McCain proposes to deregulate Health Insurance---just like the Banking industry
By John Amato Friday Sep 19, 2008 12:00pm
How well did that work out the first time?
Here's what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:
Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.
So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago - and promising that if we marketize health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry!
Mr Deregulator would destroy what's left of our health care system. For those who have it at this point and can barely afford it, that is.
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Oy vey.
Does he want the Gilded age again?
McSame '08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXRlG_6Bk-8
I like the picture of McCain demonstrating how the doctor checked his prostate.......on the government dole.
Keep this at the forefront of your blog until the mainstream media picks it up.
General Pavel Rennenkampf Xocoyotzin @ 1:
Nope.
Too much regulation, and taht damned Freedom of the Press, which really fucked things up, later.
They won't be happy til they restore "The Age of Kings, Vassals, and Peasants."
(1) Deregulate Health Care just like the Banking/Financial Industry
(2) Rich get obscenely richer selling "Health Insurance Financial Instruments" to the rest of us
(3) Health Care Bubble Bursts as people "get sick" and try to use their "Health Insurance Financial Instruments"
(4) Government intervenes in resulting crisis for trillions
(5) Socialized National Health Care (for trillions more than if we'd done it in the first friggin' place)
...
(6) Rich get to keep the trillions they "earned"
The Free Market Rocks!
Can somebody explain why Obama isn't up by 50 points? McCain is a soulless moron and obviously so.
The writer pointing out that McCranky's health care is subsidized by the public is point on. We need to abolish all publicly subsidized health care. No more golden insurance policies for senators or congressmen! THAT would get the politicians to do something about this crisis.
Every blog everywhere needs to be singing this one until it starts getting reported. Bet Rachel Maddow will be all over this.
Isn't this guy a POW?
woody, tokin librul @ 5:
The age of Andrew Carnegie and J. Pierpont Morgan had too much regulation?
O.o
The VA is a socialized medical program. And it works fine. Just like the medical programs all of the politicians receive.
When I hear people say taking from the rich and giving to the poor is socialism, I have to think about all the financial bailouts recently and in the last 25 years. That was the working class bailing out the rich.period. they can spin this all they want, but the fact remains tax payers are bailing out the rich.
I just clipped this fro a Norwegian Newspaper, thought you might all enjoy a look at how much of the World Views the USA:::
"God as denial of responsibility"
When God is on your team, the world can be dangerously simple. Arbitrary references to the Bible is a form of intellectual terrorism.
The United States has a talent for producing thought-simplifying politicians. Especially when they claim to represent God's march on earth. Already 160 years ago Alexis de Tocqueville noticed the low level of American ecclesiasticy. At the same time he admired their civic commitment and ability to unite freedom and equality.
For the past eight years, secularised Europe has been watching with increasing astonishment a president who for the most part is guided by religion; who has had a very difficult relationship with the English language; who has systematically prioritised loyalty over competence, and who seems to be without any intellectual curiosity.
The United States has the world's leading universities and scientific institutions. But as historian Richard Hofstadter ascertained in the 1950s: This country also has a tradition of anti-intellectualism at the very spine of its culture. One should not be overheard speaking French if one wants to be president – something John Kerry learned.
Senator McCain enjoys the government health care he keeps attacking. He has coverage through the Veterans Administration, which is government run, socialized medicine. He’s covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefit System, which is government paid for, regulated private insurance. And as a senior citizen, Senator McCain is eligible for Medicare which is government health insurance. All these allow McCain to “see [his] doctor fairly frequently” as he told reporters in March.
Obama needs to pound McCain on this over and over. McCain is well insured and he could care less about anyone else.
Another thing Obama needs to get out there is that McCain wants to privatize Social Security; letting the stock brokers handle it. This should really scare all the senior citizens out there along with the fact that McCain is enjoying such great insurance coverage at taxpayer expense. Too many senior citizens favor McCain because he is one of them! He is NOT one of them. The average senior citizen is a whole lot smarter than McCain.
The American citizens cannot afford to let McCain get his hands on health insurance and Social Security. Obama needs to stress this now til November 4th. Hopefully even some of the die-hard McCain supporters will see what McCain is trying to do and stop him.
General Pavel Rennenkampf Xocoyotzin @ 1:
Of course, it's the neocon dream. No rules, no regulations, no taxes, just the unimpeded ability to make and keep your money and spend it on yourself.
We are witnessing how the Bush administration has fleeced and continues to fleece the American taxpayer. Who has made billions during this administration? The oil industry, defense and banking. We are witnessing the losses of corporate America be socialized while their profits are always privatized.
The individuals responsible for the mess our economy is in are driving away in cheauffer driven black sedans. They are being driven home to multi million possibly billion dollar homes. This has nothing to do with being a Democrat or Republican.
DEMAND INVESTIGATIONS OF THE CEO'S OF BEAR STEARNS, FANNIE, FREDDIE, LEHMAN BROTHERS, AIG. DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY NOW! NOT LATER.
LET'S NOT ALLOW EITHER REPUBLICANS OR DEMOCRATS GET AWAY WITH SAYING WE NEED TO "MOVE FORWARD" "TURN THE PAGE" "DEAL WITH THE PRESENT" YADA YADA. THIS CAN NOT BECOME THEIR BI PARTISAN THEME SONG
ACCOUNTABILITY NOW!
My wife has periodic reviews of her work provided health care benefits.
They are shrinking.
Fewer providers accept it.
She was told that the industry is moving away from provoding health care coverage so she is lucky.
SHE WORKS AT A HOSPITAL!!!!
It is amazing to watch this guy jump off the cross of conservatism he built... too bad the rest of us will just slowly bleed.
The only "regulation" they want is the bailout when their "free market" collapses.
The notion that ANY market should be free from regulation is bankrupt.
The very concepts of "ownership" and "property rights" ARE regulation.
"You can't take my stuff without due process or you will suffer the consequences," IS regulation.
Without "regulation" anyone could start living in John McCain's houses. He would have no recourse short of brute force, and if they threw him out he'd be living on the street.
At the DNC in Denver (I had the good fortune to be there) the big focus in the Senior's caucus was the efforts that John McCain will continue to make to privatize Social Security. This needs to get out there in the MSM. Demand that they talk about this issue. Demand that they start covering what is going on in Iraq. The MSM has not covered what is going on in Iraq for over a year and a half. It has been pigs, lipstick, pitbulls, and Obama's preacher.
Hell if the Bush administration had not lied to the American public and invaded Iraq based on fale intelligence there would be plenty of money to deal with any shortfalls in social security in the future. We know where that surplus went. To destroy another nation so that we can control their oil resources in the future.
