August 04, 2009 07:30 PM
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One Year Ago
so true. so true. everybody gets a piece of the great insurance swindle. that is, if you work in the insurance field, that it.
Excellent cartoon, Logan!
Sign these petitions for health care.
http://www.change.org/actions/view/rep_mike_r...
http://www.change.org/actions/view/i_demand_c...
Tell the Republiklan party to stop calling our party the Democrat Party.
http://www.change.org/actions/view/stop_calli...
Read our blog
http://blog.democratz.org
Before I read the caption, I was wondering what the pink flamingos were doing in there...
...as in the days of Nixon's dirty tricks, look for some of the same people to show up to disrupt public political forums. Back in the hippie days, we called 'em "outside agitators."
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
... they are given full access to destroy the public conversation and receive favorable publicity, but when there is dissension from the Left they are caged in out of the way "free speech zones," arrested, erased form the conversation (Kanye West/Katrina), or marginalized as "fringe."
Rotten to the core.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Yes call the FBI. This appears a national conspiracy to obstruct government business by Dick Armey and his Freedumbworks organization along with Americans for Prosperity(?)
Call the FBI.
Wait a minute. We can't applaud Kanye West for calling Bush a racist because of Katrina but then denounce Beck for calling Obama a racist. Granted, Hurricane Katrina was the hardest on black people in general, but was Bush's negligence due in any way to racism? I'm not so sure. Maybe. But as far as I'm concerned, West and Beck both made wide sweeping generalizations and came across as fools.
If a drone kills a child in Kandahar, do the crying parents make a sound?
The biggest difference is that Beck still has his platform to spout his accusations. G.E./NBC censored Kanye West in every re-broadcast.
On the merits, I don't believe Kanye West called W a racist. He said Bush "didn't care about black people." I believe Barbara Bush then forcefully disagreed pointing out how Katrina had worked out so very well for them. How could a woman like that raise a racist? Anyway...
If West sounded foolish to some people, so be it. But he certainly didn't sound inaccurate. The video running simultaneously with his comments spoke volumes.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
You make some good points, fiver. That is true that West didn't actually call W. a racist, rather he said that he "..doesn't care about black people". I'm no fan of Bush but I still think that sounds like West was giving a knee-jerk reaction without a lot of proof. His emotion was understandable, though. I would say that its more accurate to say that Bush doesn't care about anyone that is not "his base". Meaning, the rich and powerful. I'd be curious to know if his administration's reaction to Katrina would have been any different if most of the victims were poor white folks.
Beck did actually call Obama a racist or "someone that doesn't like 'white culture'"...whatever that is. Beck is far more dangerous considering his bully pulpit. He calls himself a "rodeo clown" Well, he's a damn dangerous one at that...doesn't he realize how many real racists there are in the US and that many hate the fact that the President is a (half) black man? Beck is arguably the most dangerous man on the airwaves today.
Anyway, thanks for the rebuttal. Also, I had never heard of that quote from Babs before.
If a drone kills a child in Kandahar, do the crying parents make a sound?
Just didn't get to it till now. Here's a link for for the Barbara Bush quote.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
More here.
Don't try to confuse the issue with half-truths and gorilla dust.
What other near-forgotten pieces of crap will now
toss in their two centsget a spotlight on Fux or CNN--David Duke? Tom Metzger? Or maybe dig up John Fuckin' Birch..."Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
That looks to me like single payer and not the public option. Who wants to bet that the public option involves the gov paying a private insurer and badly negotiating rates? Also, how does the public option solve the problem with doctors not getting paid by private insurance and reduce their number of hours by reducing the amount of paper work and lawsuits to get paid? And how does the public option guarantee that insurers won't be denying coverage and dropping people from coverage? The insurance co's word? Also how does the public option ensure the insurance co's will put health care before profits?
Many of the private insurance problems you cited should be solved by tighter regulation proposed in the bill. Public option shouldn't morph into a private plan because it, in theory anyway, is accountable to us - the public.
