President Obama's Conference Call with Liberal Bloggers: John Amato asks Congress to work through the August recess
By John Amato Monday Jul 20, 2009 2:32pm
(All 24 minutes of his Blogger call. I've been updating the post.) President Obama and David Axlerod hosted a conference call with liberal bloggers today on the whole health care issue. The audio contains the entire call with the President. You know we're heading for the home stretch in this debate and I thought it was a good idea that the President reached out to the blogs and acknowledged the work that we've done so far. Here's a quick recap of the points he made. Other bloggers will have more details about the call.
President Obama wanted to tell us directly what's going on..
He wants the bill to be strong with an excellent public option.
The status quo is unacceptable for Americans as premiums are skyrocketing....
Doing nothing is defending the indefensibleOpponents are offering up nothing and admit that they are just trying to stop it. He mentioned Jim DeMint and Bill Kristol as examples of obstructionism.
Liberal Bloggers have done an excellent job of debunking right wing myths...Bloggers have played and will play a critical role in passing legislation...
Record deficits is a myth. He inherited this deficit and it's not an excuse for inaction...
It's important to keep pressure on members of Congress...
Sam Stein of Huff Po: Obama Calls On Bloggers To Keep Health Care Pressure On Congress "I know the blogs are best at are debunking myths that can slip through a lot of the traditional media outlets," he said. "And that is why you are going to play such an important role in our success in the weeks to come."Very pleased that Bloggers have been letting Congress know all about the desperation Americans are feeling and that's been critical.
And he wants us to keep up the pressure on Congress and the media.
Doesn't want to wait.
He talked for about four minutes and then opened it up for questions. And I was the first one in line. Since the goal of the opposition is to defeat the bill, a key way to do that is by delaying the process. I asked the President if he would demand that Congress work through their cushy vacations in August if they try to delay the bill. While they are on their magical holidays, millions will suffer in August over their petty tactics. I wanted to ask a question that required an answer.
John Amato: Good afternoon President Obama, thanks for having us on.
President Obama: You bet.
Amato: My question is, now we have these, we'll call them conservative democrats joining with some republicans in wanting to delay the bill and saying that they need more time to go over it and actually read it. My question to you is will you ask Congress to forgo their August recess and work this bill out because while they're taking a vacation, millions of Americans are either losing their health care or are about to go bankrupt because of health care issues.
So if they're going to whine about not having enough time then they should act like real Americans and work during August.
President Obama: Well, here's what I've said. We cannot delay any longer. If people keep on saying"what's the rush? We've been debating this for fifty years. We've been talking about health care reform throughout the campaign. The day after I was elected we started contacting key leaders in Congress about the fact that this was going to be #1 domestic priority. All these committees have been meeting, all the experts have been talking and knows the time to make tough decisions. I understand that people want to put off tough decisions, but ultimately we can move the process forward in which all the options have been considered and we go ahead and make smarter choices that provide the American people with more security, greater options as well as bending the cost curve over the long term and I'm confident that we can achieve that on the timeline that I put forward.
I think it was telling that some of you may have seen. A Republican Senator saying thi weekend saying. "we're just going to delay and delay because if we can stop Obama on this, this is going to be his Waterloo. We'll break him." That was a quote. And IU think it indicates to me in which a lot of folks may sincerely think that the more time we take the better off we're going to be, but I also think that some who deliberately want to delay this process because they know the longer the special interest have to run negative ads or lobby members of Congress, the more difficult it becomes to get this done and I think the time for talk is through. It's time for us to go and act.
John Amato: I agree, will you then make them give us a bill before the August recess?
President Obama: We are working as hard as we can and I've told Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that it is critical that we see serious forward motion before people leave. Alright?
He dodged the question, but in doing so he made it clear that he does not want any delays. Stalling cannot be an option so I want to make the case that if Joe Lieberman wants more time to read the bill then he should stay at work doing so. Health care has been in the works for 65 years and Congress knows all there is to know about the process. Ted Kennedy has been writing opinion pieces now to force the issue and that's been his mission for forty years now. The Cause of My Life’ Inside the fight for universal health care.
