Ten Things Obama Did Wrong on Health-Care Reform
By Susie Madrak Saturday Aug 08, 2009 3:00pmHelen's right, damn it. And look at Gibbs' deflection: "We've had a pretty good week." Sorry, Gibby, health-care reform is slowly slipping away. Don't just stand there.
Here are my thoughts on what the White House did wrong, in no particular order:
1) Obama outsourced the legislation to Congress instead of presenting it himself and working with them to write the details. He thought he'd outsmart the GOP by doing the opposite of the Clinton plan, but instead the bill is now lost on a sea of "compromise."
2) Bipartisanship. You just can't work with ideologues who refuse to operate in good faith. They're true believers, they will never give an inch. You'd think Obama would have picked up that little lesson while studying the Clinton era.
3) Blue Dogs. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi need to come up with new strategies, since kissing their collective Blue Dog butts only inflates their already-swollen egos. Someone (Obama?) should lay down the law. Put them in the worst offices, cut their staff budgets until they cooperate. Lyndon Johnson wouldn't be holding their hands.
4) Single payer. It would have been so much easier if we'd started with it. Hell, we might even have won - and it's simple enough that most people would understand. But whatever.
5) He should have come out fighting for the public option earlier this year. Instead, he let the opponents (and the insurance companies) define the public perception. BIG rookie mistake.
6) It's one thing to meet with relevant stakeholders (insurance companies, Big Pharma, etc.) It's another thing to trust them. (See Otter, "Animal House": "You f***ed up, you trusted me!")
7) He should have included a public advocate to speak for ordinary people in every healthcare meeting. (Hell, does he even HAVE a public advocate? Because he should. I'm available.)
8 ) Obama is just not good at explaining complicated things to ordinary people, especially when he's not working from a script. He drones on and goes off on tangents. He should use more surrogates, Michelle might have done a better job. Hell, Bo might have done a better job. (I understand the political reasons he didn't ask Bill Clinton, but that may have been a fatal error. The Big Dog would have sold the hell out of the healthcare plan.)
9) The President should have made it clear from the beginning that the main focus of this bill is to make life better for Americans. All that blah blah blah about "bending the cost curve" and "controlling costs" only fed the public paranoia about rationing. (All he had to do was compare the public option to the assigned risk pool for auto insurance, and they would have gotten it.) Yes, in one of his speeches, he talked about how the bill would give everyone security, but when you're selling something, you need to stay on message. He's given us so many reasons why we should support this bill, I can't even remember them all - and I'm actually paying attention!
10) Don't negotiate from the middle, damn it. Ask for the moon and stars, and work your way toward the middle, or risk people thinking you're a corporatist tool. (Ahem.)
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For health reform for Americans!!!!
But was a way to force All Americans to pay for insurance to the Health Empire so they could receive more funds for the huge CEO salaries and funds for the persons not paying for the services they were receiving free..
At the same time they could cut tests for Americans and force you into receiving the type of prescriptions they want you to have which would save them money..
This goes against the grain of most democrat leaders , but I am tired of illegal immigrants receiving our social programs FREE and our jobs while we are told that we would not work those jobs..
The BS about this is this corporate empire does not want to pay a honest wage for an honest day's work...
Every policies which has been passed in recent years especially the past 8 years ,,, Corporations have received back and more benefits and salaries increases then they have gained in the past 40 some years..
This is the game being played on Americans and it is now being done by Democrats and some in the Blue dog and centrists sheep clothing...
Why has Obama not RE-NEGOTIATED the free trade bill as he promised in his campaign trail along with reinstituting the cut welfare cuts which Bush's administration passed which has cost us many trillion of dollars in tax revenue why the Global Empire has illegally put it money in Illegal off shore account and no one cares.....
Why has he not stopped the war in Iraq to save so money...
Remember Russia stopped their war against when they started to go financially broke , yet we remain in the middle east which is destroying our economy and country still today...
To me the only change I see are some different names in the white house with the same U.S. policies which are pushing our citizens over a cliff which there is no return...
Again to me this looks like the 3rd term of the Bush/Cheney administration with NO TRANSPARENCY at all,..
See how Obama , Emanuel , Democrats are pulling all stops off not to investigate or prosecute Bush and his net of criminals from the past 8 years... Do you ever wonder just how many democrats were involved in the past criminal crimes..
this seems like a mandatory welfare program that requires everybody to shop a the company store and pay with company script. Just to complete the picture, I'm awaiting them to insert a provision that re-establishines debtor prisons.
... maybe she wants him to start getting his "Leo" on, and start leading already.
!
We'd have a chance if she were.
Man, I've been saying for 20 years now that you can't work with the Republicans, their greed will destroy any meaningful legislation and leave you with something broken that will never truely serve the American people.
Repugs don't care about the American people, they only care about pleasing their corporate handlers. - I wish the dems would realize what the republican party is all about and start acting appropriately. There is no room in America for a party like the repugs. I'm all for 3rd, 4th, 5th parties but we should not accept the corporate raider party as legitimate. - in that respect we should take a serious look at some of the democrats too.
Read Charles Pierce's new book, "Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free." Frank Thomas explained it on more of a state level with, "What's the Matter With Kansas." Palin says Obama wants to kill her Down's Syndrome child, Trig, Beck calls Obama a racist & offers a poisoned glass of wine to "Pelosi" on air, while Limbaugh essentially tells his white, male bigoted Ditto Heads to get rid of Obama the Hitler Wanna Be. Bill Moyers explained where we are: "Money ruined democracy." The American Corporate Party will write the watered down health care bill, as they did the Bankruptcy Bill & the Credit Card Bill. The American people have lost their democracy & many are cheering as it goes over the cliff.
on a ride at a carnival.
Nice overview.
Your analysis is identical to mine. Unless enough of the country pushes for campaign finance reform we'll be stuck in this mess forever. If the states weren't in such a financial mess, reform could happen at the LOCAL/STATE level. That's where change can happen - no in D.C.