I do know that Citizens Insurance works. It is the Government backed homeowners insurance that kicks in when the private sector decides it is just too expensive to insure Floridians against, um, hurricanes! When State Farm decided to bail (retaining all the money they'd received in premiums for oh so many years), Citizens Insurance stepped in with the same coverage for less money.
Right, just like the regulations that the SEC is supposed to uphold, just like the regulations that the banksters were supposed to follow etc. All meaningless because the politicians are in their pockets. It still doesn't solve the profit motive.
...do righties get all the good conspiracy theories - birthers, deathers, etc.?
How 'bout we make up one of our own? Like all those "radical reforms" Obama's making is really just to drive conservatives crazy (not a very long ride for most). Then once we run healthcare, we'll lock them all up. They already believe we've built secret detention centers. Just tell them they have padded cells and we're off and running.
But, you left out one part.
There should be a K(1): eventually the doctor gets paid;
and, a K(2): coverage is denied, but the insurance execs still get to party with your premiums.
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
from the L.A. Times, by a Canadian doctor, who ignores the bs & says what needs to be said.
I have said previously, that if the U.S. 'powers that be' are so interested in reforming their pathetic healthcare system...why are they not interested in researching & analyzing systems in other countries that actually work & are making people happy. They could learn (OMG...you mean another country could actually teach us something?) and expand upon foundations that work to make their very own system...what a concept, eh??
Here's the link...
www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rachlis320...
I'll try again...
Weird...it won't print with the URL...so just add the usual http & www at the front...then it should work...sorry, but worth it...
latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rachlis3-2009aug03,0,538126.story
Thanks.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
The commenting system recognizes a URL when it sees one, then "embeds" it. The URL gets truncated and code is added to have the text point to the original URL you put in. Lots of commenting systems, like haloscan, do things the same way. The point is to make your link clickable; you don't have to copy/paste it into your browser's address bar to follow the link.
Bottom line is, it will always still work, as fiver pointed out.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
I put together a summary.
http://www.spinnwebe.com/wp/2009/08/04/so-you...
The public option for the people , sanity , justice , equality , a decent country that takes care of it's people , lawwwwwd forbid ! The ignorant dumb asses in this country believe all the lies and horse crap from the right , the insurance companies , drug companies and all the profiteers , reject the good guys and reform and then will be complaining and crying about insurance costs and medical bills and how something has to be done about it . The stupidity and ignorance in this country is beyond belief , they vote to elect Bush a second time and now this . Truly , what hope is there ? Sorry but that's the conclusion I've come to . If it isn't greed it's ignorance and absolute stupidity . It's depressing and frustrating as hell .
Medicare for all!
HR 676 !!
HR 676 SUMMARY:
[emphasis mine]
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
IHS is horrible. Terrible. And not everybody gets treated well by the VA. Many do, but the overload is horrendous.
"Courtesy is owed. Respect is earned. Love is given." --Unknown author, found in Guide to Texas Etiquette by Kinky Friedman
What I like most is the idea of simply making Medicare - an already existing successful single payer comprehensive health plan - available to everyone.
No need to create a whole new program, a whole new set of documents and rules, a whole new bureaucracy .. just expand the existing program, and revise where necessary to target children, maternity, and other issues in the younger-than-65 population.
And similarly, as you mention, fold ALL government health programs into one.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
-to keep the Medicare system from being overwhelmed, start with, say, covering persons suffering from serious & expensive diseases (Parkinson's, Cancer, etc), ALL Pregnant Women, (I bet that would stop a few abortions). Make SCHIP cover ALL kids, regardless of income of their parents.
Wait and observe for a while, noting and correcting problems and expenses, then expand further, as needed.
Meanwhile, ANYONE who wants to can buy private insurance, and probably get a good price & service, too.
I think the actual proposal is to expand it "by decades" .. first lower the age of access from 65 to 55, then to 45, 35, etc.
But I don't know the proposed time line.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
Insurance works because good and bad risks share in the cost. You can't just insure the bad unless you dramatically raise the rates, and that would be counter productive.
Just imagine AAA would insure only drivers with multiple dui's.