I'll have David Axlerod's audio a little later...Please feel free to write up a transcript for the full piece so I can add it to the post.
Here's more from Sam Stein:
In a roughly 25-minute session with a handful of prominent progressive bloggers, the president also asked for help combating disinformation about his health care plan.
"I know the blogs are best at debunking myths that can slip through a lot of the traditional media outlets," he said. "And that is why you are going to play such an important role in our success in the weeks to come."
The call demonstrates just how heated the health care debate has become in recent weeks and how much ammunition the administration is willing to bring to the table. At various points in the call, the president offered a strikingly detailed synopsis of his political strategy and health care policy as a whole.
While he refused to insist that lawmakers stay in Washington during the August recess, he declared definitively that, "the time for talk is through."
"Now is the time for us to go ahead and act," Obama declared. "We are working as hard as we can and I have told Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi that it is critical that we have seen serious forward motion before people leave [in August]."
Moreover, for the first time in recent memory, Obama floated the possibility that if it appears that health care reform lacks the 60 votes needed for passage, he might be open to reconciliation, which would allow for an up-or-down vote on budgetary and tax aspects of the bill.
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How many of you can make it to New York City on July 28th for this demonstration at ABC????
Help FAIR, Healthcare Now!, Physicians for a National Health Program and the Raging Grannies deliver a message to the media.
"Include Single-Payer in Healthcare Debate"
Petition delivery
Tues. July 28, noon - 1 pm
ABC News
77 West 66th St.,
(between Central Pk West and Columbus Ave.)
NYC
I'm hopping the train in the morning from Albany and heading into the city for this one!
Hope to see ya'll there!!
(Just in case you haven't seen it, here's a short video of Obama's personal physician who was "disinvited" to ABC's Town Hall Forum on health care where Diane Sawyer said, "ALL POINTS OF VIEW WILL BE REPRESENTED."):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biTdTvg6K7w
Unfortunately, I live in Minnesota and cannot make it. I wish you all the best of luck and thank you for taking actions such as this for a better tomorrow.
my six degrees of separation just dropped to one. :)
Good on ya, John. Especially for the follow-up (i.e., answer the question, dammit!)
But gives great rhetoric speeches!! Everything this man has done since the swearing in, seems to be the exact opposite of what he is saying. He has the gift of the speech, that's for sure.
it ain't happening. (Yet)
I think the White House is reading this so here I go...
Forget about bipartisanship. The Republicans will never play along. THAT IS OBVIOUS! Give it lip service but then forget about it. Get the Blue Dogs and tell them they better get on board or they will not have any help, none, when it's time for reelection. Let them know that if they get defeated in an election because they backed a Democratic bill you, the White House will be sure that they get a good job because they put their old one on the line. And absolutely do not settle for some bullshit plan that the Republicans think is alright.
Look, Their talking points say it all. And NEVER forget what Jim DeMint said becasue it is their philosophy. They are only out to defeat you. Nothing else will do for them.
Companies have gone up 428% since 2000. $1.4 million dollars are spent a day for Congress A Day by lobbyists! We have been working /debating/stalling this health care reform since Truman..Isn't 50 yrs enough time?...Congress knew that health care was a big priority with the Obama Administration --why were they[Congress] not able to hit the ground running on either side of the aisle? Because many are in the pocket of those industries !
Call -email -fax the congress--loudly and often...tell them to do the work of the people NOW 1.800.828.0498 or call the local offices and write a letter to the editor of the local newspapers--including neighborhood papers..Representatives hate to have their antics displayed to the voters!
"Don't plan on any summer vacation until you start making loans."
Amato, who were the other bloggers???????
mcjoan of Kos, Mydd, Digby, Jack and Jill Politics, d-day and Oliver Willis I know of. I'm sure there were many more...
Health care reform turning into bailout for health insurers
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/arti...
You want reform? Careful. You are going to get reform all right. Another bailout disguised as a reformed healthcare.
Every American will have to show proof they have a health insurance policy on their tax returns by the year 2013.