It's about eliminating political rights of corporations. There is nothing in the US Constitution that mandates, or probably even allows, giving political rights to corporations. In other words, corporations should not be allowed to lobby -- i.e. give money to politicians. I have no problem if individuals (rather citizens) give, but corporations have no business participating in the political process.
Obama did one thing right . . .
He made certain we didn't have McCain/Palin.
He is no fool.
Watch for the results
But what you say about Obama could have been said about Bush.
He made sure we didn't get Kerry or Gore.
The results are what counts - and right now it doesn't look good for universal health care.
...but Obama also never showed enthusiasm for a good PHC plan, even when campaigning. He took plenty of Health Company cash as well.
He seems to be allowing the Blue Dog (yeller bellied) "Dems" a lot of power, as well as the "Centrist" Dem Senators. Perhaps he is doing this because this is where his sympathies are?
I don't think Pres. Obama is in favor of a Single Payer plan, or any Public Option. He seems to only want to feebly 'regulate' the insurance companies, which should have been done decades ago anyway.
Getting Public Health Care is up to us, the voters. On the bright side, 75% are in favor of it. If we get the Diluted Lame Ass bill it looks like we're heading for, those 75% are going to be very angry.
According to the latest Rasmussen poll, only 35% want gov health insurance, with 50% against and 15% undecided.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_conten...
80% of Canadians like their universal health care & they won't give it up.
not talking about Canada we are talking about the U.S.
practical experience with the system? I notice whenever you people think you have a BAD story about universal health care north of here, Canada is all you lot talk about. Even when it's made up.
US sez 76% of us want Universal Care, single payer, public option to compete with private sector, no disquallies for previe existing condition, care for ALL, care NOW, not insurance.
Insurance is of NO value if ya can't afford it!!!
Fuck insurance.
Yer killin me, yer quoting Rasmussen?
Please, do some research as to who he is, and who he gets paid by to DO his research.
He's the least reputable pollster out there, and the academics who TEACH that shit all concur, he's a shill. His polls are pure GOP spin.
If you know ANYTHING about polling stats, and polling processes, you'd know from his polls, if ya READ ANY OF THEM, that he's so biased he's sliced on the angle.
You people kill me, citing jive ass stats and crap like it was real research.
Yer just killin me with yer ignorance.
I call B.S. It all depends on what you mean by the term government health insurance, single-payer or public option. The facts are that the only problem with the health care system is that insurers have been allowed to interfere in a person's health care. Whatever you want to call the final product, the reform that every American (yes, every American) wants is that the health insurers not do anything but collect premiums and pay claims. No questions asked. And, the reason so many Americans want government run health insurance or not-for-profit health insurance is because the criminal enterprises that are called health insurers have proven themselves to be criminal and a failure for the American people. Enough said.
Look at Rasmussen's other polls. They are an arm of the Bush administration, like FOX.
Rasmussen dutifully serves the right wing and preferably wealthy propagandists.
Obama inherited so many things on his plate it's amazing if he can solve any of the fucked up problems the republicans created over the past 6 years. Now he's been in office 6 months and he's supposed to have fixed "everything?"
I am disappointed in the health care reform issue. Realistically I don't know how they could have flipped the system from almost totally capitalist to single payer. But I'm not happy with the current idea.
Here's my wishlist:
1) Single payer system. Get rid of private insurance altogether.
2) Copays and deductables based on income.
3) Annual out of pocket caps for copays and deductibles to protect the seriously ill.
4) A way to make sure the over-users of the system don't continue to over use, i.e. the copays and deductibles (I'm talking about the sort of people on Medicaid who call the ambulance to go to the ER because they have a rash. You know it happens.)
4) A way to protect good doctors from practicing cover-my-ass medicine so they don't order so many costly,and likely unnecessary tests in fear that they may be sued.
5) A way to make sure the dishonest or irresponsible doctors don't continue to do bad things.
I wish all this were easy to do.
I know of an ambulance driver/EMT who did this one night: As they must respond to all calls and honor all requests for a ride to a hospital, local drunks use the ambulances for rides into town. They get dropped off at the hospital, and then sneak out to get high, drunk, etc. One of the "frequent flier" drunks called for an ambulance ride, and when the EMT got to the parking lot of a mall where he was waiting for his free ride into town, she stopped her vehicle. As he got up to the door, she drove forward about twenty feet. He again walked up to the door, and she again drove forward about 20 feet. She continued this for the length of the parking lot. I love this story.
1) I don't want to get rid of private insurance, I'd rather the Gov not have a monopoly on anything. Although I might be able to get behind a Gov plan that was ran along the lines of the Post office, ie it must fund itself, no tax money. But without the regulations that make it impossible to compete in some areas, such as the Post office virtual monopoly on letters. By federal law they are the only ones that can deliver physical "communication", there is a clause that allows private companies to do so if it is "emergency communication" but they have to charge at least $3 or 3x the cost of first rate postage whichever is higher.
2) I don't agree. Should stores charge more for food because someone has more money? How about my water/sewage which is ran by my city gov, should the price per gallon depend on my income? Or the post office should you have to bring in your last years tax return to find out how much you have to pay for mailing a letter?
3) All the health insurance policies I've had have had that.
4a) Easy for the ER if your not admitted or treated for a serious injury/illness ie broken bones/stitches/extremely high fever/projectile vomiting,car accident etc. Anything that is not an emergency. You are responsible for the entire cost, insurance pays nothing.(And yes I know the type, I had some neighbors who took their daughter to the ER mid morning weekday because they didn't want to sit in the Dr. office. She had a fever of right around 100 and didn't "feel good" and had a runny nose. Then took her back to the ER a couple of hours later, because she still didn't feel good. Then took her to the Drs. because they thought the ER was rude the second time they went. This was all the same day)
4b) Easy make lawsuits for medical malpractice loser pays. Whoever loses the suit has to pay for the others legal fees, lost time, etc. If someone was actually harmed by the Dr. they would be willing to face the risk, but as it is now, people will file a lawsuit because of some BS reason, and their malpractice insurance will pay because its cheaper than fighting it.
