A Scathingly Brilliant Idea on How To Get Real Healthcare Reform
By Susie Madrak Thursday Sep 24, 2009 4:00pmI have this idea. It's pretty simple and I think it will appeal to a lot of people.
Here it is.
I want every uninsured man and woman who comes down with swine flu to go sit in the waiting rooms of their elected representatives.
That's it. Just sit there - coughing. Throwing your used Kleenex in their trash receptacles. If they want us to suffer, they should have to look at at the logical consequences of their inaction. Tell them you're going to keep coming back until they manage to pass something that's actually going to help people instead of lining the pockets of the insurance companies.
If the weather gets cold, set up a tent in the parking lot, put a sign on it that says "Waiting Room: Waiting for Affordable Health Care." Set up your lawn chairs and invite everyone who passes to sit there with you. Be sure to call your local media.
With apologies to Arlo Guthrie:
if you're in a situation like that, there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into the congressman's office wherever you are ,just walk in say "Congressman, we just want affordable health care". And walk out. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he's nuts and they won't pay attention. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're just odd and they won't take either of them. And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in saying "We just want affordable health care" and walking out. They may think it's an organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said fifty people a day walking in, coughing their heads off and saying, "We just want affordable health care" and then walking out. And friends, they may think it's a movement.
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I'm in.
Late,
QSE32
I cannot endorse anyone telling people to spread a contagious disease. You might even run afoul of the law in encouraging people to spread a disease.
Just make some phone calls to cut off income to two major donors to conservative Democrats Mike Ross and Max Baucus, both who determine conservative Democratic policy on health care. If we get a hundred thousand people calling their contributors telling them we refuse to buy their products, it will make more of an impression than telling people to make other people sick.
Boycott Tyson Foods of Arkansas who gave Mike Ross D-Arkansas $37,000 for his campaigns. Call lobbyist for Tyson Foods Chuck Penry 202 393 3921 and tell him politely that you refuse to buy Tyson chicken until Mike Ross D-Arkansas the leader of the Blue Dogs on health care gets the entire house and senate conservative Democrats to help get HR 676 enacted into law. Tell others to call. Send me email after you call to info@democratz.org
Boycott American Express who gave Max Baucus $50,000 for his campaigns. Call Joanna Lambert at 212 640 9668 and politely tell her you will not use any American Express cards until Max Baucus gets HR 676 enacted into law. Email me after you call.
Now if you want to send people without contagious diseases to a congressional office, as a protest then yes send chemo patients who have lost their hair, or people who recently broke legs, etc. Ok but do not advocate spreading a communicable disease.
for deliberately spreading a serious disease. The Senators & Reps & their staff probably already have received the vaccine, so it wouldn't hurt them. Anyone who tries this action should wear anti-tazer clothes if there are such items.
I've heard of people arrested and charged with a crime for knowingly spreading their AIDS around.
Just claim ignorance as to the source of your illness. You have no doctor, so you don't know why you feel so lousy.
Who are practicing human sacrifice every day at the altar of the insurance companies. That's the thing, isn't it? They never have to touch the bodies.
notice the reference to Arlo Guthrie? there's a dead giveaway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrjHKMJTh1w
I think it's a (cough cough) a great (cough) id(cough)ea. (blowing my nose on a piece of paper to sign into the office with)
they should also have themselves removed from organ donor lists.
Let's take the microbes to the corporate traitors directly, let's infect them ALL and bring down the elite assholes who have no idea what life is actually like out in the real world far from their elite Washington Beltway.
By why stop with uninsured terminally ill, highly contageous people? Let's ALL of us with communicable diseases go down there and start eliminating the assholes who are so far removed from real America that they work only for their corporate masters!
BRILLIANT!
In fact I'm going to go out and get something really nasty and see if Mr. Swartzenegger would like to sign my petition asking for chocolate marble caek (yes, caek) to be served at State functions.
these people have insurance and jobs. they can afford the vaccine.
everyone who starts to feel the tingly burn of a cold should run right down to their elected official's office.
every nauseated chemo patient should spend some time there during the worst of the vomiting.
whatever the condition the offices should be filled with sick people demanding real and true reform.
And, being entrepreneurial (and a health care professional), I'll sell them while I'm there (for a nominal fee).
Hack.
Hack.
Knowing me, I'll also want to check people's vital signs, maybe start a chart and hand out some aspirin etc.
Always the do-gooder I.
Can be lethal, so its claimed.
Ms Madrak's idea dramatizes what I think is the heart of the Health Care issue.
Health Care is first and foremost a Public Health Issue.
Therefore Basic Health Care should be freely available, just as Public Education is freely available.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATMHIlXTUU4
Okay.
After all the (unanswered) questions about the mysterious "PUBLIC OPTION" (besides the option of showing up at our Congresspersons office SICK!), here is a VERY good dissection of "The Public Option":
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/09/24-11
FINALLY we get some damn answers regarding "The Public Option"!!
I have been telling people in my state that unfortunately the fight for single payer is going to have to be on a state level. There is a fairly strong movement in Minnesota on this very issue which is home to United Healthcare, the largest employer in the state.
Next time you have a few free hours, spread a bit of glycerin on your face, try to look thoroughly disheartened (imagine the financial hole you would be if your really got sick) then go to your congresscritter or senator's office and enter coughing.
Let them worry whether it is a real or demonstration exposure.