Which makes me wonder - what happens to those people who simply cannot afford to buy any, when the choice is between health insurance and paying the rent, eating, keeping the lights on, etc? It's not like car insurance - if you can't afford car insurance, chances are you can't afford a car, either. It's a hassle, and in the States pretty much of a sad joke, but at least there is SOME public transportation. You're not FORCED to buy insurance for a car you don't own.
So what happens then? Do we start throwing people in jail for not being able to pay for health insurance? Hell, maybe that's the only way those who can't buy any will HAVE any - even prisoners get basic health care.
we'll just expose them to some new virus and, when they die, pile 'em up in Kentucky, Montana, and South Carolina for starters.
There is talk of all the homeless in DC disappearing.
No record of them (and there spokespeople) leaving or anything, just disappearing.
So, who's doing what with them?
Just like in H. G. Wells' "Time Machine", the Morlocks come out at night to devour anyone on the street.
There's one heck of a city beneath that city. They need to eat somewhere.
The bill as it stands now provides subsidies up to 400% of the Federal poverty level, described at HHS here.
Look for lots of flies in the ointment.
A family of 4 earning 22000/year. Oh ya, they can afford healthcare. Something tells me the quality they receive would be less than stellar.
400% of the poverty level would be $88,000 a year.
They will give you a dollar credit.
Meanwhile your health insurance for a family of four might be twenty thousand.
that every member of Congress currently enjoys.
This is what we should be DEMANDING!!!!
No retreat!!!
No surrender!!!
Good, I agree! We'll charge it to your account-
Abbyb-illinWood!
Which is why I support "Pay At the Pump" car insurance.
The more gas you buy, the more you drive, the more you pay.
State by state. Everybody's in. Nobody's out.
And those with Water, Solar or Electric powered vehicles do what?
FREE INSURANCE!!
powered cars look really cool , a bit of conversion it has been done .
back in the 50's there was a movie that came out , and this guy had a watered powered car ( the actor Bob Cummings , he had to add a pill to tank ) even then I thought it was a good idea , I think the name is J-cells for whats going on now in this field .
I don't want to get 'conspiritorial' but the technique seems to have been repeated many times by using high frequency and high voltages, pulsed to 'pull' water from H2O to HHO. It's not electrolysis but a much more subtler approach.
HHO is extremely flamable.
However, I find a long list of mysterious deaths surrounding these engines which "Will be out next year."
Much like those Magnetic Engines and Ionic Lifters that people say "can't work". I have seen compelling video to the contrary.
It seems our actual knowledge of electro-magnetics has not been refined since the 1920's.
Wasnt there a guy in Australia who clamied he produced a motor that after start up required no external power source ? is that the one , have heard much of this in the last 4-5 years .
Maybe we ( C & L ) needs a tech and builders thread ? , not trying to hijack this one ! .
That is the engine I was referring too, yes. It's the same one you find in the 'Free Energy' video regarding electric vehicles and such, only the inventor put it in a Green Susuki Hatchback. Like the one Tesla built in the 1930s, it requires no apparent input to the system.
How it works (in my opinion) is not a violation of the laws of thermodynamics because it's not a closed system. Tesla indicated clearly we live in a sea of electromagnetics. Like a waterwheel with the water flowing past it, spinning the wheel, this device 'draws' its power from the electromagnetics passing through and by it.
However, this is speculation at best, but from what can be seen the devices do work without power input.
The Aurora alone, if harnessed would power every electric device on the earth, and that's the most expressive point in the electric circuit the earth is in. As any plasma physicist would tell you, plasma mostly functions in 'dark mode' which does not mean its not there, it's just not exciting the ions enough to glow.
the line should read " have NOT heard " much in the last 4-5 yrs .
You tube " white Zombie " an eletric car , dusting off vettes and stangs in the 1/4 mi . ET low 11's , speed 115mph + .
Everybody in, Nobody out.
So WHAT if you have to report your insurance with your tax return? Isn't the tax return itself more scary?
If some people opt out, others have to pick up THEIR tab at the E.R. or elsewhere. Everybody in, nobody out. I am tired of paying $1400 a month for my insurance. It's killing me.