This should be the next Obama ad. It is so telling void of anything commentary. Truly stunning.
Kathleen @ 16:
Criminal charges should be brought against the CEOs.
Their hundred million dollar "golden parachutes" should be returned to the US Treasury.
And the CEOs should be in prison.
With the War Criminals.
It will happen because this Election is already over. All that is left is the Illusion that
we still live in a Democracy, the whole election is now about Media Ratings and
giving the People some feeling that they are involved even though they are not.
For those who have it at this point and can barely afford it, that is.
Ummm...yeah. My company just started taking out my benefits yesterday. $260/every two weeks from my paycheck just for medical coverage. Add in dental and it's another $30. On an $8/hour wage (should be a min. of $10 for the type of work we do) I'll be lucky to bring home $300 every two weeks.
Definitely time to hit the job listings.
Straight Shooter hits own foot again!
McBush: The gift that keeps on giving.
He just wants to make everything collapse in on itself, doesn't he?
r @ 10:
Let me go back and do some research on this. I'll get back to you.
Captain Bitter Angry Kangaroo @ 28:
Yup.
Human beings simply cannot conduct their daily lives without "regulation" in matters of political or financial "power". It equates to atavistic lawlessness. Apply the principle of "deregulation" to daily life and see what happens to our benefit.
If deregulation is such a good idea, why don't we "deregulate" traffic flows? If deregulation is such a a good idea, all traffic will be a self-correcting phenomenon -- no more traffic laws, signs, or lights, and traffic will be a well-ordered phenomenon.
Or water flows? No more dams, levees, seawalls, or bulkheads. No more flood controls. All to our "benefit".
Or criminal acts? People may be murderous, violent, or thieving, but according to the deregulation principle, it'll all come out in the wash to the benefit of all.
In the end, why not do away with the Constitutional protections for Americans and just live in a state of anarchy, reverting to the most primitive dog-eat-dog existence possible?
Who does McCain think he's fooling?
I'm a dual citizen. American/Italian. I live in the European Union where I have free healthcare on the national healthcare system. In other words, socialized medicine. I can tell you right now that this is the ONLY way to go and a similar plan for all Americans is what is needed in the USA! Better late than never. Healthcare is a basic human right. It's NOT an option.
anney @ 30:
Law makers regulate industries to fix problems. Take away the regulations; the problems will return.
CafeenMan @ 7:
Because he is black.
This country is headed straight down the sh*tter because people can't get past their racism. I hope people are smart enough to vote with their wallets this election instead of their hate.
As long as the A.M.A. has a monopoly on health care in this country costs will continue to skyrocket. There is no competition.
mccain is doomed.
and, i hate to say it, but obama is also doomed (i.e. when he takes office).
poor guy.
When this election season is over, if there's a God in Heaven, we won't have to listen to this senile old fart or his white trash running 'soul mate' anymore.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THIS?
I will explain: I am from California. I am very very sick and I am disabled from my illness. I am forced to have treatments that cost $52,000.00 a year and if I miss the treatments, I will be bedridden until I eventually die.
California's health care system is broken due to lack of regulation. They take people that are NOT PROFITABLE to their company and DUMP THEM ON SKID ROW TO DIE. Skid Row is the junkie road where predators come out at night like a nightmare from a science fiction movie.
So what to do?
Well my husband gave up a lucrative career for which he had invested years of college and training, and we moved to the area I live now. Why? Because the state I now live in REGULATED THE HEALTH CARE INSURANCE CAREFULLY (and our Health Care Commissioner is a Republican doing a fine job; so this is NOT a partisan story.)
I pay $1200 a month in premiums and costs that override my treatment. That is why my mortgage is not paid off yet... a mortgage we could not get in California at 12% interest and 20% down in a market that STARTED at $500,000.00 for a tiny shack.
So.
If health care is deregulated, NOBODY CAN GET HELP AND WE ALL DIE.
That's it.
We have the HUMAN RIGHT TO LIVE. That is in the U.N. Charter.
Why isn't it in our Constitution?
Have I said how much I hate McCain? I do.
What's health insurance?
If we have the best health care system in the world (Republican Talking Point)
Why isn't the rest of the world trying to copy it?............Because it isn't
What good is the best health care system in the world to someone who can't afford it? ...............Not worth a Sh*t!
Centrocitta @ 31:
The bottom line is that the Repubs just don't want us to have access to a free national healthcare system. It is unbelievable that people who support these politicians feel the same way. The Repubs keep pointing out all the "problems" with such systems, but you cannot tell me that these problems cannot be solved.
No, but we'll give billions of free aid to Iraqis to help them rebuild their country which we helped destroy, and expect nothing in return.
General Pavel Rennenkampf Xocoyotzin @ 11:
Too much regulation for the Neocon/Economic Libertarian movement to stomach.
Unless corporations can sell rotten food with cheap, unprotective packaging without nutritional value sheets at monopolized prices through the use of child labor in hazardous working conditions for 15 cents an hour - Its still "too much regulation" for these assholes.
Well...except access to their oil.
JE$U$! What a F # # # I N G idiot!
Hold on! That's an insult to idiots.
If this Inbev $$ receiving hack gets
any dumber he'll need remedial education
from the Sea Cucumber Re-education
Institute.
pacioccone @ 33:
This is the most aggravating part of this election. We have a bunch of racist bastards who are bringing our nation to it's knees. How long do we sit here politely and allow for it?
THIS CAN NOT BE FOUGHT ON THE AIR OR ON THE INTERNET ALONE.
We have to OSTRACIZE all racists from our lives, even if they are members of our families. We need to tell them to their faces that they are RUINING OUR LIVES. Then we need to leave them in their loneliness to die... and hope it's soon.... and tell them so.
I blame it on his frontal lobotomy.
isitjustme? Says:
"As long as the A.M.A. has a monopoly on health care in this country costs will continue to skyrocket. There is no competition."
Actually, the healthcare industry is controlled by the insurance industry.
John McCain
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.
He looks Stupid.
He sounds Stupid.
He acts Stupid.
I'll bet he smells Stupid.
If he gets elected, we are doomed.
Zlad! @ 6:
Heh, I wish you were kidding, but that might actually be the way we end up with universal health care here.
What with the bailouts and nationalization --- Nationalization, for crying out loud! --- of companies like AIG, health insurance is practically the only insurance left that isn't run by the government.
Yellowbird @ 44:
Yeah, that'll work. LOL!
It worked when the Jews were ostracized and black people and etc. ad nauseum.