5) All ready there the AMA, Medical review boards, lawsuits, etc.
As my dear Grandma Lizzie would say, "Your words to God's ears."
Every time the Republicans complain about the economy I think about how much worse it would have been with M/P.
Compromising with GOP children who FEAR change and are owned by big business.
If I perceive Obama as a corporatist tool, it's only because he is a corporatist tool.
If the majority of Americans want a single-payer system, the only thing that should be an issue should be a "private insurance option", instead of the lame-assed "public option" that these corporatists are are pushing as their fall-back position. The attempt to maintain or "reform" the corrupt and unworkable, not to mention unsustainable, insurance-based system we have is, to my thinking, just a slightly more polished public face of corruption than we have seen so far.
Instead of getting what the nation needs, we are instead going to have to go through a major electoral house cleaning. The only good thing about this fiasco, is that it has become unmistakenly clear who is a crook and who isn't. Regardless what these numbnuts put in place, there is nothing they can do that cannot be undone and put to right, once the crooks have been thrown out of office and replaced with people of integrity.
There is one other thing that, on the surface, may seem unrelated. I think it is important. He has thus far done absolutely nothing to reform the FCC to restore it to integrity. Thus, the propaganda networks are still getting away with not serving the public's interest, and they are still getting away with the most brazen and outrageous acts of defrauding the public ... and...they are using OUR airwaves and Our bandwidth to fo it. With few minor exceptions, these propagandists have deployed a full court press of lies and disinformation in assistance of a corporate agenda that means to defeat any meaningful healthcare reforms. Chalk this situation up as another failure of vision and leadership.
the corporations. Since when did the insurance industry and Big Pharma have the right to interfere in the workings of government? I know they do it, but what gives them the right to do it? Bribery? You can call it what you will, but it's still bribery and is at least immoral. And it is illegal, too. Those who profit from it are the ones who made it "legal." This cannot be tolerated. Read the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. When you get to the part that says, "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends [which is Government deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed] It is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...," you will know what we have to do. Wishy-washy whining, etc. will accomplish nothing. It's hardball time.
When the government becomes stubbornly, willfully and intractably unresponsive to the will of the People, from whom it derives its sole authority to exist and function, it kind of narrows the options, doesn't it?
Fight or flight. Those are the only two I can think of. Time to dismantle this almost totally corrupt government.
The whole thing is beginning to look like a lost cause.
So is Iceland. I can then safely watch this country implode.
... of all the places you could chose to go, that was exactly one of the places not to go ;-)
Republicans when they say, "We aren't going to raise taxes [on the wealthy].
We are the Party of the [wealthy] people.
Of the [wealthy], for the [wealthy] by the [wealthy].
The minority in America rules every facet of our live.
The minority are the wealthy.
We have become France in the 1700's and revolution is a handy tool.
to abolish it.....
It is the RIGHT AND THE DUTY....
Just WHERE are we going to find these "people of integrity" to take on the political positions currently held by Corporatist shills?
I am NOT holding my breath over this health care fiasco. I am two weeks away from being unemployed (and likely unemployable, since I'm 53), and probably less than two months away from being homeless (don't suggest that I ask my family for help--that's a big laugh). I have so many presenting health care issues, it's not a laughing matter. And, as a teacher, I have been saddled with a marginal, costly insurance option which requires over $600 each month to COBRA. Wait...maybe if I DID hold my breath, these issues would be moot in oh, about five minutes?
There will always arise people to fill that void. If crooked politicians are in the process of being thrown out of office, there is usually somebody ready to step i and do the job the way it should be done. Then, there are organizations like Blue America, which have a pretty good record ofsupporting or encouraging candadates who seem to get it. As voters grow more pissed off and dissatisfied with business as usual, I see the role of such organizations becoming ever more important and influential. And, there are a good number of politicians who do have integrity: Kucinich, Gravel, Feingold, Sanders, Waters, even people like Cindy Sheehan and so on. I would also hope that some of the crooks, whose only dedication is their own immediate self-interests would adapt, doing whatever it takes to stay in office, as they see other of their colleagues being tossed out of office for their failure to represent the People....when it sinks in that the People are well and truly pissed off, who knows...some may suddenly see the light.
You know, you sound like the kind of person I would feel good voting for. Have you thought about running for office? That would be one person of intergrity right there.....
BTW, if it looks like you are going to end up homeless, contact me here. I have room for you and yours for as long as you need it.
an enormous thank you, Paul! Your response is the very reason why I don't take my own whinging seriously. You are precious to be so kind. And, I cling to the knowledge that there are many, many more people like you (and, dare I say, me) out there, being the points of light we so desperately need right now at this critical juncture in our species' evolution.
I am a macro-level gal, Paul. I've always looked at the big picture. At this stage of my life, I recognize that our entire species is in the throes of a major socio-cultural shift, but we are having a tough time seeing the forest instead of the trees. Our species' evolution is exponential now! I think our wee brains are having a tough time with that essential adjustment. But, we WILL adjust and I am confident we'll succeed.
More and more of us are adjusting, and grasping the 'bigger picture.' In fact, the Global Internet Community (We The People--ALL of us) is metamorphosing our Body Politic faster than Corporatist-driven propagandists can keep up. Increasing numbers of us are getting clear about corporatism and its myriad shills, e.g. Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN... They cannot stop us--the fact that they're ramping up their attacks is proof positive that We The People represent a real threat to their hegemony.
Here's what I think the Corporatists are now struggling to maintain: as long as We The People continue to swallow the bipartisan red herrings promulgated by the majority of our media and corrupt politicians, they know we will squander our collective energy on hate and fear, rather than finding solutions to the myriad issues we are facing. But, the Corporatists are no longer so sure about their bipartisan red herrings, so they are now striving to usurp and define our incipient revolution (witness the tea-baggers and the astroturf phenom). The question is, are we going to let them succeed?
