be far, far, cheaper and have the added bonus of actually getting people health care... because the truth is, the US insurance people don't always cover you.

More people in the US go bankrupt than anywhere in the modern world because they, or a family member, got seriously ill. And Republicans (and Blue Dog Democrats, if not most of them) call themselves Christians? Have they heard what Jesus says about these issues? What am I saying! ;p

Most Americans, poll after poll shows, want health care. Washington does not. What do you think will happen? Democracy?

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I run a small business, and I am told that new participants will not be allowed to be covered under our existing plan. At the same time, if I don't provide coverage, I'll be taxed 8%...

The study cited in the post mentions costs in Minn. are 30% less expensive than in FL... Was cost of living included in that area? You know, costs for homes, parking, etc...?

Before a vote, I want to know:

1. What is covered;
2. What is NOT covered;
3. What are the wait times for that which is covered;
4. My cost (any co-pays?);
5. ...

A member of the armed services said that his health care was free and that everyone should have the same benefit. What the soldier does not understand (or fails to think about) is that it is NOT free--the taxpayers are paying for his health care.

I hear complaints about the VA, about SS, and about other government-run programs (United States Postal Service) that are over-budget and whose service may be questioned.

While I like my postal service, it is projected to have a 5 billion dollar hole in its budget.

It is fine to keep taxing those who earn to pay for services, but what happens, like now, when governments have to increase tax since other income is down? How are the people supposed to afford this?

Why doesn't the government do what they tell us to do--balance your budget?

I find it odd that they raise their pay, tax us, and complain that they can't provide us all the services we need. Give me back 1/2 what I pay in tax, and I wouldn't NEED a government program...

The government did not ask me whether to send CIA agents to South America or Iraq. I was not asked whether I wanted to fund the UN or Pakistan.

That was my money...handed over to the government so that it could serve me... Oh wait, that was just the dream. I forget those in power have other ideas...

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This wrangle about health care reform serves to point out clearly that corporations OWN many members of the Congress, both Houses, particularly the Republicans and the Blue Dog Democrats. The campaign coffers of the Blue Dogs are a matter of public record that has been published lately. It's needless to mention the Republicans who have been favoring corporations for many decades. But the problem does not concern only health care reform. The corporations have all of America by the short hairs on all issues. They are bleeding our society to death. They have been given exorbitant bailouts by taxpayers while their managers are getting obscenely wealthy at our expense and they prefer it that way - - and to hell with everyone else. Ya see, "they're too big and too important to our fragile economy to be allowed to fail", so they are taking extavagant advantage of the bailouts at taxpayer expense. Their cohorts in the Congress are passing halth care "reform" and other legislation designed to favor the corporations and are being rewarded with bulging campaign coffers and personal wealth by investing in these same corporations - - and it's not just those who oppose health care reform. Check out Nancy Pelosi's stock holdings, for instance.
What is needed is far more strict REGULATION of the corporations, their "contributions" to members of the Congress, more strict serveillance of the receipts of members of the Congress from the corporations, and severe limitations on the monies they garner from their benefactors in the corporate world.
If that sounds like a fascist scheme, remember that the corporations already have virtual control of the Congress and the country, so just who are the fascist dictators ? After a while there will be two classes of people in America (and it's nearly the fact now): extremely wealthy corporate heads and their cronies in the houses of the Congress, and the rest of us - - suckers.
Health care reform will be seriously curtailed and distorted by both the interested corporations and the members of Congress who are on their payroll. In the meantime, if we don't like it, we can just get sick and die for all they care. As long as the corporate managers and lobbyists get richer and richer at our expense, we can go to hell.
French royalty and aristocrats learned a terribly bloody lesson in the late 18th century after many years of a quasi-feudal system that finally blew up in their faces. The blood sucking corporate managers and the Congress had better give that some thought before the rest of us get mad as hell.

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it won't. Their headline says "Obesity is key link to soaring health tab" This is true and false. They don't mention why it is false. But it is insurance company propganda as a headline.

This is a case of blame the victim. Epidemiologists have shown that obesity followed income. The republicans made people poorer and obesity increased. Hence we are blaming the victims.

To find authority on this go on line and read reviews of "The Spirit Level" by Wilkinson and Pritchett. It is not sold in the U. S. Go to UK Amazon. You will buy in pounds. It should be of interest that it is not sold in the U.S. I guess we can wonder why.