Actually, good idea but it wouldn't work. Your Senate or House critter would just have you arrested for trespass.
they would say it was bioterrorism
A good idea conceptually but as someone who is currently just getting over (I hope) the most miserable case of flu I've ever had in my life, I wouldn't wish this on *anybody*, not even Congress Critters. Not even Republican CCs.
Is it swine flu? I don't know, I don't have insurance, doctor, or job, so I'll never know.
Hope you're feeling better.
A friend who lives on the W. Coast (in a hospital emergency room) had it and she said it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. But she did have a terrible cough afterwards that was hard to shake.
Fever and miserable cold, plus hacking cough, lasted about four days and still coughing a bit. There were many others at work also coughing at that time.
I think it did the rounds around here last April too, going by the people coughing back then, which could mean its mutated a bit since then.
Dayquil worked wonders, lovely stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLxsOJK9bs&fe...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seg2HgTIz60
this morning, listening to him complain about his (apparent) bout of swine flu. Funny, I'd have expected him to get a flu shot...
We have this supposedly lethal H1N1 pandemic about to decimate the population, yet they haven't even got the normal flu vaccine out yet (next month !) let alone the H1N1, which is sweeping across MN at the moment.
did the Bushies ever get a vaccine for the Bird Flu?
I got it two weeks ago!
“,just walk in say "Congressman, we just want affordable health care". And walk out.”
I think everyone should be sending an email or letter to their Congressman and Senators stating that the health care reform legislation accomplish (1.) getting our per capita costs to be no higher than the other industrial countries, (2.) maintaining a service level comparable to the other industrial countries, and (3.) providing universal coverage, like the other industrial countries.
Doesn't that basically sum up what we need?
From a post on the Kos: “'Baucus is out to faucus.'”
While likely perverse & problematic as the health/wealth-care "debate" had advanced at a glacial pace I'd taken to wondering if the following might be hard for opponents to vote down
1. As a bi-partisan gesture group all objectionable aspects like the public-option, etc together and allow any state to opt out from that group of aspects en masse by a majority vote of either their federal, or state representatives, or by state referendum.
2. Include provisions to assure non-participating states are not financially penalized by having to support the coverage of those aspects for others, i.e if not revenue neutral then either charge participating or compensate non-participating states.
3. To assure that only individuals from participating states are enrolling & covered by those aspects there should be some regular residency verification, e.g cross checks with respect to federal & state tax addresses, voter registration, divers license, etc as some would seek for others.
4. Allow doctors, hospitals, emergency care and other service providers in any state to be compensated for care of enrolled individuals from participating states.
5. Allow any non-participating states to opt back in only by a 2/3rds major in a subsequent state referendum on the regular biennial federal election day.
Just guessing many in non-participating states might soon look to be eligible for coverage under those aspects, e.g a public-option, and when they vote to opt back in they might also end up with more like minded representatives.
If such a healthcare reform bill providing states the right to opt out were defeated then go to conference for true nationwide reform for all.
Also guessing some core red-staters might then be rather upset that there representatives defeated a bill that would have allowed their states to opt out ... and put forth some candidates that far, far righter & redder than most there.
Though inappropriate from an infectious disease standpoint, this is the single best actionable protest about the abysmal state of healtchare in this country I've ever heard of.
Really, though, forget swine flu or even anything communicable--if every person with a serious illness that can't get treatment for it showed up at their local congresspunk's office and sat there complaining, it would be interesting, to say the least.
Come to think of it, if they had you arrested for it, wouldn't the prison system be obligated to treat your illness? Win-win.
If I weren't one of the lucky ones, you can bet that's what I'd be doing.
Brilliant
Even if you are not sick, I am sure many of us have faked being sick to stay home from school. Think of it as fair play - faking sick to a fake lawmaker.
Congress critters would be fine, but(cough)...anybody got tickets to Glenn Beck...or Hannity, etc.?
And while we're at it, what about (cough) visiting the MSM studios...to see their wonderful programs?
Well now you have done it. You have used one of my favorite lines from my very favorite movie to watch when home sick or depressed.
From this point forward you are a perfect individual and everything you say is the gospel for have such awesome taste.
For this to work, our representatives and senators have to give a crap about We The People. They don't so they won't be moved to give us affordable health care. They'll more likely be moved to rant that it's some kind of Obama conspiracy. Glenn Beck would LOVE IT!
I just purchased this movie at last saturday. It's semi-brilliant, but I like it because they filmed it near where I lived back then.
I'm passing the word, I think this is, in fact, scathingly brilliant.
This gets the Marvel-Ann Award for Scathingly Brilliant Ideas.
I had a first line supervisor, Bob, who made is bosses, Pete, orders pay off.
Pete said, "If your workers don't have anything to do, send to my office."
Bob, one day, loaded all 15 of his workers, tool boxes, tools and all in 2.5 ton trucks and sent to Pete's office.
Needless to say, Pete changed his orders. Soon after Pete was encouraged to take a job in a different location.
2 cases so far among People I Associate With Every Damned Day. Flu shots didn't get into town until yesterday, and I was among those blessed with an extra twenty bucks.
Our state legislator reputedly utilizes pneumococcus sputum to get rid of primary applicants and opposition (this from a very reliable source inside our mutual family). Since he's an MDeity, Deal may simply shunt them there. If he knows what's going on??
But it's still a lovely idea and I will pass it everywhere as a good gossip item.
Thank you for the great imagination. Someone's obviously been taking Hayduke lessons.
Thanks, Susie I loved that movie. Actually every Haley Mills movie - I wanted her to be my best friend.
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