If it ain't already obvious since we hear ZERO about changing our lifestyles and living healthier instead of being overworked wage slaves to business and industry for an entire lifetime.
I just read an article in the July 20 issue of The New Yorker last night entitled, "XXXL: Why Are We So Fat" by Elizabeth Kolbert that was pretty shocking.
America's obesity epidemic is causing hospitals to buy special wheelchairs and operating tables, revolving doors have had to be widened, an Indiana company called Goliath Casket has begun offering triple-wide coffins with reinforced hinges that can hold up to eleven hundred pounds!
It has been estimated that Americans' extra bulk costs the airlines a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of jet fuel annually.
According to the article, it has been estimated that the extra pounds carried by Americans add ninety billion dollars a year to the country's medical spending.
$90 Billion dollars a year is a lot to spend on what most would consider to be a "preventive medicine" problem.
sounds like it should be called, "Hey! Americans. You're All So Fat!" Did it mention high fructose corn syrup? How about Monsanto? How about the three main food groups being fat, salt, and sugar in various forms. I haven't read the article, but I will. Food. My next big bitch.
A "lake of high fructose corn syrup" that the American public has been busy consuming.
You will appreciate the article.
I'll try to find the link for you.
Here's the link to The New Yorker article, "XXXL":
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2...
.
i can deal with that , not everyone is twiggy ( although my neighbor would make twiggy look fat , she 67 years old and weighs 69 lbs ) there other day i was shopping and this woman in front of me had to weigh 450-500 lbs at least . Had she been one inch taller she would of been perfectly round , what was she buying , chips , a couple of candy bars , a diet coke and a pk of smokes . Sad truly ! .
My friend from the States could not find a suit jacket to wear for my wedding because no stores here in Canada sold clothes that big.
Literally. Not even the 'Big and Tall' store was Big enough. Americans are absolutely huge in size at least those in and around Maine, on average. (my personal observation)
I have a small belly and think I'm 'too big'. How you guys manage it astounds me.
We all know it's the food. Antibiotics injected into food farm animals because it fattens them up. When people eat this corrupted food, it fattens them up too. See this site:
http://www.themeatrix.com/ for how your food is made these days.
After that, see this site for what it is doing to people:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me
Here is the super size film for free:
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/super_si...
So, to put it clearly, Americans are in immediate need of health care, better food, and election reform to keep it there.
Either that or we have no nation anymore. Period.
Regarding Senator Baucus....
How many ways can you spell C-O-N-F-L-I-C-T O-F I-N-T-E-R-E-S-T ????
You'd think there'd be a law...
It used to be the law.
Now we have CORPORATE OWNERSHIP OF AMERICA.
We the people have been reduced to slavery.
I think they are fattening us up to make soylent green.
... slaves did not have to pay taxes.
...slaves did not get paid at all and any other comparisons are ridiculous.
Bad analogy. This is like comparing taxes to the Holocaust.
scene where the aliens blast Congress? And the old lady watching on TV laughed? Right now, I wish that life would imitate art.
'Bailout' is exactly right term, and I think was the whole point of 'reform' in the first place.
It's more obvious with each passing day that the transfer of money from public into private hands is the almost-achieved goal of those who run our government by proxy. The issue is irrelevant. (Next up, privatizing of the water supply?)
I haven't seen this discussed much on progressive blogs.
'Bailout' is exactly right term, and I think was the whole point of 'reform' in the first place.
It's more obvious with each passing day that the transfer of money from public into private hands is the almost-achieved goal of those who run our government by proxy. The issue is irrelevant. (Next up, privatizing of the water supply?)
I haven't seen this discussed much on progressive blogs.
'Bailout' is exactly right term, and I think was the whole point of 'reform' in the first place.
It's more obvious with each passing day that the transfer of money from public into private hands is the almost-achieved goal of those who run our government by proxy. The issue is irrelevant. (Next up, privatizing of the water supply?)
This needs to be discussed more on progressive blogs.
'Bailout' is exactly right term, and I think was the whole point of 'reform' in the first place.
It's more obvious with each passing day that the transfer of money from public into private hands is the almost-achieved goal of those who run our government by proxy. The issue is irrelevant. (Next up, privatizing of the water supply?)