Frankly, I don't think so. Americans from all political persuasions--and people from every country on this planet-- are coming together to address our species' immediate challenges. We are seeing this 'gathering' of We The People in its most embryonic stage, with the Internet becoming the most critical tool for effecting change. It is an exhilarating time, Paul, and I am thrilled to be witnessing it!
BTW, as a teacher, I am humbled by my responsibility to gently, but effectively encourage in my students the personal courage they'll need to reach their own full potential. My advocacy for my students is my primary 'giving back' at present. I share information and resources, and respect my students' own strengths and goals. It is not my place to tell them what to do or how to do it, but to celebrate their unique and amazing contributions to this unique and amazing Global community.
Thanks for listening, Paul. And, thanks for being so willing to offer help as I struggle to remain viably employed.
Thanks, for your kind words, too. Serious offer.
You have hit the nail on the head as regards our collective evolution. It's a we vs. me spiritual thing, as I see it. I suppose there was a time when a competitive nature served as a boon to our survival as a species... somewhere back around the time we came out of the trees and emerged into the savannahs. But that no longer serves us now; the impulse to compete is now only a remnant of the animal portion of our dual nature as human beings, and that impulse ill-serves us. If we cling to such things, it's only going to keep us on a probable path that leads to our eventual extinction. I think that we are all living through a process of learning co-operation as a replacement strategy and collective behavior. It is a process that needs to be seen through to completion.
The current problem is that, in the collective, the hieghts to which we can rise to are somewhat determined and limited by the resistance of those who don't want to change. The inertia that is created by the sociopaths of our society, the malignant and the self-serving opportunists must be overcome. But, it's always been that way. In the course of a single lifetime, it's difficult to see, but if you look over the long, long-term - over thousands of years - you can see that there has been steady progress....however halting it may at times have been.
The people who are fighting to maintain what is corrupt and harmful to the whole are evolutionary and spiritual throwbacks. They are too lost in, or wedded to, the animal in themselves...so much so that they seem incapable of even recognizing their own self-interests. It seems to me that when people make a life's work of indulging that degraded nature, they reduce themselves to a station that is lower than actual animals, the beasts in the field (at least the simple beast of the wild will demostrate such things as altruism). Witness the degradation of those, for example, who are fighting the establishment of a just healthcare system...or anything else that is based in justice, for that matter. It is astonishing that anybody, except those who are equally degraded, would lend them an ear or give them the time of day. As has always been the case, though, we are in a position where it is necessary to evolve or die. Our technology and our collective ability to change the planet has made it so. We can destroy ourselves by indulging collective willful ignorance and selfishness or we can rise above that and see a new day. I suspect that it's going to get somewhat darker before the sun finally comes up.
As it sometimes happens, every once in a while the throwbacks, the malign and the evil attain to their day in the sun and, for a short time, achieve control of the world about them. It never lasts....they always, always, self-destruct. Seemingly, the fewer the external restraints that are imposed on them, restraints which would impede their indulgence of their dark, animal natures, the sooner it is that they destroy themselves. That notwithstanding, while they have the power to act, they create a world of hardship and troubles for everyone around them. No doubt about it. We are in a period like that right now in this country. Hopefully, we may be seeing the first glimmerings of emerging from such a state. Given that, consider the strange idea that hardships and troubles actually have a good side in that they make us need each other. Our collective need can keep us centered, or re-center us if we've become distracted with inanities or evils that, in the whole, only dissipate our energies. If we arise to see to the need, we can shine and grow; our need can, if we let it, when we otherwise would resist rising to the occasion, serve as a driver to make us want to find ways to rise above that which would tend to make us stagnate or devolve. That is a good thing, I think, because those are the times when we - as a we entity - do most of our growing. I believe we are now at such a threshold. Evolution, so it appears, seems to happen in spurts of change.
We are one. One world. One People.
Hang in there, friend chervilant.
Obama can pass this through the reconciliation process now and don't have to worry about the blue dogs.
He only needs 50 votes on the matter I"m no ready to give up on the guy when there's still some fight in em
I will hold on until I know its a done deal. Hell, we haven't even seen the final markup on legislation yet. Many mistakes have been made, but that does not mean these mistakes cannot be corrected. For all I know, Obama is playing one of the greatest games of chess seen in Washington. I hope he is holding back and watching all the hands being played before he plays his hand. Many of the mistakes Susie points out are the same kinds of mistakes made in the past. I have to think some of these have been deliberate as Obama moves his pons into position.
By the way, reconciliation should be used ONLY as a last resort. If they do attempt this, it will be critical for Democrats to get 60 votes to bypass the Byrd Rule. Otherwise, the Republicans will cut the hell out of the bill by removing any provisions where the fiscal consequences are “merely incidental” to the true intent of the legislation.
that Obama was not what he was promised to be (i.e. a liberal/progressive for change) and to give him some time. Well, have we given him time enough or should the 40%, or higher, of America who consider themselves liberal/progressive should stop supporting him, and the best way to do that is to DEMAND THE ELIMINATION OF PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE.
By the way, I have always maintained that government run health care (or not-for-profit health insurance) would look no different than that which exists today except the private health insurance companies would cease to exist. They would be shell companies that simply collect premiums and pay claims. They would have no ability to deny coverage, etc. That's all the reform this nation needs. Of course, if Americans want to regulate the cost of prescription drugs, then that too is their right. And, if anyone is worried about the cost, then that's not a problem. We, as a nation, must figure how much it costs and pay for it. If that requires ending the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan or cutting the military budget or even, gasp, raising taxes on those who have wealth in excess of $5 million (yes, it's an arbitrary number). then so be it. In fact, I am for seizing wealth rather than simply taxing income. I find it un=American and un-Constitutional that some in America live like kings while the rest live like slaves. For instance, is it really true that Michael Jackson will continue to earn money after death. There is something seriously, seriously wrong with a dead man earning more than anyone who is alive. If you don't understand why, then I think you need to go back to school and get a real education.