Wilkinson is an epidemiologist. Pritchett is social psych. When you finish you will understand why the republican party does as it does. No single tenet of the republican party can stand scientific scrutiny.

You knew you were right. You just didn't know that it could be proven. If the republicans find that they can no longer retain power by means of deception, will they resort to force? Has there been a hidden agenda in "tough on crime" and "pro-active policing"? Have the republicans been planning a police state and martial law? Reread Naomi Wolf.

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Americans should understand that health care reform is ALWAYS dead on arrival in America. It is not a question of "if"corporate media, corrupt senators and congressmen, and the health care industry get their way,only WHEN. The entire Congress, the Presidency and the Supreme court could be all Democratic, and still nothing would substantively change. Why this has become intractable goes right to heart of what America is, and what it cannot be, as it is now constituted. Only the silly,delusional naïveté of perennial optimists and fools continue to believe otherwise.

This dysfunction is outside the realm of American electoral politics, which is little more than an ongoing travesty of deceit. This imbroglio cannot be addressed by something which is inherently dysfunctional to begin with it; one must look elsewhere into the systemic and ideological darkness of the American ethos itself: No nation that spends billions upon billions on permanent fascist imperial wars of military state terror, can EVER have decent public health care,when it indulges evil as a point of national pride.

Similarly, any industry which valorizes extreme profits as the 'alpha and omega' will not allow even the smallest soupcon of real change.That can only happen when the two modes, no longer exist. Both modalities of infrastructural American capitalism, where the profit motive is paramount, cannot allow even the most modest of reforms, with out jeopardizing their very being. The best that can be hoped for is something fake, a trick of marketing.

And yet this is not a matter of simply shifting priorities or re-allocating funds so that health care spending will trump war funding. The truth is America, in the throes of a malevolent, catastrophic historical devolution, MUST have fascist war the way and addict myst have a fix . It is this same psychic depravity and endemic cultural sadism–rooted in the very being of all things American– which takes pride in punitively denying public, socialized medicine, to all but the military.

Any benign reversal based on rationality, is not going to happen in a system which abjures all rationality, except the rationality of the perverse. Piece meal incrementalism and phony reforms, through the aegis of American non-politics and cultural barbarism is always more theatre, than substance. –(Jill Bains)

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While I agree that it takes a revolution sized wave of letters and complaints to get our lawmaker's attention, (many to whom I have already written) I refuse to put the entire onus on the American people!

This should be a non-issue, no need for a fight or even a discussion. Since we, the people are paying for the excellent health care coverage and treatment for those individuals that we elect to govern and represent the will of their constituents, all of us, through utilization of our tax dollars, then there should be NO argument and NO question about health care reform.

As the employers of Congress and the POTUS, we should automatically get the same coverage that they enjoy, or better! In what other arena does the boss or owner of the "company" allow it's employees to determine which benefits are given to management or owners?

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Remember a member of Congress from back in the '90's, stalwart champion of conservative causes and policy-making and legislative "reforming"? His name was Frist. He had power, was influential and was constantly on the MSM celebratory news during the Clinton years.....

Investigate his current position. He is gleefully "reaping the fruits of his labors" as a big player in Humana enterprises, heavily invested in insurance and medical care, and advertising heavily its many great and "affordable" and ever-so-concerned insurance policies on tv.

"Say, don't you remember? You called me Al.....

brother, can you spare a dime?"

And thousands of "Frists" have bloomed!

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GREAT analysis. Thanks.

I only wonder how long you can keep it going with advertising from health insurance companies to support health care columns, advrtising from power companies to support energy columns, etc. Looks like conflict of interest to me. That's what got us into this mess in the first place -

why the health care system and health care leislation are a disaster,

why the media weren't watching when suburbia got overbuilt, finally precipitating the present economic disaster,

why Waxman-Markey has been gutted,

why the major environmental watchdogs have been doing very little watching for the last couple of decades.

You are what you eat. You aren't immune.

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even after the current financial melt-down, brought about by free-market fundamentalists that own the two-party dictatorship that runs the US government, we are incapable of fixing the broken system.

We are fucked; there is nothing that can change our corrupt institutions.

Time to find another country and move on.