No, seeking revenge or simple pain is not the real answer and if you stop and think about it for a moment you will realize i am correct.
The real problem is barriers between people which is perpetrated by those in power to keep us divided so they can control us.
Reinforcing those barriers or creating new barriers cripples us.
Forget it.
We are witnessing another colossal Bush swindle.
Here is Glenn Greenwald's latest.
Corporate Socialism.
Kathleen @ 16:
Republicans are counting on stupid voters and there are enough of them to win/steal the election. To take a line from Down with Tyranny regarding voters--------"they would need a 50 point IQ bump to qualify as morons".
You've got the voters who have no job, no money and no brains but they will vote (if they vote) against Obama because he's black.
You've got the older voters who's only source of information is 30 minutes MSM news, otherwise its Wheel of Fortune or Are you smarter than a fifth grader.
How do you fight that?
I'm pretty sure doctors did well enough without the insurance industry.
before malpractice insurance became legally mandatory.
before health insurance guaranteed low rates for care charged by doctors.
isitjustme? @ 34:
Yeah, it's just you. The AMA? What?
sherrill @ 51:
and they've been quite successful.
In a moment of seriousness, for five-and-a-half years, John McCain didn't have the opportunity to deregulate anything. He was in a prison cell.
Karen @ 53:
it's apparently like a trade union for doctors in that idjit's POV.
Andrew @ 55:
POW
One of the biggest arguments against so-called socialized medicine is that people will have to stand in line for health care. Well I say, I would bet there are millions of US citizens who would be thrilled to have a line to stand in! What good are all these wonderful medical advancements if a large percentage of the population has no chance of actually taking advantage of these, because the cost is simply not within reach?
there is no money left to do jack --- has anyone here been watching the news; Hillary gave a speech from the well of the Senate with the only sensible plan out of this clusterfucky mess/meltdown. She is way ahead of both candidates; but obama better quick take it as his own, because it smart. But as to healthcare -- there is no money left. Maybe if you actually had oversight on military contracts, you could squeeze a billion or two........but enough for universal healthcare? NO -- Greed and lack of congressional oversight has left the taxpayer paying for their wallstreet theft. There is no focus on this giantic financial shift by either candidate. So bash away at McCain/Palin; but broke we are and the second shoe has not hit the floor yet. This is worse than THE SKY IS FALLING. somebody out there -- please tell me that you get how fucking serious this is!
r @ 10:
For five and a half years, he didn't have health insurance.
Watch Out for McCain's Economy!
And when Bush leaves office he's gonna replenish his coffers (that's a laugh, nobody will want him) but for now, he's filling his coffins. He's a coward and an idiot and I predict the world won't see hide nor hair of him after he slinks away into the night.
Except, of course, to get new crayons for his George W Bush presidential Liebrary.
miss skeptic @ 58:
Heh, yeah, we'd have to stand in line; we wouldn't have a choice of doctors; care itself would suffer.
I have health insurance. I pay a hefty out-of-pocket sum for it. When it works as designed, I stand in lines, I have to choose doctors only from a list set by the insurance company, and I have to fight every step of the way to get care.
When it doesn't work, which is about half of the time, because the insurance company refuses to pay for the services, I have to fight them while my credit suffers.
If I have to go to the emergency room, I have to stand in massive lines with all the people whose only health care is received in the emergency room.
Everything they say will happen under universal health care is already happening, and will be fixed by universal health care. Costs will go down. We'll choose the doctors we want. We'll get preventative care no one can afford right now. Doctors will be free to give the care they deem medically necessary instead of the care the insurance company will let them. Etc.
Oh, and you know what else? There will be a lot less people on welfare! There are plenty of people who would rather work, but who know full well that by getting a job, they'll lose their health care under the welfare system.
Health care in this country is a giant scam.
douglas in oklahoma @ 59:
From right here in OKC, Doug, I get it.
Oh great mind! NO MONEY, NO PROBLEM. Go Away! That will be fifty-percent of you! Me, I am in a recession proof job keeping criminals and would be criminals honest.
CoIntelPro for Pronktastic Victory Over SCLM, DIEBOLD, ESS and SEQUOIA! @ 57:
And I am sorry that he ended up in a prison cell being tortured. But lets not forget that the war in Vietnam and the brutal genocide that took place there at the hands of our military was not moral or necessary. You can be sure John McCain has slaughtered innocent Vietnamese people.
On top of this he came home from Vietnam and soon after starting having affairs one of those affairs ended up breaking up his marriage with his handicapped wife. Cindy McCain was a homebreaker, John is an adulterer...so please do not dare tell me that these people in any way reflect family values. No WAY No McPalin
Where has John McCain been during the the last eight years. Standing, Voting with the Bush administration
Never mind. McCain will be for regulation tomorrow. Then he'll change his mind again. That way everybody can agree with him at one time or another.
sherrill @ 51:
You left out younger voters who think American Idol is must see and middle-aged voters who gush over last night's Dancing with the Stars. I think you covered the pro-football and NASCAR crowd with the no brains group.
Bill Maher was correct when he said American voters are stupid. He was speaking of the vast majority who have the political knowledge of a third grader and the attention span of an MTV viewer. Unfortunately, you can't disenfranchise stupid people without ending up withe a dictatorship.
TakeOurCountryBack @ 39:
You have the best Healthcare Professionals and Facilities in the world. What the rest of the world has removed is that brick wall between you and those facilities. Suggesting to copy the HMO system is political suicide for any politician outside of the USA.
.......I’m a dual citizen. American/Italian. I live in the European Union where I have free healthcare on the national healthcare system. In other words, socialized medicine. I can tell you right now that this is the ONLY way to go and a similar plan for all Americans is what is needed in the USA! Better late than never. Healthcare is a basic human right. It’s NOT an option........
I don't know if you all are aware of this in the USA, but to it's international audience, instead of commercials every five minutes, Fox News shows Fox News Extra's. And they are all about the latest hospital/medical procedure, doctor scam happening in the US.
Here in Europe, I've been buying Retin A over the counter for seven years instead of paying outrageous fees for Laser treatments, chemical peels, Botox injections, etc., etc., ad nauseum, that greedy US doctors want you to have. And that's why Retin A is not available over the counter in the US. It really works -- so Americans arn't allowed to have it, unless, of course, they pay the doctor for a prescription. Anyway you look at it, the greedy in America are picking your pocket.
With a statement like this coming almost every other day anymore from Senator McCain, Obama should be able to hand him his ass at the debate Friday. With Palin's constant claims about "opposing the bridge to nowhere" and such, Biden should be ready to knock her out in their debate.