You can only change bits and pieces of healthcare through reconciliation - and the Republicans can still bottle it up. It's either the full Senate, or only minor changes.
I'm wondering if it's a lost cause, since Obama seems obsessed with getting the Republicans to like him....
Obama should have done to the Republians what GW Bush did to the Democrats, and that is shut them out and ram through legislation...
And if the Republicans are unahppy, then tough shit....
Remember how the Republicans totally excluded the Democrats, and Rush and his ilk thumbed their nose at us?
it's that they ALL serve the same master. Corporate America.
The Drug and Health Insurance CEOs should not be sitting at the bargaining table.
They should be on their way to prison, having forfeited their ill gotten gain.
Corporations should only be allowed to exist and do business when they benefit the public. Otherwise their right to exist should be terminated, with possible civil and criminal liability for the CEOs and Board members.
I'll 2nd that motion.
Time to repeal the legislation that gives corporations "individual" status.
If We the People don't get a clue about this asap, we deserve what's coming down the pike.
If the Obama administration were to come to their senses, they could easily win this one. Obama can say now that he gave Congress a chance and they blew it. He can also say that having watched what is going on, it's clear that people are worried about all the details of the compromised legislation slithering its way through Congress. The solution he can propose is to take the well-known, tried-and-true solution, Medicare and turn it into Medicare-For-All. This would be a bold step and one that would be hard to oppose since anything thrown at it is also thrown at Medicare. Also Medicare-For-All could help out the looming financial problems with 65+ Medicare. By adding lots of younger, healthier folks into the program the cost per insured will go down.
Will Obama be bold enough to do this? Things seem to be getting out of hand and when things get bad enough, Obama can be the visionary and peacemaker by saying "Enough!" and making this proposal. They can even claim that this is just another of their n-dimensional chess moves!
I was just thinking about how to say exactly that.
Thanks!
Summary of HR676:
List of CoSponsors
Nice summary.
Consistently reminding us of a piece of legislation that is COMING UP FOR A FULL HOUSE DEBATE/VOTE IN SEPTEMBER!!! Conyers H.R. 676..."Medicare for All".
The only hope we have, as a country, to achieve affordable, comprehensive health care for EVERY American that is affordable and will help us heal our economic troubles AND the health of our citizens.
I like it!
has Obama ever been bold?
who arrested Gates had, "Acted stupidly."?
right after saying that statement really solidifies that as a "acting bold"
Especially against a very formidable primary challenger.
*cough* George Bush *cough*
NO!
Don't hold your breath! Obama has no spine! I have yet to see him be "bold" on anything of importance. And he has already caved in to the pharmaceutical industry on price negotiation . They are thrilled about that and will now "campaign" for his side. (Sure, they want the 49 Million more uninsured bodies!) In addition, Obama is scolding liberals for condemning Blue Dogs for being against the public option. How's that for being "bold?"
Where were all these trolls protesting around the country when boosh came up with that prescription plan?
so he could do no wrong...
The corporate interests instigating the trolls now are the same corporate interests that told them Medicare D - the great gift to the pharmaceutical industry - was a Gift from God then.
My understanding is the insurance companies want the part of medical reform that requires all to carry medical insurance, but they don't want guaranteed care including pre-existing conditions, or the public option.
insurance from them with no regulation whatsoever. Not just medical insurance, either. Big Pharma benefits from Medicare Pt. D, and they want that made mandatory, too. That's a two'fer for them: More insurance AND more toxic drugs from China forced down the throats, literally in one respect, of the American public. The government makes out on this one, too, because if you do not buy the mandatory insurance, they fine you and take the money for the fines from your tax refunds or even your pay from your job.
Essentially, the insurance companies are trying to do to the nations health care the same things that the banks and Wall Street did to the credit and the economy of the nation, too big to fail, fast and enormous profits amidst looming collapse.
And that's what decimates Obama's lame argument about he not wanting to consider single payer or social medicine - his claim that he doesn't want to "disrupt" a sector that represents 1/6 of the economy. The problem with that line of BS is that this so-called sector creates no wealth, as do real businesses...they only parasitize the wealth that has been created by others through their sweat and the expenditure of their irreplaceable life's energy. The insurance industry's position and status as a factor in the economy is artificial and would not be missed if they go out of business. HR-676 makes prvisions for those who would lose their jobs as insurance companies go out of business, not to mention that most of those people, at least the working stiffs, could be absorded as government employees who wold administer the new system, drawing better pay and benefits. As for the executives, board members, directors, crooked politicians like the Bribe-o-crats and the like, there always seems to be room available in our federal prison system. I'm all for giving them a nice, secure and worry-free life in that system.
That dumb smile that he has when he is looking at Helen Thomas.
So patronizing.
He doesn't respond to what she is saying.
The repubs are getting away with every talking point they're throwing at Obama.
I have to conclude that the White House and the dems don't really care.
From what I read, they already sold us down the river to the drugs companies and the insurance lobbies.
The reason Obama drones on and gets lost, as you say, is because he doesn't know what to say.
His head and heart are in single-payer. That's simple. No problem. No way to get lost.
But his ambition sold out to the insurance companies. The bad guys are running the show and they shouldn't even be at the table. This should not be about profit. And that is all it is about at present.
So Obama gave Helen Thomas a couple of cupcakes.
But they are not taking her, or us, seriously.
...is why I think Obama is going to be a one-termer, along with several freshman Reps and Senators who campaigned as progressives but are turning out to be shills.
And if he is a one-termer, then we get a Republican again just in time to undo any possible progress before the 2013 deadline for the insurance reforms hit. This is insane.
I that that happening because he loses a primary to a ticket of candidates who actually will represent the People. Like, a Sanders/Dean, Dean Sanders, Kucinich/Sanders and so on. Obama being a one-termer doesn't automatically mean that a GOPer is going to be the next president. The GOPers are devolving into a regional party, and I think that a failure to deliver a meaningful healthcare system is only going to accelerate the process of them becoming irrelevent.They have become so insular that they appeal to too small a segment of the population to be significant players.