If you need funds to pay for essentials, you have a revenue problem
If you need funds to pay for frivolity, you have a spending problem
"Insurance
worksworked because good and bad risks share in the costs"I fixed that - that's the exact problem we have now. Private health insurance doesn't work for the People, because they only keep the good risks - denying acceptance or claims for the sick - and keeping an exorbitant amount of the premium money for profit! They control who gets into the pool of insureds - thereby controlling and increasing their profits.
Medicare works, it wouldn't be that hard to expand it for everyone - and the America can move into the 21st Century and treat our citizens humanely - like most other industrialized, wealthy nations.
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
sums it up perfectly! I agree with an earlier poster who said that it should also show that the insurance company rejects your claim and has fun with your premium payments regardless... Pretty sad all around, isn't it?!
Don't stand down, America! The only way this healthcare reform should take is the public option. I love HR 676 too... thanks for posting this, mountainman!
The clunkers thing returns
for another month, but it's just a stop-gap against actual climate change. RE: Beck McVeigh thing. I guess he didn't get the memo about the violent lunatic "President" who killed the GOP's prospects for the last two years. The only settlement obtained from those turn-over SUVs was a bunch of coupons. Certain arthritis drugs can cause cancer in children. One of our peeps is still stuck in Myanmar for daring to visit the opposition. A Michigan town is more concerned about a lack of jobs than terrorists. BofA's exec is fined for lying about its dealings with Merill Lynch. A college grad sues for being Ponzi'd for $70,000 with no jobs to show for it. Another gun nut rampage. The SEC demands a fine from the guy who wrecked K-mart. We've got the worst revenue since the Depression, and our post office system is being forced to close branches, but the Pentagon's still hungry for bigger bunker busters. Meanwhile, Nissan officially beats GM in the electric car race. The "liberal" media asks CEOs to rate Obama.
as always first class reporting .
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
I'd like to remind you all of Fox (and other network's) response to President Clinton arranging for the release of 2 reporters.
"Negotiating with Terrorists" "What did USA Give Up?" "Pandering to a Dictator" "Wrong Evil Stupid- Will result in WW III" and so on. A commenter at NewsHounds pointed out that Fox paid Terrorists Two-Million $$$ to free their reporters:
JERUSALEM – Palestinian terror groups and security organizations in the Gaza Strip received $2 million from a U.S. source in exchange for the release of Fox News employees Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig, who were kidnapped here last summer, a senior leader of one of the groups suspected of the abductions told WND.
As I posted elsewhere tonight, Insannity actually suggested that Clinton's trip to North Korea was an effort to divert attention from Obama's bad news the past couple of weeks....poll numbers going down, health care reform, etc.
I was glad his guest Dana Perino said she didn't think this was so, but Ms. Perino also said this: she was concerned that Kim Jong Il now can now show the rest of the world that he "did something good."
WTF???? What world does Ms. Perino live on? Everyone, most nations in the world already know that Kim Jong Il is mentally unstable and an evil dictator, and those that don't are few...and those that don't will still think that Kim Jong Il is "great." And how can he brag about doing "something good" when he did something bad to start with by capturing those two journalists?
Like this is news or something. Anyway, this is related, when I work up this morning and began channel surfing, I caught the following story on CNN:
CNN: One Family's Guardian Angel
Insurance employee makes the system work
Yes, this one insurance lady going the extra mile makes the WHOLE system work!!! Thanks CNN, not extactly the most respecteed name in news now are you.
All we have left is infotainment. Have a look at this:
http://dailybail.com/home/the-bailouts-have-d...
The CNBC anchors know what their job is, the laugh at Ratigan and accuse him of being "crazy" a "conspiracy theorist", etc, meanwhile all he is talking about is the Glass-Stegall Act, which was meant to prevent banks which take public deposits from speculating (gambling) with our money. It gets repealed in 1999, guess what happened? But no, to these douchebags it's all just a big joke.
Joke, huh? Check out this bit of underreported news, which is beaing repeated in counties and municipalities across the country:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bankrupt-jef...
It's all crumbling, folks. Which is why people come to places like this now to get the real scoop. Nobody is listening to the media anymore.
Lou Dobbs is a Birther. That will be his legacy.