Pointing out someone lies or just blatant ignorance on what their talking about isn't being negative and Obama and Biden, and for that matter all Democrats and liberals, need to stop letting Republicans and the press echo chamber framing it as such. The debates, to their opponents face, is the perfect place and time to do that.
MountainMan23 @ 22:
as far as the 1999 law states, they did not break the law. and the government bailout is a choice of politicians, not the populace.
Do you enjoy the way the airlines treat you when you fly?
Thank deregulation!
DHavok @ 71:
racism and DIEBOLD, as well as MSM, will work against Obama, as they have worked against every Democrat since the noxin days.
DHavok @ 71:
That's a theoretical possibility, but not very likely.
The debates are just joint press conferences, negotiated at length beforehand and tightly scripted.
pacioccone @ 33:
Yahoo this morning.
http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-obama-race
It's one thing to be inconsistent in your positions.
It's altogether another to be aggressively adversarial toward the health and well-being of the American citizenry.
After everything that's happened this week, revealing the feebleness of "unregulated free market economics," a statement like this should render McCain unqualified to serve in the position he seeks.
I don't suppose there is even an itsy-bitsy chance that the "natural" forces at work in "opening up a market" will result in a handful of winners enforcing a virtual monopoly at high prices? Naw, that would never happen in the real world. It goes against their rationalization -- oops, I mean "ideology".
MSNBC just reported that Obama used this today at a rally. Of course. THis is mana from heaven. Thanks McCain!
Yellowbird @ 37:
Yellowbird,
Considering your medical condition, if you have the means, I really and honestly suggest you move to another country.
As evidenced by the person living in Italy, there ARE places that do provide decent health care. Apparently, Italy is one of those places. As is Japan. I love the health care here.
Including prescription drugs, a trip to the doctor normally runs me less than $20 U.S.
Not only that, but, in Japan, big hospitals are not the norm. There are still many neighborhood clinics. I live in a residential area and can walk to 2 clinics (during the day) in less than 5 minutes. 2. On foot.
My 10-year old son came down with a case of the flu that reduced me to tears last fall. I was able to get him in front of a doctor in less than 30 minutes. I carried him across the street to the closest clinic and he was triaged as a priority case.
Again, the visit, with the prescription drugs came to about 2500 yen (about $22 U.S.).
If you have the means, considering your condition, don't fight the good fight, take care of yourself.
I wish you the best.
Tim
Is the deregulator now the regulator or is the regulator now the deregulator. Wait for the wind to blow! Then wait for the sun to set. Hell, I am getting dizzy!
Zlad! @ 6:
Great Points, I got to remember these.
CafeenMan @ 7:
Me thinks you have to start looking at your neighbors a little different. There's allot of pro-Bush guys out there. Much more than the 30% that approve his governement officially. The other 20% disaprove of him failing in his policies NOT the policies themselves.
CafeenMan @ 7:
He is not leading by a greater percentage due to residual racism and the inability to understand the complex issues facing our nation by a major part of the poulation. In other words, most folks are just to stupid to understand what is at stake.
I live in North Georgia, McCain is leading by 17 points in my community. We have have the cream of stupid, plus racism, plus religion working for him here.
CafeenMan @ 7:
You've got me! It doesn't make any sense.
I think you might be a little short sighted on this Mr Amato. If John McCain's idea is to run the health care system the way Wall Streets been run it will inevitably lead to massively subsidized health care in the form of bailouts. It won't be a cost effective means of subsidizing health care and won't improve coverage for anyone but it will ensure the health of the industry. Best of all the taxpayers will foot the bill. Socialized medicine Republican style.
Kathleen @ 16:
I disagree.
It has EVERYTHING TO DO WITH BEING A DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN!!!
All these shysters in Congress, led by Bush, Cheney, Greenspan, Bernanke, Paulson etc. have done one of two things involving this economic fiasco:
#1.) They took campaign contributions (bribes) from Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros., Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, AIG etc., then they allowed all their lobbyists to hand them legislation that needed to be passed to allow the partying to continue at the hands of the American taxpayers (suckers). What's even WORSE (criminal??) is that a majority of Congress is INVESTED in the very military industrial complex, oil companies AND BANKS!! they have so sweetly poured our tax dollars into with the bills they have collectively passed. How many ways can YOU spell QUID PRO QUO????
I have a feeling there's a VERY good reason Senator Christopher Dodd, on "Hardball" last night, said, "During the Congressional meeting with Paulson and Bernanke Thursday evening once they told us the seriousness of the financial situation it was if there was a very long moment when all the oxygen was sucked out of the room."
OR....
#2.) They were completely negligent and stupid, irresponsible fools and were not paying attention to the party that was happening under their noses at the expense of the taxpayers.
As to the entire mortgage fiasco, I say that for everyone who lost their house due to improper mortgages, now that the financial institutions have been "bailed out", all these Americans whose ARM's went flying from $1500/mo. to an unaffordable $2600/mo. should now be able to keep their houses and RE-NEGOTIATE THE TERMS OF THE MORTGAGE BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PAYMENT WITH LESS INTEREST AND NO PENALTIES!!!
After all, it's the American peoples freakin' money here, NOT Congress'!!!
We're taking our camera out into the streets later to interview people and ask them questions regarding what has just gone down here in the financial/government sector in the past two weeks. One of the key questions will be this: Should the entire Democratic and Republican Congress that is up for re-election this November be re-elected for what they've done to us or thrown out on their collective asses?
As to McCain and Obama I'd really like to have them both be seriously questioned regarding WHAT they knew about the financial institutions/mortgage/insurance/banking systems and WHEN they knew it.
Somebody's ass should be on the line for this. Investigation, schmestigation. We need the States Attorney Generals (are you reading this Andrew Cuomo of New York???) to convene grand juries and to get some indictments thrown out there, even if it's members of Congress who get them!
I'm looking for some people to be wearing pin stripe suits in the not too distant future, and they ain't from Saks.
MN USA @ 84:
MN USA,
What is the deal with Sen. Obama's approval ratings in MN? I am a fellow Minnesotan, but, I live overseas. Do you know why Obama has slipped and mccain has gained so much traction in Minnesota? According to Realclearpolitics, Minnesota is up for grabs.
Any insight? Also, all the best. Let's get Obama firmly back in control...don't'cha know! ;-)
Tim
bubba @ 79:
This should be a gift that keeps on giving.
pacioccone @ 33:
It's not just the blatant racists.
It's the subtle ones who are God-fearing and "patriotic" that are the problem. You can spot the blatant ones a mile a way.