This needs to be discussed more on progressive blogs.
I've been pressing *-1 and have not been able to get through. Damn phone system.
kudos john
thanks from all of us
I posted the following a couple of days ago and never dreamed I would have the opportunity to address it directly to you. I am going to give it to you straight, Mr. President, diversions and delays will not suffice.
"Nothing less than Single Payer health care is needed to save our nation from bankruptcy. The corporate (fascist) Insurance companies will stop at nothing (ABSOLUTELY NOTHING) to keep their strangle hold on our nation. If we fail to stop them here and now, we will go down in history as the generation that neglected our responsibilities to safeguard democracy from corporatism (fascism). It is as simple as that. The corporations own our government. They buy influence and access that ordinary Americans can not. They subvert, corrupt, and rot the checks and balances of a truly representative government. The democrats and Obama in particular have sold out to the same corporate interests as their republican counterparts. The People are not represented. We are, in fact, played against each other with the simple, tactical ploy of divide and conquer. American citizens, Please... I implore you, stop them now. Recognize that unbridled greed in the form of corporations is a malignant cancer on our democracy and our liberty. The lobbyists and those whom they represent are thieves that will destroy us; for their objective is profit above ALL else."
There it is, Sir. I hope you will gather your courage and do the right thing. We, the People of the United States are behind you, if you stand with US.
Remember HR 676.
Single payer is the way.
there's no one size fits all panacea.
but no politician, including Obama will even suggest it. Single payer. Taxes. Payroll. Income Tax. Everyone pays into the pot and is issued a healthcard. Dick uses no healthcare in a year, but helps subsidize his poor wife's grandma, who is in terrible health. Get the insurance industry 100% out of healthcare. It isn't a damn business.
the outrageous fees for medical procedures. That's fine if your in the millionaire and up bracket and your mind set is . . "Oh, it can't be good unless it's expense" . . I'd like to see flat-rate no-limit primary care in the mix these people developing this have a good idea.
We need to get out of the Biopsy of the Wallet as the first treatment regardless.
The only way to control costs is through single payer.
The current proposal sells cost control out. That is why it is so expensive.
Robert Reich here
Well that's what the American public has been sold since the end of WW2 and look where that got us.
You have said this before, you are missing an important point.
Single payer means the government pays for health care. It does this now with Medicare on the Federal level and Medicaid on the State level.
The government does not provide health care, it pays for it.
There can be private payment additions, they would not be proscribed. All of the advanced countries that have a nominal single payer system allow additional options.
This occurs now with Medicare.
There are numerous optional procedures that a public system is not going to want to cover. Cosmetic surgery might be one.
What is proposed with HR 3200 is a mostly private payment system. That maintains the excessive profits and overhead of private insurance.
The profit motive in the payment of fundamental health care is the heart of the problem.
treatment can make affordable payments without being sued for non payment and tossed out into the streets and called a "loser".
The medical system has no heart at all when the bills come due.
Two operations in France to remove breast tumours, and major spinal surgery in the UK to prevent me from becoming permanently paralysed and incontinent. I paid only for the television and telephone in both countries, the operations were free (or rather, I'd paid for them already with my taxes). The post-operative pain medication I needed in France I paid for in advance and sent in the forms for 40% reimbursement; that keeps the drug seekers down. The pain killers and post-operative care in the UK (including a nurse who came to my house to remove the staples as I wasn't allowed to drive for a month after the surgery) I did buy, but the cost is kept down to a reasonable amount.
I now live in New Zealand where they also have a form of universal health care, but where I do have to pay a small amount of money for health insurance per year on my student visa - this year I think it cost me a grand total of $450. New Zealand dollars.
Universal health care is THE MAJOR REASON I do not want to return to the States. I'm doing a doctoral degree and teaching at two universities in this country, and my education and skills will be utilized by the country that actually cares if I live or die, or walk, or have to wear Lady Tenas the rest of my life.
I so wish it were the country of my birth. Give me a reason, Mr. President.
The insurance companies DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU. They simply don't care.
So they should not be there.