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It was hard to follow the hysterical panting in the arguments made in this article. Mr. Holland is probably forgetting that our country was founded to protect the financial interests of white male slave owners that didn't want to share their wealth with the English Crown. Delusional ramblings based on a made up history aren't as interesting to me in my fifties as they were in my twenties.

The biggest problem with health care is that it costs too much. One of the reasons that it costs too much is because basic care is not distributed well. The poorest system that we have for distributing care today is the single payer government program, Medicare, in which a Robert Woods Johnson study reported last year beneficiaries only received the treatment that science says that they should be 55% of the time. All of the solutions put forth by both parties so far have just been smoke and mirrors to distract the gullible from the status quo of supporting the rich and powerful-including the single payer proposals being made by Stark and Conyers.

If Congress would provide universal lifetime education then we would see the health care system we have now crumble as more people got advanced degrees and started competing directly with the current doctor controlled establishment. Insurance problems are a symptom of a sick system, not the problem. More insurance reform would be like giving aspirin to someone with chest pains. We can cure this disease by creating a free market for health care, then insurance and most of the cost in this system will fall away.

This isn't likely to happen. How will a country that has yet to shed it's slave owner mentality going to function if we don't keep a cheap uneducated labor force where just a few elites are given just enough education and power to feel like they are participating in the wealth and power in this country?
Tom Gibson

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It is ironic that the media, the government, Obama, practically everyone, refers to the health system as "broken." That's not accurate. For those who benefit from it, Big Pharma, Big Medicine, Big Insurance, it is not broken at all; it is making those people richer than sultans. For them it is operating just fine, thank you very much.

What it is actually, is corrupt, what it is intentionally, is criminal. To say that the system is "broken" is to remove responsibility, as in, "it just fell off the shelf and now it's broken."

Bullshit.

The system is conciously designed to provide as little as possible while extracting the maximum amount of profit, even if this results in people dying. The industry calls this "good business" and even Obama agrees that industry has a right to make a profit in this way.

Just imagine what would happen if auto manufacturers built cars similarly, cars that were deliberately so shoddy that brakes or suspensions failed regularly, causing death and/or dismemberment, and yet the consumer finds out only after buying the product that it has no warranty, so the consumer must fork out large sums to try to make the vehicle safe or risk death by simply driving it. Regulation would come down on that kind of auto industry like a hammer; yet, this is similar to what we have right now with the healthcare industry.

They call it "good business."

I call it criminal, and that people should go to jail for abusing an enterprise so vital and basic to life.

It's just a damned shame that our "leadership" in Washington D.C. has been so blinded by money that they don't recognize that they are making deals with criminals, whle the people they took an oath to protect are left to be victimized, over and over again –– as we are about to be once more with yet another crappy, chickensh*t "compromise" with (say: "givaway to") the moneyed elite and rapacious corporations.

(At this point, the only "Change I Can Believe In" is the chump-change left in my picked pockets –– although I'm sure they'll get that soon enough, too.)

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"How come?"

"One victory, that's all it'll take."

"But why Medicare for all?"

"Because it's a sure winner."

"Based on?"

"Yes we can.

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Great piece, Josh.

Health care in this doomed country is dead. The Republicans - and a whole hell of a lot of Democrats - will see to that.

A political Revolution is long overdue. The GOP is moribund. The Dems need to be purged of all of their useless, dead weight. I'm referring to people like Harry Reid, Evan Bayh, Nancy Pelosi - that crowd.

So many of them have amnesia. They have totally forgotten that they are the party of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. That is the reason I am no longer a Democrat. I left that stupid worthless party years ago and never looked back.

I have not lost hope for them, though. It is heartening to know that people like Ted Kennedy, Russ Feingold, Maxine Waters and now Al Franken still walk the halls of that miserable place.

Where there's life there's hope - I hope

Barack Obama: Just an All American Kind of Guy

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

PS - Barack Obama hates white people. Did you hear the latest?

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So with everthing that has happened lately with the Madoff's and Ripoff's and Enrons we are supposed to believe that the free market of vulture capitalism and CEO and Officer bonuses is going to give us good health care at a good cost better than a non-profit system would???