But the subtle ones who "believe they aren't racist" and use every trick in the book to lie their way out of racism, continue to be the stealth bombers that could possibly wreck the election. After all, they may have a "few black friends", but in the end, they despite everything about black people, including one that has the audacity to run for the President.
If it says one thing about some folks in the dominant culture, it communicates that those very same folks are scared of a person of color assuming power. It reflects the evils and pitfalls of paternalism and ignorance.
As I said before, what's even sadder is that this racism happening for someone who is half-black.
In itself that says a lot.
Not despite, but depise. :(
Sorry about that.
Tim in Japan @ 87:
Just a guess, but McCain/Palin spend a lot of time there lying their asses off.
Pawlenty is also doing his part casting the McCain = Reformer magic spell. Quite a lot.
Disclaimer: I live in Kawlifornya.
miss skeptic @ 58:
I have health insurance and it's a minimum one month wait to see a specialist or to have much of anything done other than to see my primary care physician.
With our supposedly superior health care system, we wait just as long if not longer and receive less coverage for fewer people at higher cost with worse outcomes. It's no wonder that no one else wants to emulate our system of health care.
But now that it's suddenly acceptable to nationalize everything else, why not health care? At least that might benefit the masses rather than the Wall Street thieves.
Caging, MSM, Diebold will all contribute to election fraud and theft. See www.gregpalast.com , a UK reporter teaming with Robert kennedt Jr. The game is on and everyonr who believes in democracy and wants to live in a free society should know about this.
Health care should be the single payer model. As Ross Perot once said, we should investigate the health care systems of other countries and copy the best one. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. I think France might have a wheel that turns very well.
With respect to John McCain's health care proposals, here's an opinion on Slate. McCain's "lets get rid of regulations" approach might work as well with health care as it has proven to work with the financial system. In fact, the two issues are related, as it seems our financial institutions are in need of a checkup by the doctor.
The ironic thing about this is that people can't get covered now for health care. And they have to gamble with their lives because there isn't enough money paycheck to paycheck to pay for it.
What worries me about deregulation of the Health care system is that it overlooks the poor and the lower middle class. Furthermore, if there is an outbreak, who's going to take care of that? If there's no money, then we, as a society, all suffer.
That's why I hate McCain, his POW brand and his lies. He's selling this country a bill of good and there are some people who are so mean-spirited enough to lap of every word of this a-hole.
Abbybwood @ 86:
the Clenis BRAGGED about signing the Gramm (et al) act repealing Glass Steagall...
He had the votes to veto it, but he APPROVED the fucking thing...
Obviously, Phil Gramm (as well as his feculent bint of a wife) should be on tumbrels heading toward the guillotine, but Clenis should be in Stocks, being constantly showered with rotten produce and feces...
Tim in Japan @ 87:
I lived in the twin cities until recently. i may move back. anyways the state has been trending republican
more so last 6-8 yrs. especially tertiary suburbs and
rural areas. i lived in uptown/downtown area liberal
and progressive. one specific reason is taxation
minnesota has relatively higher taxes. having said that
when you move to an area that has less taxation you
notice a big difference schools and public services.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 96:
You can kiss universal Health Care good-bye for the next 20 years.
I'm sure that was part of the plan: create a crisis so vast that it sucks up ALL the money abvailable for social programs.
Grover Norquist's wet dream: the Fanniemae/FreddieMac/AIG bathtub, in which to drown democracy...
Can we have heads on pikes NOW, please?
woody, tokin librul @ 99:
In another country, the current leadership would be torn to shreds.
This alone speaks of American complacency and myopia in a time of crisis.
you can listen to this interview or read article. this is a
review of both candidates plans. it was published in
new england journal of medicine aug.2008. i highly
recommend it most people i speak with have the obama
plan wrong when explaining. it's NOT social medicine.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93975730
SDGreg @ 93:
I think you answer your own question. They're not going to want to do anything to benefit the masses.
oh boy. i think he's in the mode of just throwing anything out there right now to see if it sticks. his campaign is on the verge of no return and he knows he needs something that will make some kind of splash.
I'd love to see McCain taken off of healthcare for at least one year. Then, let's see if he'd deregulate the system like he's trying to push this crap on the public.
I meant healthcare insurance. :(
I apologize.
I have to ask what he means by deregulation.
Are we no longer going to require doctors and nurses to have a liscense?
Maybe, we are going to remove all the safety standards from the pharma companies?
upchuck @ 106:
It means they will not have to pay for the care you received. (well at least it will be legal to do so)
the Clenis BRAGGED about signing the Gramm (et al) act repealing Glass Steagall...
He had the votes to veto it, but he APPROVED the fucking thing...
Obviously, Phil Gramm (as well as his feculent bint of a wife) should be on tumbrels heading toward the guillotine, but Clenis should be in Stocks, being constantly showered with rotten produce and feces...
Have you ever read up on Glass-Steagall? There's every reason to believe that Carter Glass, a longtime Senator from Virginia, was an political operative of the House of Morgan. He intervened to regulate the Railroad industry in Virginia, one battle in the long war between the House of Morgan and The Rockefeller Trust. The man who was BEHIND Glass-Steagall was Winthrop Aldrich, who joined Chase Bank in the 1930's, a Morgan bank, but it's believed that he was planted there by his (get this) FATHER-IN-LAW John D. Rockefeller...
It's believed that Aldrich discovered that one of the reasons that the Morgan Banks were so so effective WASN'T because they owned both Private and Commercial banks, but because they had many interlocking directorships, which reduced costs of money transfers between the financial institutions, and gave the House of Morgan a competitive advantage.
Even though the Rockefeller Trust had both commercial and private banks, by passing a law requiring them to separate, AND remove the interlocking directorships, the The Morgan Banks were damaged MORE, by raising their costs of operation. Because the Rockefeller banks weren't connected as intimately, they were already paying higher operational costs. So the Glass-Steagall Act is considered a win for the Rockefeller side, while most people think that the creation of the Federal Reserve, twenty years before Glass-Steagall, was a win for the House of Morgan.
You can't talk about the deregulation of banking industry without discussing The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. This started the banker's trend of giving out bad loans. Nor can anyone pin the entirety of our financial problems on THAT one piece of regulation. This has been building for a long time.
Don't know if this link is still good as it is four days old and McShames health plan probably has changed since then, but it was worth the read then,
http://blog.thehill.com/2008/09/16/mccain-secretly-plans-new-tax-on-midd...
cheesesauce @ 3:
how does mccain react to a doctor useing an overly large dildo to check his prostate? he smiles gives a wink and says OH YESSSS YESSSSSSSSS! MY FRIENDS
Centrocitta @ 31:
europeans think that healthcare and education are rights and not privileges. and so it is. unfortunately the rich in america do not even want to pay for a military that helps them keep the riches they have.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 104:
he will still have Hensley healthcare.