No doubt Limbhog, Hannjob & Becky are in a three way circle jerk right now trying to see which can come up with the biggest lie about this to feed their idiot followere on Monday
I call him rash limpballs.
over here
-are working from scripts written to benefit their Owner's wishes. Rush, Lamebog, Hannity, especially Glen are too stupid and unimaginative, ga-ga to think up stories and lies they spray around like an agricultural sprinkler.
ive been listening to rush and hannity quite a bit these days. its quite exasperating. i find myself yelling at the radio in my car quite a bit. rush is full of gems and i'm convinced that he is actually riffing quite a bit. the others i agree they lack imagination.
a few weeks ago in response to a caller who said that bush started the bailouts rush stated that (paraphrasing, read in the voice of rush) "obama called bush and told him to do it and bush only did it as a conciliatory gesture to the incoming president" i LOL'd since when do republicans bow to the will of their enemies...since when did the sociopath bush give a shit about anyone?! EVER?!
Helen had Gibbs on the ropes. Gibb's taking the sip of water spoke volumes. Little dry mouth there Gibbs?
Why aren't there more reporters like Helen Thomas?
She is the only serious one of the lot it seems.
The rest seem like vacant little mannequins trying to advance their careers at our expense.
After this question Helen will be sitting in the back at the next press conference ....if not the broom closet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COqUjfrB8dI
Sounds like a good start, though I would add threatening Max Baucus (my senator) with tazing on a daily basis.
.
Of course, mistakes were made. That's normal...and there were probably less than usual in this case.
But even if there hadn't been ANY mistakes made or missteps...the Radical Republican Fringe Terrorists would have found plenty to rally around. They're experts (perhaps their only talent) at finding obscure details and blowing them up into nuclear mushroom clouds with lies, screaming, and scare tactics.
This time, though...I think they're going too far and it will backfire. Video/youtube is showing America exactly how much these radicals hate America and democracy. Too many Americans have wised up after The Bush Disaster.
seriously these guys are acting like my cat when i tried to give him antibiotics. he spit out the medicine, attacked me, and then ran and hid because he thought i was trying to kill him :(
its fucking medicine people, ya need it
When he stumbled, she listed all the items he could start debunking. Then told him to get a move on it.
His response left me dumbstruck. (not in a good way).
left me with the same sick feeling I used to get from the Bush press conferences.
From NYTimes by way of CommonDreams:
Obama Reverses Stand on Drug Industry Deal
Alternatively the NY Times was initially misled by the drug industry lobbyists who trumpeted that Obama hadn't deserted them, which could have been a political move by the lobbyists to dispirit their opposition - us.
C&L posted the original NY Times article and we all (me too!) dissed Obama for deserting us. Next day Huffington Post contacted the White House and the White House disavowed the Drug Dealers statement.
And now the NY Times states that Obama has been forced by Congressional Dems to change his position.
Whichever it is, it is good news.
And if it IS that the Congressional outcry made him change his position, then all the better.
Because that means what WE need to do now is pressure our Congress Critters to do the right thing.
HR676 !!
I'm not at all convinced that Obama has reversed his gift to the drug lobby. I'm not even sure he has the power to reverse the deal. He didn't even want us to know about it.
Why did he make this deal in the first place?
If the only source for 'the deal', is lobbyists, how can we know what really happened?
I have never been an Obama fan, but it doesn't seem reasonable to believe he made a 'deal' with Big Pharma because their lobbyists said so.
It's like when Johnny Carson was talking retirement, Jay Leno's agent planted an article stating that NBC had offered Jay the replacement position, it was a lie, but it worked. the same could be true here.
Then they denied it. Which time were they lying?
are "Corporate Bought" and they are in fact addressing the funding crisis and paying of health care in terms of a persons "Productivity Value" and "Investment Value".
You have a 60 year old person with a chronic illness for example so they are weighing who get's, say $100,000 for life saving treatment.
The 60 year old with little "productive value" left or the 38 year old Lockheed Areospace engineer who needs it.
"Medical Ethics" the next generation.
No they are NOT. You are full of shit.
This is an outright lie.
factually ignorant things on these boards that I am wondering if you are mentally ill.
I disagree with point number one. He did exactly the right thing by not repeating Clinton's mistake of trying to impose a plan on Congress. He let them "try" to draft a plan, and now they've ended up with a bag full of clusterf-cked bills containing hundreds of amendments and vapid compromises that EVERYBODY hates.
What he SHOULD do now is, while Congress is in recess, DRAFT HIS OWN BILL and present it to them when they get back. Draft a much smaller, simpler bill containing all the good points from the ones currently before Congress, and none of the bad/stupid points that were put there just for the sake of compromise. Include simple statements, like "Title 123, subtitle 345: 'no government agency can ration healthcare" etc., do deal with the ridiculous RNC talking points, etc.
If he does this, it'll make him look better than if he'd started out drafting his own bill. If he doesn't do this, then I'll agree that it was a huge mistake to let Congress draft the bills.
Haven't you heard? It's gone from "healthcare reform" to "health insurance reform."
The word insurance was left in there because it keeps things sounding status quo to the idiots. It doesn't matter what the reality is, this is about gaming the GOPers and the corporate media shills.
Sadly, the corporate media shills are winning, and you're bitching MORE about Obama than you are about them.
Yup Susie, it's not the lying scum on the right, or their enablers in the media, it's all Obama's fault. If only he was as smart and crafty as you, he'd have everyone eating from his hand by now.