Lou Dobbs was a Birther. That will be his epitaph.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
who has a 'fear' (shall we say instead, dislike) of brown people...pompous ass!
when it's time to put him six feet under...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
YOU FUCKING TEABAGGERS, QUIT FUCKING WITH THE HEALTH OF MY BROTHERS, SISTERS, CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. for that matter quit fucking with the health of your future generations also. Do you want your children going hungry and losing their homes because of the cost of their healthcare because that is what will happen with the status quo.
Head birther goes off the deep end on MSNBC.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/03/orly...
/sorry if this is a repost
//didn't read all the threads
And bets?
What is your conceptual, continuity?
"...taking part in the weekly "Latin Impact" dance aerobics class..."
I hate to speculate here; let's hope there were no racial or cultural overtones.
RIP to those killed. Hope their families get through this with family, friends.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
white guy walks into a room full of Latina, nah, no overtones
Update:hatred of women in general
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/04/pennsylvania...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32290956/ns/us_ne...
I guess Becks little talk with them didn't work
think Beck mentioned anything about suicide by cop.
More propaganda on his "balanced" budget. Why does he hate people with HIV/AIDSdomestic abuse victims?
Because the GOP is the party of homophobia?
Insurance companies, in fact the whole bloated Capitalist infrastructure in general but hey insurance companies in particular, have caused a lot of damage to this system. I know I whine about the bailouts a lot, but by the gods you can't deny it's all connected. Especially when a bunch of that money went to insurance companies. The same people who were gambling with our savings and retirement funds were also gambling literally with our lives, in the case of health insurance.Think about this: these are the same people who are opposing the Public Option in health care. So in that case, what we have is taxpayer money being funneled to politicians in the form of campaign donations. Cute. I think Max Keiser is right: the guillotine is not out of the question for these people, or the Republicans, or the Blue Dogs they bought off with taxpayer money.
I firmly believe the system as we know it is collapsing, under the weight of debts piled on especially by the Bush administration in the course of fighting their stupid oil war. Call me an apocalyptic, I just don't see where the debts are supportable anymore.
When things do come to a head, probably in a few months once enough people are out of work that even the cheerleaders on CNBC cannot overlook it, we'll have our chance at real change.
And I think what we should do then is simply nationalize the insurance companies. And the banks. And hold lots of trials. Public opinion is already swinging that way, and will only shift further in that direction as the situation deteriorates. Hopefully we'll be able to get rid of ALL OF THEM in one fell swoop.
..if you seize the insurance companies, then you'll want to seize the pharmaceutical companies. Then someone's going to want the government to take over Big Oil, and (gasp!!) the banks. In fact, the whole bloated capitalist infrastructure. Pure godless socialism.
But then, if you don't do that, the bloated capitalists will seize the government and institute pure godless fascism. Oh, wait - they already have.
Never mind.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
It's us or them, man. I vote us.
You just know what the reight wing are going to say about that cartoon.
They'll probably set up an ad campaign protesting that health care is an insidious plot to kill all the nation's pets.
"In theory theory and practice are alike. In practice they are very different."
Thing that offends Republicans is that a little of that sucker's (that is to say taxpayer's) dollar will actually get back to him in services. That's unAmerican. Once that tax dollar is collected, it _must_ be soaked up in the ever so more "efficient" contractors and miscellaneous graft that Ronald Reagan promised us would be so great. For any of it to filter back in meaningful services is a crying shame. Republicans warned us that government doesn't work and they do everything they can to prove it.
We can only imagine how people who live in half honest First World countries must be laughing at us. Our government should make every American with half a brain feel like a Tijuana whore tossed back in the alley after a hard weekend.
Why does the mistress's dog's bookie's dog get shafted?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
http://www.creators.com/conservative/chuck-no...
Evil Empire ExxonMobil taking the astroturf 'healthcare reform protesters' playbook and running with it against climate bill - http://www.grist.org/article/2009-08-04-what-...
What it would like if green groups copied what Big Oil & Big Coal are doing every day, right now even...