I too dread going to the states. I live in Canada. My Uncle drove tractor trailers to the states and he said:
"If I get in a Car accident, or sick, get me and my truck back to Canada FIRST."
Just one accident in the US without insurance would just completely ruin the average Canadian family. Costing as much as a new car or house.
How do you think we feel?
We have been financially devastated by a pack of greedy bloodthirsty war mongering traitors masquerading as American Republicans. Actually they're just a pack of greedy fascist thieves.
They're monsters. Traitorous monsters.
A good health care system basically boils down to one elemental truth.
Recognition of human dignity.
get real.
...is incompatible with profits. They should just stop pretending what they are and openly call for the return of slavery and debtor's prisons.
or twice a day and head home and to the golf course their not thinking "oh, I wonder if that poor person can afford this?"
I know many doctors in my neighborhood. It's not the money maker it once was.
First, they are usually saddled with huge debts starting out.
Then there's malpractice/E&O insurance. Hefty.
Then there's the fighting with insurance companies and their capitated rates for payment.
Private practices are difficult to start and harder to maintain, most go into groups and the profit margins to the individual doctors just isn't there.
My allergist with Kaiser left to do plastic surgery privately...it was much more lucrative to inject Botox and silicone (which is not covered by insurance, so it leaves out that huge bureaucratic headache) than it is to be a regular doctor nowadays.
I know at least one doctor (a good one) that even stopped practicing.
Many areas have a shortage of GPs (since they make the least its harder to pay off loans as one).
Orphanages.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32013032/ns/polit...
Is this just a silly game to them?
There was no way of starting the program earlier and making it deficit neutral, which if it wasn't, they wouldn't be able to pass it via reconciliation in the Senate if need be.
So in other words, it's just a silly game to them.
whatever makes you feel good about yourself.
Deficit neutral?
WT Heck?
Are you kidding?
Was TARP Bailouts deficit neutral?
Why is it when the money goes to the RICH AND FAMOUS the trillions of debt are just loaded on the U.S. Taxpaying workers, whether they want it or not. But if those same saddled workers are to stay ALIVE to pay it, they're going to need health care. So why is it so darn important to have their care deficit neutral?
Oh I forgot. The entire idea is for the middle class to DIE OFF so the workers can be replaced by green card workers for $1 a day.
So now the Republicanzi like Beck are calling for people to reject the new health care in order to crush Obama. I guess we have to pass it then.
Republicans have completely abandoned the nation in order to save themselves. They are no longer a political party at all. they don't even know what's going on any more.
Hows that going to happen with whats happening in this country?
Keep them alive and make them healthy first, then collect the money.
It's sort of the reverse of killing people in Iraq without the ability to pay, but it's a better investment.
Thanks to your calls and emails on Friday, Rep. Dennis Kucinich's amendment to let states adopt single-payer healthcare passed the House Education and Labor Committee by 25-19.
Of course the insurance industry will try to kill the Kucinich amendment during future votes, so we will watch carefully and keep you posted.
Today the House Energy and Commerce Committee (E&C) will vote on Rep. Anthony Weiner's amendment for an even better bill: universal (not state-by-state) single payer healthcare, Medicare for All (H.R. 676).
want what they have , we pay for their health care , yet we only get the bill and many of us have no health care .
Ask people to give you money so you can run for office , get elected and call those lobbist for the big bucks . Correct me if im wrong ( i know you will ) but dont these critters get their yearly sal. + health care for the rest of their life , even if only serving one term ? . Oh and then a job at fox , a lobbist , or someother sinkhole what a scam , its a wonder anything gets done except , wars , bailout , empire building , jobs credit for shipping our mfg overseas , pay raises for congress , anyone care to add too the list have @ it .
In Britain, after WW2, when they were bombed to piss, they started the FHS. Free Healthcare for all.
You are the most powerful nation in the world. There is no excuse, only corruption.