He should smack them in the face with single payer. That solves the money problem the access problem, and everything else anyone has bitched about. Especially the monopoly the insurance industry has had for far too long. I would not put up with this kind of behavior from children. I will NOT tolerate it from adults. Enough. Sometimes, you must lower yourself to the enemies level in order to win. This is one of those times.
any plan should be drafted for the next century, not a rush job in order to line the greedy pockets of the top 0.5 % of wealthy Americans who care only about their mansions, toys and the "fun'' they can have on their lavish vacations and playing out their extravagant lifestyles on the few years they have left on the planet.
The United States is going to remain the only first world country where greed governs access to health care. Why? Because the voters are too effing stupid to know that their senators, particularly their senators, are a lying bunch of bastards who work for their corporate masters and only pretend to care about the people once every six years.
without some kind of flexible health care system because insurance and drugs are multi-billion dollar industries intent on protecting their profits and monopolies by any means necessary. And the GOP is their wholly-owned subsidiary, with the Dems right in there with them apparently.
The Republicans are openly greedy and the Dems use "bipartisanship" as cover for their greed.
We are living in a country which has its' two political parties beholden to the same corporate interests.
People who vote are doing so because they think one or the choices is less bad than the other.
Obama was God and McCain was the Devil. Palin was the witch of the west, and Biden was... well...whatever.
Most people know this to be true. We are not too stupid to know this. But what course of action do you propose? Most people are afraid of revolution.
that they get. Being a sissy gets you kicked.
People who vote are doing so because they think one or the choices is less bad than the other.
They vote because they're under the delusion that there is actually a choice between tweedle dee and tweedle-dum.
No one who manages to make it to the level of serious presidential contender, in whatEVER "party," has already proven to the "OWNERS" that they are gonna be reliable stewards of the hegemony!
Gay-ron-FUCKIN'-Teed, cheah...
The American People should be more afraid of NOT having a revolution!!!
Remember...all revolution means is, "CHANGE". (A dirty word in most "capitalist" circles).
To quote Malcolm X: "Revolutions are bloody".
Police and guardsmen will open fire on protesters if the protesters leave the cages that the government will set up for them.
Revolutions are unruly.
They can't be contained.
I'm not saying that we aren't due for one.
I'm just saying that we shouldn't be naive about the consequences.
He should have started with a strong demand for single payer and negotiated from there. His starting point was something that I could have barely supported as a compromise
and the fact we have to "negotiate" at all in this country over something like health care say's a lot about the current state of things also.
You don't "negotiate" the welfare of your people and citizens for starters.
They do of course but you understand my point.
Obama touts single payer in 2003
What he said we needed was for dems to take the House and the Senate and the White House.
They did that.
So what happened?
They all sold us out.
He should have STARTED with single payer. Easy to understand. Then talk about improving lives for everybody without increasing costs.
and that fact alone is what may have killed the insurance reform act...which is really how it should have been presented
health care doesnt need to be reformed...how we pay for it does
... one of the first things to go is a system that adds 40% overhead with absolutely no value proposition to health care cost for business (and individuals).
Don't buy into their framing, it is bullshit. During an economic crisis it is the exact right time to pass reform which covers everyone and streamlines business costs to boot.
Exactly WHY Big Business never lobbied the government for relief on health care decades ago, for just the reason you state.
Is that except for those in the VA system, Medicaid or Medicare NO ONE HAS ANY HEALTH INSURANCE.
Let's say you have a job with insurance. And you lose your job. Then your COBRA times out and you have no new job. No insurance.
Or you have a pre-existing condition: No insurance.
Or you have your own private insurance and for what ever reason you cannot pay the premium. You have no insurance.
Or you've run over the limit to your policy and they cut you off. No more insurance.
You get the idea.
That's the nutty thing about all this. Those who do NOT have government paid insurance, for all intents and purposes have NO INSURANCE.
Just sayin'.
who paid BC/BS for 45 years and had her policy terminated after she got too sick in their estimation.
No joke.
#11. Not adopting Republican Party Boss Limbaugh's idea of bipartisanship.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OrDo0K3VFc
The problem with your statement it that without real healthcare reform, the U.S. will not remain a first world country.
I would like to hear one way we are "first world." Seriously.
There is no uniform definition of "first world".
The World Bank uses economics to categorize 66 countries as high income, US is a 1st based on average income.
The IMF says only 33 countries are "first world" as "advanced economies".
Industrialization is also another 'first world' indicator, as is technology.
I read once that the US is a 'first world' country because the govenment provides public education to all citizens. I guess the quality of the education isn't a factor.
For me, I think the US is 'first world' only because most of us have electricity and running water, but it is a false premise because we all live in the same world, whether we like it or not. ;o}
The way I see it, we are rapidly devolving into a neo-feudal society. But that was always the point and purpose of trickledown economics. Just new packaging for an old idea.
the US will revert back to its earlier colonial status.
.
I don't know whether it's the nature of the job, the nature of the people who are chosen to do the job, or a combination of the two, but Gibbs gives me the creeps. Surely, there must be a Democrat out there who is articulate and doesn't seem so sleazy.
I appreciate Helen trying to get a message through to Obama about what a poor job he's done on health care, but I suspect the wall of presidential self-confidence may be too high (and dense) to be overcome or penetrated.
Obama thought that giving her a few cupcakes would quiet her down.
Paying attention to what she has to say would be have been a real gift.
Be sure your retrospectoscope is available — nobody else has one apparently.
Besides being whingers and slactivists, what are you commenters doing to help?
to remind the kettle how black it is.
LOL.
I'm jis cleanin' my trusty, old 1911, US issue .45cal semi-automatic sidearm. A damn fine piece, but it needs reblued.
How, bouchew, cully? What are you doing?
(and what are you wearing? I'm just wearing shorts...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxEUlh6rytI&fe...
He inspired during the campaign, he brought the best in people and made people understand that more than never, we are being tested as to what we stand for. Are we just a nation who brags about it's military capability or a nation who brags about it's values? A country that care about the weak not only in words, but understand the needs of many? Are we just sucessful economically because wall street does good or because Americans are happier and prospering, not only financially but also having a better quality of life.