COLD BUSTED: A total of 12 forged letters -- all appearing to come from local groups unhappy with a climate-change bill -- were sent to three congressional offices this summer by a Washington lobbying firm, according to the pro-coal group the firm was working for.
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
If Extinctionists/Denier/'skeptic' 'science' is so good on its own 'merit'....why do they have to lie every time??????
Profiles in former presidents doing good things: Bill Clinton and Journalists Triumphantly Return to U.S. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...
So...GWBush is trying to get on the money for 'speaking' tour circuit & Cheney is waxing poetic about the morals & virtues of torture.... Yep...you can tell the difference while they're in office & after they're out....
Founder of Blackwater-Xe Accused Of Murder, Gun Running To Iraq - http://www.newshoggers.com/blog/2009/08/found...
The last crusade???? Prince is a psychopath...and his mercenary minions are just as bad
Britain To Put CCTV Cameras Inside Private Homes - http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/britai...
"As an ex-Brit, I’m well aware of the authorities’ love of surveillance and snooping, but even I, a pessimistic cynic, am amazed by the governments latest plan: to install Orwell’s telescreens in 20,000 homes."
Blackwater’s New Whistleblowers by Scott Horton - http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-storie...
Allegations of John Doe #1 and John Doe #2: Among the accusations : * Both men requested anonymity to avoid mortal threats. “It appears that Mr. Prince or his employees, murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities,” said John Doe #1.
John Doe #2 says he received personal threats after leaving Blackwater. * Prince “views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe.” He “intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis.”
The 'religious' right will pour all of their money into this...
ABOUT TIME! Obama pressures Senate Dems to move healthcare with or without the GOP - http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-wan...
Underscoring the dissatisfaction brewing among Democrats, however, Rockefeller said after the White House meeting that Baucus risks losing support within his own party if he moves the bill too far from the left to win over the three Republicans.
"If you can get the three that doesn’t mean you can hold on to all of ours and as you move more away from what most Democrats feel is important, then it becomes harder to hold not just the more conservative Democrats but maybe some of the more liberal Democrats," Rockefeller said.
Could Reconciliation Bring Single Payer Back From the Dead? GOP Obstructionists May Shoot Themselves in the Foot on Heathcare
- http://blog.buzzflash.com/analysis/875
It appears that the creation of a single-payer healthcare system would meet all the requirements of a budget reconciliation measure, as long as the proposal came out of the right committee and did not increase the deficit, which -- by the estimates of single-payer advocates at least -- would be the case.
Seeing the Forest: Conservative Hating On Cash For Clunkers -- by Dave Johnson - http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2009/...
Government can work, and the “Cash for Clunkers” program proved it. So, naturally, conservatives have to hate on it. The government program that was meant to take until November turned out to be so successful that [the] program achieved its goals in something like a week or two! Thousands of cars were sold, helping dealerships and car companies to move toward recovery.
Thousands of gas guzzlers were scrapped, helping the country move toward improved energy efficiency. So the House has approved an additional $2 billion and the Senate should take it up this week. Well if you are a conservative, plenty is wrong with that: Firstly, it makes government look good -- and con-servatives just hate government.
Mostly, this comes at exactly the wrong time for con-servatives, [who] are fighting tooth and nail to keep We, the People from passing health care reform in a way that chooses better care and lower costs....it is vitally important to discredit the idea that government can do things right. I say it shows why we want a public option choice in the health care reform!
Why American media has such a signal-to-noise problem, pt. 2 - http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2009/08/04/w...
As unsatisfying as it sounds, our media has become the inane noise machine it is as a (business) logical response to other factors. Still, the media we have is intolerable and we must address the havoc it's wreaking on our society. Fixing the media will require us to fix more than just the media, but it is doable.
Feds see biggest tax revenue drop since 1932 - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32275055/
The numbers could hardly be more stark: Tax receipts are on pace to drop 18 percent this year, the biggest single-year decline since the Great Depression, while the federal deficit balloons to a record $1.8 trillion.
We can start by not spending 40% and more on the Pentagon & the military industrial complex....and then we need to raise taxes on the 1%ers who have had their taxes subsidized by the middle class since 1981...