From that font of all knowledge, wikipedia:
In the aftermath of World War II, Clement Attlee's Labour government created the NHS as part of the "cradle to grave" welfare-state reforms, based on the proposals of the Beveridge Report, commissioned by Arthur Greenwood, Labour's Deputy Leader and wartime Cabinet Minister with responsibility for post-war reconstruction and prepared in 1942 by the economist and social reformer William Beveridge. The idea was that if Britain could work towards full employment and spend huge sums of money during the wartime effort, then in a time of peace equitable measures of social solidarity and financial resources could be redirected towards fostering public goods. Aneurin Bevan, the newly appointed Secretary of State for Health, was given the task of introducing the National Health Service.
Healthcare in the UK prior to the war had been a patchwork quilt of private, municipal and charity schemes though half of Scotland's land mass was covered by public provision (the Highlands and Islands Medical Service). Bevan now decided that the way forward was a national system rather than a system operated by regional authorities to prevent inequalities between different regions. He proposed that each resident would be signed up to a specific General Practice (GP) as the point of entry into the system. From that point on, any resident of the UK would have access to any kind of treatment they needed without having to face the embarrassment of being unable to pay for it.
... ahhh, wouldn't it be nice if we, too, had a few such altruistic politicians. Unfortunately, that seems more like a contradiction in terms these days...
Sorry. I smoked a bowl recently and my brain musta messed it up. Thanks for the clarification and the more complete message.
In the end though, there is no excuse. If they could do it then, America could do it now.
good on you, john!!!
very good question; you're not alone with that...
and i heard ed shultz ask several critters, all were willing...
it's only fair...
Some here may have followed this story for the last two years at wwww.worldreports.org, but it is sad to think that the last three administrations have held back huge sums of money ( actually between 300 and 500 trillion dollars ) that have been generated in off shore programs that could have solved the entire banking crisis, could have prevented every foreclosure that has taken place and paid for all infrastructure improvements, yet these funds continue to be held hostage because those in power now have no way of explaining where and how these funds were generated.
It is simply amazing the power that the Wall Street interests have over all of us through the use of debt. Go to the site mentioned above and learn the real story as to why our country is being ruined by ruthless power brokers that refuse to release these funds. The rest of the world is waiting for an answer Mr. president and yet you continue to surround yourself with the very people who created this banking nightmare. You know what has to be done Mr. president, the time has come to act for the benefit of all, not just the elitists you hired form Goldman Sachs to further ransack the country. We can pay for health care and every other problem confronting us.
The rest of the world is not waiting for an answer. They are living their lives like normal people.
It's only in America, the only so called first world nation, that we don't have health care and are waiting for an answer. Only in America.
So, folks. Have you finished with that stupid myth about America being the best at long last? We're not you know.
I love what Krakonis said, "You are the most powerful nation in the world. There is no excuse, only corruption."
Here Here!
Even if the president was not quite willing to directly engage your question concerning a suspension of summer recess (one of my rants as well), well at least it just may have implanted that possibilty a bit more firmly into his immediate agenda. Thank you!
Isn't it great to have a President who FIGHTS? When some right-wing a$$hole talks about "breaking him", he pushes back rather than capitulate--like Bill Clinton?
This is refreshing!
To many slight of hand tricks going on here, the train is runing without an appearant engineer, Let's thik aoubt reprocussions ..
Let's all go to the ball game, peanuts and popcorn and apple jacks, OK, so now what? Am I theh only one who see's the demise of this country, and not simply due to the new administration but the collapse of the family (look into history, start with Rome).
I guess if this bill passes we will have even more illegal aliens getting free health care than we already do? I was at a hospital finance department here recently waiting to ask someone to clarify my bill. In the course of that ten minutes, a majority of the people wanting financial help with their bill were illegal aliens. I asked the employee receiving those calls if that happens a lot? She said, absofuc**nlutely! It feels really exhilerating paying taxes knowing that they don't pay taxes or bills but have a tax-free income. Ask California if they like it...There were a few congressmen wanting to delay the bill passage simply because they received the more than 600 page bill the night before the vote. I guess people just expect congressmen to vote without knowing what they are voting for- kinda like the stimulus package...At what point do we start exercising personal responsibility? Just some questions to consider.