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people I knew who I thought were for health care for us all have all of a sudden become teaparty hacks because of the various lies and half-truths being spread about this legislation.
People are not looking behind these lies and half-truths.
People have left their compassion behind and are thinking only of money and whether some group of people (such as illegals, abortion providers,etc.) will get a piece of the American health care pie. They don't seem to give a good god damn that millions of working people are without care and millions more are facing bills that will force them into bankruptcy.
They don't care if people get really sick and die because of lack of care. All they care about is the possibility it might impact their pocketbook.
I am uninsured by my employer and make too much money for Medicaid and am too young for Medicare. I have three serious medical problems that may eventually kill me if I can't get proper treatment.
You'd think my friends and family would be routing for their pal and relative to get that care. Hell, no! They've joined the teaparty because of lies aimed at throttling the health care debate.

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Just some of the representatives in Congress and those they represent:

Max Baucus (D - Blue Cross/Blue Shield)
Lindsey Graham (R - Blue Cross/Blue Shield)
Saxby Chambliss (R - AFLAC Inc)
Mitch McConnell (R - Humana Inc)
Chuck Grassley (R - Amgen Inc)
Susan Collins (R - Aetna Inc)

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The only way we are going to achieve health care or any kind of substantial reform is to take a lesson from the Civil Rights movement of the 60s. Our government, along with our rights have been destroyed by corporate Amerika. The only way you are going recapture them is through civil disobedience. It's bound to be ugly, because the new Robber Barons have been amassing their wealth and power for about 30 to 40 years, and they will not relinquish it without it getting real bloody. Why not, for starters, organize a march on Washington, and deposit the millions of sick and uninsured Americans, so many of them children, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Another thought: after WWI, the vets marched on Washington and formed a tent city because their health issues were not being treated by a government that was all too willing to send them off to the trenches of WWWI. Sound familiar? You can't zone out on American Idol, and Dancing with the Stars, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and expect to wake up a few years later and be the passive beneficiary of a functioning democracy. Democracy requires all of our participation and vigilance. Most of us have done neither.

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How about a show of support for National Health Care. Say Sept. 7th.
Lets put several million peaceful people in Washington with one msg. "Single Payer Health Care NOW!" We need to create the political space for Obama and the Democrats to move in this direction. It is OUR government and just posting on boards like this will not do anything.
We need to participate and force the issue. Look at the guts the Iranians have.

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No EFCA
No Healthcare
More Bailouts
More War
Guantanamo Still Open
Bush US Attorneys Still in Office
Trillion Dollar Defecits
No transparency

This is a progressive?

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AMERICAN IVORY TOWER U.S.CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS OF THE FREE WORLD HAVE PASSED FEDERAL LEGISLATION IN WASHINGTON DC TO SPEND 50 BILLION AMERICAN TAX $$$ ON THE INTERNATIONAL FIGHT AGAINST AIDS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS WHILE THEIR OWN AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING TOLD BY THIS SAME U.S.CONGRESS THAT NATIONAL HEALTH CARE AND PROPER LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR MIDDLE CLASS AND WORKING POOR CITIZENS IS UNAFFORDABLE.

*** WEALTHY ELITE AMERICANS (WHO ARE ONLY 1% OF OUR USA POPULATION) SADLY ALSO CONTROL HOW OUR U.S.CONGRESS SPENDS THEIR BUDGET TRILLION$ AND HAVE OBVIOUSLY FOUND MORE WORTHY INTERNATIONAL CITIZENS THEN OUR OWN DESPERATE AND NEEDY POOR TO ASSIST !!! ~Poorer Americans Nationwide only get 400 million $$$ per year for legal representation allocated them by CONGRESS~


Middle Class and Working Poor Americans are unable to afford proper legal representation in their Civil, Criminal and Family Courts of law all across America causing tremendous hardships nationwide,but these great minds and callous hearts in our American Congress have found others Worldwide more needy then their own citizens who are being falsely incarcerated,wrongfuly executed,losing their homes or apartments,losing child custody or visitation with their children etc...

Not being afforded proper legal representation by our U.S. Congress has created a total breakdown of the American judicial system for our poorer Americans because the our U.S. Courts punish all of us little people if we are not assisted with proprer legal counsel.it is a known fact that our average Middle Class and Working Poor Americans without proper legal representation in all of our American Courts of law lose their legal cases to the better financed who are able to afford lawyers.