One big problem we are run by Free Market ideologues who wants the marketplace to dictate solutions. The big problem with an ideologue is that they are so sure of the approach, that they're not willing to review the results to see if the approach works.
With the private enterprise approach, the focus is on enhancing shareholder value. Recurring revenue flows do, which is why we've seen the explosion in maintenance regimes, from "restless leg" syndrome to "irritable bowel" syndrome. Cures are antithetical to enhancing shareholder value, which is why, for example, Federal funding for cancer research was lowered to $5B, while cancer killed 550,000 Americans last year, the year before, the year before that, and will kill this year, and next year. (How much does the war in Iraq cost?)
Enhancing shareholder value means charging the most that you can, and driving up sales. Yet most Americans are puzzled why health care cost increases spiral at double the rate of inflation. Sales personal call on doctors to peddle the latest maintenance regime. My doctor, two doctors ago, had Pfizzer paper on the examining table. One doctor ago, advertisements for various drugs display throughout the office.
While the Republicans talk about the evils of "socialized medicine" they studiously avoid the granddaddy of socialized medicine in America, Medicare.
We need a system that puts the interests of rate payers and patients first, not shareholders. We need Medicare for all, or we need to simply copy the health system of a country where health care works, such as France. What we don't need is any more "free market" ideologues formulating policy. But, unfortunately, this is a government of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation.
SDGreg @ 93:
Minor correction: we haven't nationalized anything, we have bailed out a bunch of failed businesses. Which is actually far worse...
With a nationalization, the state gets to control the business, and if the re-structuring works, then the state (i.e. the tax payers) get to also own the initial debt, but also the subsequent profit, plus the people infusing the money (i.e. the tax payer) have a saying on how the business need to be reformed.
Under the current approach by the US governmint, all we get to "own" is just the debt...
WC @ 40:
no return for us only for the people in the military industry and the oil industry friends of bush/cheney and the republicans. that is why the repubs do not want to leave iraq yet. they have yet to eke out a deal on the extraction of oil for their friends who of course will do anything in return for the repubs, even launch a swiftboat campaign against their rivals, if necessary.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 100:
No kidding, the American populace is too fucking dumb. I am just at a loss of words, for such a country that prides in "opening cans of woopass" we are acting like a bunch of little bitches.
Why wasn't there a massive general strike to protest the bailout of wallstreet?
Jesus, are Americans too dumb to understand that the whore is not supposed to pay for the screw?
WC @ 40:
"nothing in return" are you kidding me? The GOP is sucking that country dry off oil, and funneling moneys left and right into GOP-friendly business: Military contractors.
Of the money infused to "rebuild" Iraq, a tiny fraction goes to the "rebuilding" most of it go to the "rebuilders."
Tyler Durden @ 114:
the govt is on the verge of bailing out numerouse banks. this is what this 1 trillion thing is all about. bear stearns, fannie & freddie and aig are solved for the moment. this 1T is for the rest of the flailing insitutions. it's THAT bad. with the money comes oversight. the govt will have to virtually control these companies if they want to get a dollar for the taxpayers' dollar. they will look into the books. would you trust your money with the same people who caused this crisis? the companies cannot deleverage without spiralling down to oblivion so the govt will take hold of the securities of these companies and dispose of them through an RTC or something, and there hopefully, some money can be made.
pacioccone @ 33:
agreed. there;s new AP study that says 6% will not vote for Obama even if he walks on water because he's black.
The Very Bitter Ceci Hussein @ 100:
Other countries have different electoral systems and different governmental systems.
Not really. Not alone. Americans are complacent and myopic, to be sure, but our ELECTORAL SYSTEM is archaic. It does not give us a government representative of the people.
somebody said on countdown last night that : remember when mccain said we we're all georgians. well now, we are all socialists.
Tyler Durden @ 114:
I think we have nationalized AIG, since the government has taken a 79.9% stake in the company's equity. I don't think they nationalized Fannie and Freddie, so AIG may be the only example. The latest bailout is the purchase by the government of bad investments. The detail I didn't hear is how much does the government intend to pay for mortgage-related assets, face value? It seems that we'll have a Resolution Trust Corporation II, owned by the taxpayers, without the nationalizing of existing banks. Of course, that's the situation this week, we'll see what happens next week.
-------------------------
Register to vote. There's time, but no time to waste.
https://www.voteforchange.com/index_obama.php
Email the link around, especially to the college campuses.
masha @ 121:
I'd rather use the word "Soviets." It was the Soviet version of communism/socialism that tried to nationalize industries while embarking on foolhardy military expeditions to remake the world in its image and suppress free speech and the poor. The Soviet version of communism/socialism used the government to run economies run amok, but ultimately consolidated governmental power and shifted all economic burdens to people who could not bear them.
There are responsible ways to regulate an economy. If we were really democratic socialists, the Republicans wouldn't still be getting their way, privatizing profits and passing the burdens of their fuck-ups to the people.
(I'm not a socialist, by the way.)
:)
NoBuddy @ 122:
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it was the Reserve that had gotten the stake in AIG, not the government. Is that correct?
masha @ 118:
The problem, is that the Government is simply eating the risk. And the reason why WallStreet was freaking out is because those debt packages they had been playing with... were no where capable of producing much of a return.
The buble was inflated, and like every other pyramidal schemed someone at the end gets stuck with the hot potato. The problem was that the WallStreet idiots had been left with their hot potato. And now the government is taking it... there is no way we are going to see much of a return on portfolios that are below junk rating.
If you think about it, we actually bought debt. This is we bought money that did not exist to begin with... in fact, for the most part... the only time the government can recoup their "investment" is by people paying their mortgages (in some of the debt packages that "we" bought). This is, the tax payer has to pay for the very dollar he or she loaned (via proxy) through the bailout. I.e. some taxpayers will be providing the money for the mortgage AND paying it too.
That is the problem with bailing out financial institutions based on credit: we are not buying assets, we are buying hot air.
This was not a bailout, but a scam. If it was a correct nationalization, a lot of people in WallStreet would be in jail right about now. Period.