We understood it all, we fought for it, and as soon as he took over, it felt as if we had him for almost 8 years and he was a sitting duck. Where are the inspiring speeches? Where are the crowds? Just words? It's disapointing that Hillary could be right about that. It's just words. And they don't matter, Mr. Obama.
And let me mention that health care reform has absolutelly no impact on my life. I have great health care, dental and vision. I don't pay a single cent for glasses or dental services. My co pay is $20 bucks for a doctor visit and my total expenses for the delivery of my son was less than $300 dollars.
It's not about me, it's about my neighbors, it's about people I never seen their faces or will ever hear their names. And it's a disappointment, because health care should be a right, not a privilege. Politicians are concerned about the next elections rather than taking care of those who elected them. This is really fucked up, I'm tired.
Actually, I don't think we need inspiring speeches.
We need Obama to lay out a plan for sweeping health care reform, draw some lines in the sand, and then get out among the people and explain why the plan is good and necessary. At the same time, he needs to sit down with the Democrats in Congress and convince them that passing Republican-approved health care reform legislation is not in the best interests of the people or the politicians. Letting the Congress write this legislation without adult supervision was a terrible idea, unless Obama has always been aiming for a piece-o'-crap bill that could pass easily.
Recently, C&L posted a video of Obama being asked by an elderly woman about euthanasia. Obama's answer was horrendously bad. If he had practiced trying to blow the answer, I doubt if he could have done worse.
Obama needs to counter -- personally and through surrogates -- every one of the lies that the Wingers are spewing. People don't need lofty rhetoric, they need frank answers that inform them and set their minds at rest. When a scared old woman asks him about euthanasia, she doesn't need a botched, half-assed joke, followed by some rambling verbiage. I was astounded, because it seemed like Obama was completely unprepared to answer such a question. How out of touch can he be? The woman needed an answer that acknowledged (through its content) that she is ill-informed and probably not very intelligent, but that demonstrated through its tone and delivery that she deserved to have her fears addressed directly and honestly. That's the kind of communication we need now.
... I get the distinct impression that Obama is still in campaign mode, and he still does not realize he won the election and that he does not need to campaign any more. He seems to have botched slightly the process of moving from "speechifying" to "creating and implementing the policy described in the fore mentioned speechifying."
campaigning is all he knows how to do.
Off to Martha's vineyard for a nap.
Dang your co pay is more than my neighbors with no insurance, their Dr. charges on a sliding scale for people with no insurance, with their income they pay $15, glasses they do pay more than you though I think for their son including exam and polycarbonate lenses(required in my state for minors) I think was $60-75? and that was with nice frames, their the ones that will flex instead of bend, they also took payments.
Well, my monthly is less than 36 bucks a month for myself, my wife and son, because of the nature of my job. I can't say more than this, but as I mentioned, it's not about us.
The search for perfection is the enemy of the practical solution. Those who feel that everything has to be perfect before passing a reform bill are its worst enemies. Pass a bill with the goal of expanding coverage and controlling costs now. Evaluate the results, then pass additional legislation (or write regulations) later to fix the parts that need fixing. Social Security wasn't perfect when first passed, but it established the principle of retirement security. Establish the principle of health security now!
PASS IT NOW - PERFECT IT LATER!
If any bill were to be passed by the spineless cowards democrats, it would be a watered down version that would have absolutely no impact on expanding coverage and controlling costs and would give neocons the perfect weapon on how our ideas and principles are useless and how deceiving we are.
Because any bill at all opens the door for later. What I'm concerned about is that we're preparing to settle for crumbs after being promised real reform, something that should have been the centerpiece of the new administration - and that will surely affect the midterms in a major way.
I'm getting the distinct impression that there's no firm hand on the wheel.
I agree with you. We control the White House, Senate and House by a 60% majority, and yet we don't get the votes, how come? We may have a majority, what we don't have is leadership, guts and will to do the right thing. The democratic party is made up from a bunch of no good punks, from the oval office down to the House. No exception, none. I see no difference between this presidency and Bush. Maybe one: Bush had more guts than Obama. And if anyone knows me, they know how long I have been asking people for patience and understanding with the Obama adm.
Just one example will suffice...
"I think the President's had a pretty good week. We'll take this week."
As if they had a choice.
But think about it: there was no bad press about him all week. Sotomayor was appointed, the DOW is over 9,000, the rate of job loss is supposedly slowing, Iraq is off the front page. Bush would have killed for a week like that.
Perception is everything. We're beyond screwed.
Single payer or nothing, period.
Blue dogs are a free target, they've gotten enough in bribes already.
Impeachment now, Obama owns this war. 6 months of murder is 6 months too many. I heard that crap when Nixon strung out his war until just 1 or 2 weeks before reelection.
A good easily proven impeachment.
NO war, SINGLE payer or impeachment, simple enough?
1
so Republican my frien.
let's stay on message
You are so right! I knew I was in trouble when Paul Krugman said "all the health care bills in Congress deal with four basic things," and I didn't know what they were! (I had to go re-read his column. As you undoubtedly know, they're regulation, mandates, subsidies, and competition.)
I think the biggest mistake so far has been to send mixed messages. "You can keep your current doctor if you want....the same greedy jerk who removes your tonsils for no reason. If you like your current health insurance, you can keep it...but insurance companies are destroying families and the economy." Are we facing a health care crisis, a Katrina, a tsunami? Or will everything be fixed if we take the blue pill instead of the red pill? I'm so confused.
You nailed everyone. When was the last time Obama or any democrat ever defined any issue? NEVER
As long as the FCC allows corporate fascist liars to twist and spin even the most basic word definitions and meanings in order to incite the imbecile strata of our population, nothing is going to change.
If these psychotic teabagger morons and the gun nuts didn't have Limpballs (and the rest of his ilk) carpet bombing them 24/7 with bigot bullshit, these assholes wouldn't be nearly so unhinged.
But corporations own everything, so I don't expect to see any change until the people demand it. The democrats; useless!
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