Lawyers For Poor Americans is now actively in the hunt for International Countries and Leaders Worldwide to help raise 5 Billion Dollar$ for our slighted poorer Americans who have had their own American Congress turn their backs on their desperate needs in not affording them proper legal representation.

Troy Davis and Mumia Abu - Jamal are 2 perfect examples of American citizens who never had proper legal representation afforded them by our U.S. Congressional Leaders Of The Free World in their initial criminal trials in (Georgia and Pennsylvania) who might very well have to pay the ultimate price of possibly being completely innocent and falsely executed in the near future.

This is the first of many www International pleas by Lawyers For Poor Americans for other leaders and countries to help raise the needed monie$ to correct these blatant injustices that have been inflicted on poorer Americans for the last few decades.

Lawyers For Poor Americans has many other written articles that can be viewed with any www search engine by our name or our telephone number.

Lawyers For Poor Americans is a www lobby group of volunteers that sing out about the decades old neglect,abuse and injustices being inflicted on our poorer americans that have become Crimes Against Humanity issues for the International World Court to investigate.

lawyersforpooreramericans@yahoo.com
(424-247-2013)

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and they have it down. So many lies are being circulated about healthcare reform, it's really mind boggling.
What all Americans should be asking for is SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE.
Why let Congress screw the one car funeral with it's committee's and 1,000 page plus proposals.
This whole arguement is really tiring......
Doesn't anyone understand the ''Americans pay 50% more for healthcare than other leading nations............................''

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This is must read for anyone who gives tinkers damn about healthcare reform.
Wendell Potter on Bill Moyers Journal http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

In his first extended television interview since leaving the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter tells Bill Moyers why he left his successful career as the head of Public Relations for CIGNA, one of the nation's largest insurers, and decided to speak out against the industry. "I didn't intend to [speak out], until it became really clear to me that the industry is resorting to the same tactics they've used over the years, and particularly back in the early '90s, when they were leading the effort to kill the Clinton plan."
Potter began his trip from health care spokesperson to reform advocate while back home in Tennessee. Potter attended a "health care expedition," a makeshift health clinic set up at a fairgrounds, and he tells Bill Moyers, "It was absolutely stunning. When I walked through the fairground gates, I saw hundreds of people lined up, in the rain. It was raining that day. Lined up, waiting to get care, in animal stalls. Animal stalls."

Looking back over his long career, Potter sees an industry corrupted by Wall Street expectations and greed. According to Potter, insurers have every incentive to deny coverage — every dollar they don't pay out to a claim is a dollar they can add to their profits, and Wall Street investors demand they pay out less every year. Under these conditions, Potter says, "You don't think about individual people. You think about the numbers, and whether or not you're going to meet Wall Street's expectations."

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Of course the pugs will be shooting at you, but it goes with the territory.
Might be it is real high time for supporting the DoJ racketeering investigation on the Health Care Insurance Industry and the Corp Media (especially Murdock and the Washington Post folks). Perhaps then we'll find how they are fleecing the working America.

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Josh, you need to be on antidepressants. your writing is so negative. Your articles are the same style as mainstream media with just different content.Very depressing.
We grow so sick of your negativity.
What are you trying to achieve/?
You pass on information, but it is all editorializing not rationalism.Ug.

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I started of by looking at the first post where someone had listed these pages of the bill where we have to carry an national ID card or give the govt access to our bank account..etc. Funny.

Well I pulled up the bill myself, http://docs.house.gov/edlabor/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf, and started reading through the table of contents to see what sections were important to me. Here is just one that caught my eye.

Title III Subtitle A - Individual Responsibility(or the easy way go to pg 143). "For an individuals responsibility to obtain acceptable coverage, see section 59B of the (gulp) Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by section 401 of this Act)" "(a) Tax Imposed-In the case of any individual who does not meet the requirements of subsection (d) at any time during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5 percent of the excess of (1) the taxpayers modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over (2) the amount of gross income specified in section 6012(a)(1) with respect to the taxpayer".

So this is what we can expect in the way of "health care reform?" The IRS will be the acting police(dear God why)for health care, whereby those using the public offering have to report their coverage each year or pay a tax if they are unable to obtain or maintain coverage for any reason, and, the person is told what coverage they must maintain at all times or pay a fine?

Im not getting that warm fuzzy feeling..

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