Tyler Durden @ 124:
That's a good question. I had always thought the Federal Reserve to be a part of the government. Wikipedia calls it quasi-public. The Fed's own description says:
"Congress designed the structure of the Federal Reserve System to give it a broad perspective on the economy and on economic activity in all parts of the nation. It is a federal system, composed of a central, governmental agency—the Board of Governors—in Washington, D.C., and twelve regional
Federal Reserve Banks. The Board and the Reserve Banks share responsibility for supervising and regulating certain financial institutions and activities, for providing banking services to depository institutions and the federal government, and for ensuring that consumers receive adequate information and fair treatment in their business with the banking system."
and...
"After it pays its expenses, the Federal Reserve turns the rest of its earnings over to the U.S. Treasury. About 95 percent of the Reserve Banks’ net earnings have been paid into the Treasury since the Federal Reserve System began operations in 1914. (Income and expenses of the Federal Reserve Banks from 1914 to the present are included in the Annual Report of the Board of Governors.) In 2003, the Federal Reserve paid approximately$22 billion to the Treasury."
and
"Congress designed the structure of the Federal Reserve System to give it a broad perspective on the economy and on economic activity in all parts of the nation. It is a federal system, composed of a central, governmental agency—the Board of Governors—in Washington, D.C., and twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks. The Board and the Reserve Banks share responsibility for supervising and regulating certain financial institutions and activities, for providing banking services to depository institutions and the federal government, and for ensuring that consumers receive adequate information and fair treatment in their business with the banking system."
I think there is enough Federal involvement in the reserve, and enough taxpayer money involved, that we can conclude that the Fed is an independent agency of the Government. If it's not the government, then many reporters are getting the story wrong such as "Major shareholders of AIG are trying to help pay off a hefty federal loan before govt can take a 79.9% stake in the insurer..."
CafeenMan @ 7:
It's RACISM, pure & simple. There should be NO "undecided" voters. For the most part, these people will send the country the rest of the way down the crapper & vote for McBush , rather than vote for the "darkie".
Deregulate the Health Insurance industry after the mess with the $700B bank bail-out?? You've gotta be fucking kidding me!!!
Go Obama/Biden 08!!!
Karen @ 123:
you know what? you're right. businesses still run in socialist countries like france.
NoBuddy @ 126:
the reserve is backed by the govt. it's illusory to say that it's on its own.
shutterbug98 @ 127:
It's also white women Hillary voters that are voting for McCain for gynecological reasons. In other words, people aren't concerned about issues. Hasn't McCain essentially said that, that this election is about personalities, not issues. Isn't Palin avoiding the press because she is not knowledgeable on the issues? And it's not just simply racism. Aren't we in this mess because, back in 2000, we voted for the person who was more likable (to some) rather than to the more intelligent candidate. And now, from the candidate who can't count his houses, who believe $5M/year income is "middle class", we hear charges that Obama, who was raised by a single mother on foodstamps, is an "elitist". Intelligence is now elitist. We're a society that demeans intelligence, and we're sitting around wondering why things are screwed up. We've had a Republican government that is bent on proving that government doesn't work in power, and has been wildly successful in doing so, and people want 4 more years? Simply amazing.
masha @ 130:
There is a biiiig difference between being "backed" and being "controlled" which is where my initial question was going.
The fact that such agency is under such "grey" definition, is not acceptable IMHO to be entrusted with trillions of dollars to be managed on "our behalf."
I don't know, everything so far seems waaay too hand wavy, either there is a clear accountability path. Or these fuckers do not get single public dime, period.
candideinnc @ 8:
Yeah, make those politicians have to go out and srounge for affordable health care like the rest of us instead on the taxpayer, no more free rides.
Look what deregulation did for the phone companies. Now ATT in bed with Bushie now has a 2000 plus page agreement that their users must adhere to. What customer will take the time to read thorugh a 2000 page agreement in small print to get phone service and if they did they would see that in that agreement the customer is relinquishing most rights they had years ago on disputes of their bills etc.
Bush pushed OWNERSHIP from the day he walked through the White House doors. The idea was great BUT the way he had banks loaning money to home owners that shouldnt have is over the top.
Bush and Republican Party in their 6 years of total control loved that idea.
But what we saw in Las Vegas was property values sky rocketed ( a $85,000 house was then worth $160,000 in 18 mos time) and after digging, news people here found that banks were lending money to illegals with FORGED paperwork to get those homes. Even some mortgages were in names that was not the actual homeowner. Some illegals assumed identities that werent their's and the banks knew this up front.
Banks created their own problems because Bush was pushing home ownership.
FORGED paperwork was found in many cases and in some cases even the bank itself did a little creative paperwork to make the future owners appear more solvent and ready to assume the mortgages.
If anyone assumes anything with FORGED paperwork, that would appear to be a crime but he banks continued to let it happen.
Neocon republicans hate the people in America.
That has worked so well in the financial markets, I can see where a senile old man would draw that conclusion. McSame should be locked in a padded cell.
Anyfuckingbody who still supports RepubliKKKans, neocons, conservatism, homeschool-young earth creationism, Christain dominionism, or any other of the fruits and nuts of this Wrecking crew is a goddamned bloodclaat idiot!
Misty @ 134:
I found a news report we had in Las Vegas in 2005 on this subject. Could this be the main reason Nevada is ranked in the top 3 as having the most foreclosures????? Now 3 years later homes are shuttered and property values are declining greatly. And those jobs that the illegals had are disappearing fast and so goes their homes. You cant make a mortgage payment on the casinos very low wages they give for maid service, washing dishes etc. The casinos have to give next to nothing in wages to see a profit and that is why the illegals were coming to Nevada.
Illegal Immigration's Impact on Clark County
Updated: May 5, 2005 01:38 PM PDT
KLAS TV Channel 8
Almost every night, an unknown number of illegal aliens arrives in Las Vegas, hoping to make it their new home. Not everyone will welcome them with open arms.
This is a tricky story to tell. If you say you support illegal immigration, some will call you "un-American." If you say you're against it, some will label you a racist. Las Vegas is seen by many illegal aliens as the new promised land where opportunity runs deep, but so does resentment.
Felix lives in the northeast valley with his wife Dulce and daughter Andrea. Felix works 40-plus hours a week to make his house payment. Dulce works hard at home. Andrea is near the top of her kindergarten class. All of them are in this country illegally.
Felix says, "When I get up in the morning I have to pray to God saying to give me one more day." Felix remembers the night 15 years ago when he said another prayer, and then crossed the border at San Diego. "We prayed to God to save us," he said.
How many illegals live in Nevada is anyone's guess. In 2004, a federal report pegged the number at 101,000. Immigration officials concede the number is higher.
Will Hayes, with ICE, says, "Las Vegas is acting as a transit point for many illegal and smuggled aliens." Hayes is with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "It's not just a matter of making arrests."