When you have no message or plan: GOP Healthcare Thugs - http://codycodester.blogspot.com/2009/08/gop-...
Hired gun idiots to 'disrupt' the discussion....
Obama And DNC Try Turning Angry Mobs And Drudge Into Benefits - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/04/obam...
And yet...gay hating con-servatives still get their 'news' from self-proclaimed 'white house gossip' and all time champion self-hating gay man....Matt 'Coulter makes my appletinis - and I set up the coke lines' Drudge....fabulous....
Drudge has a perfect scam...he convinces these morons to finance his own self-hating booze & drug induced extravaganza....
Born & bred stupid: Southern states an epicenter for U.S. job losses; Yet their governors wanted to screw over their own people on the stimulus.
- http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090804/us_nm/us_...
Its the 'cycle of life' down here....there is no scandal big enough to take down the GOP...because they will be forgiven by the southern idiot train
Right-Wingers Are Stirring Up Xenophobia to Swiftboat Health Reform - http://www.alternet.org/politics/141739/right...
Remember the last time Republicans sent Angry Mobs to Disrupt Something? - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/...
Yeah...our country wound up at the bottom of a $hithole for 8 years...because of con-servative malfeasance...stolen election
Bought and paid for 'Blue' Dogs: Blue Dog Dan Boren Uses RNC Talking Points to Attack Democrats on Health Care Reform
- http://firedoglake.com/2009/08/04/dan-boren-u...
No better than republicans....take that to the bank....and they'll do the same with climate bill...watch and see....they're useless...and Dems only in 'title'....
Could the great recession lead to a great revolution? A look at mass protests during the past 500 years reveals surprising clues.
- http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0730/p09s01-coo...
37 states are either solidly or leaning Democratic in a series of Gallup tracking polls. Only eight Republican. - http://*******.com/nzl2rz
A Canadian doctor diagnoses U.S. healthcare - http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-rac...
Brad Blog: Wingnuts Receive Marching Orders On How to Disrupt Upcoming Town Halls With Phony Outrage - http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7336
Former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather has sued network CEO Leslie Moonves and CBS News President Andrew Heyward in an effort to have them reinstated in his $70 million lawsuit against the network.
- http://www.seattlepi.com/tvguide/408963_tvgif...
Godspeed Mr. Rather.....godspeed...
Debunking the farce of it all: Those marvelous town hall putsches. P.M. Carpenter Exclusively on BuzzFlash for Wednesday, August 5.
- http://blog.buzzflash.com/carpenter/460
If corporate money is bankrolling the 'populist' outrage...its astroturf at its lowest....
Pat Buchanan is giant towering idiot savant: MSNBC's Buchanan: Al Gore is Like the Birthers - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/bucha...
Hey Pat...why don't you take a field trip to reality land...and go visit the North & South poles...stay for a week and then rejoin the human race...
Why he is on the payroll is no suprise...GE likes them some 'bi-partisan' angles....off the charts stupid...
Joel Salatin, America's Most Influential Farmer, Talks Big Organic and the Future of Food - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/joel-...
You can see him in the film... Food, Inc
7 Endangered Animals Cute Enough for Celebrities to Save - http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/7-end...
Political Irony: http://politicalirony.com/2009/08/04/american...
http://politicalirony.com/2009/08/04/obama-dr...
We don't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children - Native American proverb
If being cold means there's no such thing as global warming, does being full mean there's no such thing as world hunger?
on CNN in nearby Burbank. Watching that little kid trying to soak it all in is awesome!
Hats off to Bill Clinton and everyone else who helped pull this off. And just a minute amount of thanks to Kim Jong-Il for having a small moment of clarity and humanity. Or maybe he just wanted to see The Clenis...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
You think Clenis got any?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
How much do the shareholders of the insurance companies receive?
http://www.dailykostv.com/w/002014/
My monthly Medicare Deduction is $96.40/mo and Medicare pays for 80% of the bill. That comes to $24.10/mo per 20% (4x24.10 = $96.40) of the bill.