There will always be people trying to game the system much like the insiders on Wall Street are doing today. You say a majority of people wanting financial help with their bills were illegal aliens. How do you know the majority of people that CALLED were illegal aliens since you were not the person to actually speak with those people? It also seems to be a common misconception that illegal aliens don't pay taxes.
Social Security estimates show that 7 million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year. In most cases, the money comes out of their paychecks, which are processed using fake Social Security numbers. Unlike US citizens, they are not elgible to draw Social Security ever.
Why expect others to take personal responsibility when you don't practice it yourself? Try doing a little research and best of luck to your story telling.
So, you knew this by asking whether or not they had citizenship status?
I certainly hope that you're not basing this entire argument on whether they appeared to be hispanic, because that would be a tad racist....
Also, the argument that "we don't want teh aliens to get our healthcare!" is a really dumb one. People game and scam every system (including the financial one, but I don't hear people calling for the banning of investment banks because Goldman Sachs is full of jerks who spoil our economy. Not at any volume, anyways.) but it makes no sense to deny sick people healthcare simply because you don't approve of them.
Also, I've noticed that the phrase "exercising personal responsibility" seems to be code for "I don't want to put any of my hard earned money in so that some lazy assholes can get things that I have to pay for." Social responsibility is a real bitch, isn't it? Societies are judged by how they treat their least fortunate, not how well their rich live.
We have finally come into our own. You should know I link your stories in my emails to the President, and all of my senators, no mater WHAT zip code I use.
If my choice becomes going to prison, or paying an HMO, I'll still take option 1.
I simply *will not*, WILL NOT be forced to pay a private company for my health insurance.
Mandatory auto insurance is one thing... I don't like it, but ultimately I can choose not to drive if I do not want to pay.
I don't have the same choice with respect to my health (can't just choose to stay health - s**t happens)
I would happily sign on to a single payer system. Currently, I am enrolled in my state's basic health plan - I'm young, in fairly good health and am no longer making gobs of money in IT (yeah - thank God) and so I qualify...
I will not pay an HMO.
I will not enroll in my employers HMO.
Let's call a spade a spade. These corps are full of scammers running long-cons on the most vulnerable portion of our population (the infirm and the elderly). Wendell Potter - I'm glad you grew a conscience - it's about f**king time. You have a lot to answer for, and so do your colleagues. No way am I giving you my money if I can help it. Come and try to take it. Oh and, F**K YOU.
If the Public Option turns out to be the fisting of the American people that I think it might, I for one will not participate. Send me to prison. seriously.
Expand medicare. make everyone pay for that, instead. It does actually work. Anyone who tells you differently is obviously selling something.
Regards.
Clearly, President Obama has a gift for oratory and a remarkable ability to inspire, the latter perhaps the single most powerful and effective tool in his impressive portfolio of political talents. It was, after all, his ability to inspire so many, to rekindle our fading hopes for a genuinely better America, that motivated us to work for his election.
His oratorical prowess remains intact but, I submit, his ability to inspire lessens as time passes, not because the despicable antics of the right have been successful but because the President has not "walked the walk"; because,quite simply, he has not kept his promises on matters that really do matter. There's no need to restate these compromises of principle made in the name of politial expediency, for the record is clear.
I believe this matter of healthcare reform will largely define how we who were inspired by this man will define his Presidency. Many of us are looking for President Obama to show he is willing to take a stand on the big issues and healthcare reform is clearly one of the biggest.
To achieve meaningful and beneficial healthcare reform, there absolutely must be a legitimate single payor, public option available to all. Anything short of that will result in largely maintaining the status quo, with the exception that those gouging the American people will be further enriched on the backs of the people. Anything short of a legitimate public option must be considered a failure.
If President Obama keeps his word, and works aggressively and genuinely for a legitimate public option for all, then his ability to inspire will remain intact. This will be so, even if he is not successful, for we cannot expect that he will always win; only that he will stand up for the people on the big issues, as promised.
If, on the other hand, he pays only lip service to the public option or compromises simply to have a healthcare bill, it must be judged a failure and his ability to inspire will be further tarnished. This healthcare reform thing is a watershed moment for President Obama, and how he responds will tell us much about what he stands for and what he's made of.
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