Hayes knows illegals come to Las Vegas on I-15 from Los Angeles, on US-93 from Phoenix, and in some cases, right through McCarran Airport. He also knows it's unlikely his agents will arrest those illegals after they arrive here. He says, "We're working with limited resources to prioritize our targets.
Individual illegals are no longer the priority. Hayes tells Eyewitness News the government is now targeting Mexican cartels that specialize in sneaking illegals across the border. "In doing so hopefully disrupting and dismantling large organizations, which will have a much more significant impact on the illegal alien population in the U.S."
Euclides Del Moral, with the Mexican Consulate in Las Vegas said, "Would we like to have less people immigrating from Mexico? Yes, of course."
Del Moral is not surprised illegals are flocking here. "All these people are coming because there are jobs for them."
Del Moral deflects criticism that the Mexican government encourages illegal immigration by handing out flyers showing how to cross the American border. He says it's a matter of safety, "Explain to them the risks of crossing the border with the U.S."
Felix says, "The opportunity I want is to just have rights like anyone else. I want to work, not to be scared."
Felix knows some people don't like what he has done. He's built an identity using fake documents. But he wants you to know he pays taxes, when he gets sick, he pays the doctor in cash -- not welfare. He also wants you to know he loves his daughter. "I want everything for her," he said.
Andrea was supposed to have been born in the U.S. But a family emergency resulted in her being born in Mexico. What Felix once wanted for himself, he now wants for his little girl.
Felix spoke with Eyewitness News because he's proud to live in America. He wanted you to see his face so you would know his true story. He worries he and his family will be sent back to Mexico.
How many illegals are deported from Southern Nevada in a year? Immigration and Customs Enforcement say they can't tell us, because our numbers are lumped in with Southern California and Arizona. And apparently there's no way to determine individual numbers for the individual states.
First of all according to that story he is making a house payment which implies he is the owner of that house. What bank would give him a mortgage if he admits to faking documents to have an identity? And if its through FHA that's even worse. Our government programs helping someone who is not who they say they are. WOW!
Regular Americans are banned from ownership because of insufficient credit or credit history yet from the way this story reads, he is buying his home under a fake identity.
WcCain is an anarchist, he wants to destroy it all then.....
truly the mavrick, truly the destroyer, truly the Manchurian Anarchist.
Its almost like hes working to some decades old plan, maybe hatched 40 years ago by his Vietnamese/Chinese interrogators.
After WcCain the 'Destroyer' has finished, America will be owned lock stock by overseas money.
The day that bald headed sinile old flaming turd gives up his health insurance for "health accounts," is the day I will listen to what the fucktard has to say! On second thought, no I won't.
Is there one thing these filthy stinking bastards do on the repuke side, that isn't designed to destroy working people? God I hate these bastards!
Stop The Bailouts!
Please sign it. Not much else matters at this point.
http://financialpetition.org/petition-nobail.shtml
isitjustme? @ 34:
Working in the health care field, I assure you the power is in the hands of the insurance companies (lobbyists) and doctors (they do like those greenbacks).... insurance companies increase rates and decrease coverage. Doctors take a week long "vacation" to learn some procedures, particularly in the plastic surgery/cosmetic area, that they can begin doing out of their offices, charge high prices for (only the rich can afford them) and decrease their actual medical practice when their reimbursements get cut from Medicare, Medicaid and insurance. Sad fact, these procedures are not regulated to any great degree by the Board of Plastic Surgeons and in most states like mine, you're capped on malpractice claims if you even get one to trial. Privatize our health care? Sounds like a colonoscopy to me.
McCain (and Obama) need to get it through their heads that the insurance companies have no rightful role in healthcare delivery. As long as a middle man who is driven by profit is serving as the healthcare delivery tollgate, people are going to continue to get screwed in stupifying numbers. The insurance companies have already proven, that as amoral, bloody-handed profiteers, they deserve to be completely excluded from participating in any pending solutions to this Nation's healthcare problems. It should be obvious to all by this point that privatization and health insurance are the most expensive ways to go about enabling healthcare delivery(which is why the corporatist love it: greatest expense = greatest profits). Universal insurance, by whatever plan, is not universal healthcare. It's just another corporate socialism scam that gives ~50 million more opportunites for these criminal enterprises to fraudulantly take your money and then say, "Fuck you, we don't cover that condition. Shut up, go off into a corner and die.".
There is overwhelming popular support universal healthcare, via a single-payer system. HR-676 proposes a way to do that.
Just saw the story on the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/20/AR200809...
constituent @ 98:
Thanks for the information. I grew up in the NW (near Detroit Lakes) and growing up, I remember people talking a lot about high taxes, but then always adding that it was worth it as the education in Minnesota was the best in the country.
I guess that way of thinking has gone the way of the dodo.
Hey! How is McCain holding his arm up? I thought he couldn't raise his arms above his waist??? Isn't that what the right wing told us was the reason McCain couldn't use the computer? I thought that was a bunch of bs.
The McCain-Keating Connection
By Progressive Accountability
September 19, 2008
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/keating_video
wtf...!?!?!?!
what the hell is the matter with that idiot... that's even worse than fiddling while rome is burning... he wants to pour gasoline onto the fire... hell... why not "deregulate" football so that players can wear poison-tipped cleats and carry automatic weapons onto the field...?... and while we're at it.... why not "deregulate" the criminal code and just let everyone buy protection from criminal organizations...?...
i don't know who's more bat-shit crazy... the idiots who barf up this sort of insanity or the fools who lap it up...
CafeenMan @ 7:
...because the MSM constantly sh*ts all over him the same way they sh*t all over hillary...
case in point... cnn has decided to start a fact check segment... and they noted that obama ran more negative ads than mcliar in the last week.... f*ck the fact that mcdouche has been running his vomit from day one... f*ck the fact that mcinsane has been out and out inventing racist, religious and any sort of bottom-feeding innuendo... f*ck the fact that obama's "negativity" is to simply point toward mc*sshole's lies...
and painb*tch has the gall to call his "attacks", "unfair".... F****************K!!!
what the hell is it going to take for the MSM to get so pissed that they actually start providing some form of objectivity in this race....?.... is every one of them going to have to lose all their retirement savings and their jobs before they actually start calling the bs for what it is....?... how f*****g pathetic.... i sure hope i never EVER see some of these slime-balls in person... 9/11guiliani is coming to our fair city to provide a "motivational speech"... and i almost want to spend the couple of hundred bucks just to give him at least an earful....
Fuckallrepigs @ 137:
if they actually win this election... then the choices are clear... become a full-fledged servant class or revolt...
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