But the medical industry will not accept Medicare unless there is a guaranteed payment of the other 20%. Therefore I bought private Medicare Supplemental for which I pay $164.03/mo. That is - you guessed it - $164.03/mo per 20% of the bill.
Would I gladly have Medicare pay 100% by charging me an additional $24.10/mo?
You betcha!
That would save me $1,679.16/yr ($139.93/mo)
Who in his right mind would refuse that? Fuckin' repugs.
I did not mention that the private supplemental has a lifetime cap on it.
If you need funds to pay for essentials, you have a revenue problem
If you need funds to pay for frivolity, you have a spending problem
There is no such thing as health 'insurance'. What we have is health 'somebody else pay for me'. We have car and homeowners insurance. This is a pool of money that goes out to those who have catasrophic events that damage their property. Most people happily pay hundreds/month to insure a vehicle, while never needing the money back.
But when it comes to our health we have this idea that it's somebody elses responsibilty to pay for it, be it our employers (WTF????!!!) or the government. Worse, we expect to be able to have endless doctor's visits covered for a $10 copay. It's in our minds as a society that it should all be free somehow. When's the last time you bought new tires, which helps prolong the life of your car, with your car insurance money? When did you last use your homeowner's insurance to paint the house? Why shouldn't we expect to pay $200/month for catastrophic insurance to cover us if we get really, really sick?
I can tell you as an emergency physician that most of my patients have insurance, have a primary doctor, have prescription drugs. Yet those who come to the ER, by far, are those that suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes, emphysema, heart disease, etc. And of those the majority eat like pigs, continue to smoke, don't exercise, don't take their meds consistently, and then act oblivious to why they're ill all the time. Overall, the answers I continually see to this problem is to make it someone elses responsibility to change this, any and everyone except the patient.
In the current proposal it's made to appear that everyone is to have access to healthcare. It goes on to appear that chronic illness is the sole responsibilty of the doctor who treats them, with financial penalty for not managing these effectively. HUNH???!!! Maybe it's in there somewhere, but I see nothing of penalty to the patient who doesn't lose weight, exercise a certain amount per week, eat the right foods, etc.
One other thing. We're not, culturally, anything like Canadians, or French, or any other country. Most people in America are devoid of any sense of spirituality. And thus, we all want to live forever, at any cost...as long as it's somebody elses money. What 'insurance' allows people to pay into it over a lifetime of maybe $250K and then take out millions over that same period to ward off death until the absolute, last possible moment? I've had so many, many patients who say they're "Do Not Resuscitate" and when death is staring them in the face, for the 15th time in the last year, want me to "do everything" because they can't face their demise when it arives. Or worse, the family who can't stand the thought of suffering guilt for being the one who allows life support to be removed.
Until somebody shows me we're cutting off grandma's life support if it's irrational I'm going to be continuing to spend somebody's money keeping the grim reaper at bay as long as I can. This dirty little secret reflects the greater problem I've mentioned above...health care would not be as costly if the public didn't demand to be fixed, NOW!, each and every time they desire to be.
Also, health care is expensive because my care to you has a great value. I worked for 10 years, broke, while incurring great debt, to have the priveledge of providing emergency care to you if you're in need. I provide it to everyone, no matter economic/political/cultural status, who enters the door. I do it day in and day out without prejudice.
And for that I have to endure Medicaid/care paying me 25% of the worth of what I've provided, as if somehow a group rate is justified. It's rationalized as 'money savings' for the taxpayer, at my expense, as if having to keep 10 people alive simultaneously is somehow better for me. I'm not selling a fu**ing fleet of cars to the government for christ's sake. It's MORE work for me, not less. So the idea of a government backed insurance worries me greatly. I see no difference between the government trying to posture and cut costs to impress the taxpayer, no matter how hurtful to those giving out the care, than an insurance company exec doing the same for his shareholders. I'm still the guy doing all the work who's getting the squeeze in an irrational manner.
When you're looking up at me from the bed, barely able to gasp a breath, you all certainly better remember that I've trained 10 years to rescue your ass, and I want to be paid, nicely, for that. I make no apologies for that. And I've given away more health care free than you could ever imagine, so don't try to villify me for having said that.
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