Recently in Health Reform Category

Well, I will be damned! The DCCC put out a good ad.

MB over at BBWW:

I think if someone had showed up with a laser pointer in the House gallery and pointed it at the wall, we could have distracted the entire Republican caucus throughout the entire debate.

Snap!

Kevin Drum

He recounted all the grief he and his family went through while work on their kitchen renovation dragged on and on and on. "During that time, I had blood lust against my contractor," Inslee said. "Six months went by, and he was still arguing with the plumber. Eight months went by, and there were still wires hanging down everywhere, and he was having trouble with the building inspector."

But eventually, the job got done. "And now I love that kitchen," Inslee recalls saying. "I bake bread in that kitchen. My wife cooks great meals in that kitchen. The contractor's now a buddy of mine, and I've had beers with him in that kitchen."

Inslee looked at his colleagues and declared: "We've got to finish the kitchen." His point was that Americans won't experience any of the benefits of health-care reform until Congress puts a new system in place.

I called Inslee about his kitchen oration after Rep. David Wu (D-Ore.) told me it was one of the turning points in calming Democrats' nerves. "Now," Wu says, "people run into him in the hallway, smile and say, 'Finish the kitchen.' "

I have to admit, this makes me feel hopeful. Why? I do not know. Still, it does do a fine job of pointing out how the emotions of the moment do not necessarily define the outcome of the moment.

Hot Dish Politics

Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann stopped by the state Capitol on Monday to pitch some proposed ground rules for the national debate over health care reform.

 

At a news conference, Bachmann unveiled the "Declaration of Health Care Independence," which will be formally released Wednesday.

 

"We are rejecting politics as usual in Washington D.C. in dealing with this health care issue," said Bachmann, a Republican.

Proposing ground rules at this point in health care reform is like the refs showing up for the game after the clock has run out.

Sometimes there's crazy, which makes sense in a headline grabbing sort of way. Then there is the above move by Bachmann, which is just plain stupid. Dumb ass stupid.

Okay, you managed along most of your bills through congress. However, what you did not do is lead. The President Of The United States needs to lead, not manage. You have safely guided your various agenda bills through the house and senate. At no time did you show courage by taking a risk.

Now, as your closest advisers tell you to move towards the center; as they tell you to become even more dedicated to bi-partisanship; as they whisper to you to be cautious: tell them all to go to helI.

It is time for you to do a 180. They did not like health care reform as negotiated? Then throw the whole damn thing out and demand pure universal health care. Not universal health insurance, or single payer, but national health care.

Stop playing their God damned game, sir. Go out, take charge, set the tone. You have been led. Hell, you allowed yourself to be led. Now, cowboy up. Throw caution to the wind. Push for what you deem to be impossible, take the ridicule and derision and lead this country, Damn It.

Once again, congress has shown it's inability to recognize failure. Any compromise -- despite assurances from many intelligent and educated progressive bloggers -- that eliminates a public option will only drag out the suffering and death our current health care system allows.

I understand there are times for the long view. But when peoples lives are at stake, it is time to pull your head out of the future and deal with the immediacy that exists today.

Of how big a jack ass Pawlenty really is.

(Star-Tribune) Facing a big loss of state health-care funds, Hennepin County Medical Center plans to stop seeing uninsured, non-emergency patients from outside the county, cut 150 to 200 jobs and close two small clinics on its campus.

And this is just one of many hospitals and clinics that will have to cut jobs. At a time when unemployment is having the most impact on the economy, to cut funding, causing more job loses is equivalent to old fashion mid-evil medical blood letting.

It is the one character flaw that has dogged me my whole life. In many ways it is part of the addiction I have worked hard to overcome. Basically, I have always wanted what I wanted, when I wanted it, and I want it right damn now.

The battle for Health Care Reform has exposed this same underlying character flaw in the United States. While some cooler heads in congress have patiently, and diligently, worked the political currents of Washington, most of the nation outside the beltway have been screeching and howling about not having single payer universal health insurance as of last decade. One of the reasons I have done very little blogging about health care reform -- other than noting some articles --  is because I recognize this is a long-term change for the country. It is a battle of inches, not yards.

Anyway, after all the noise, hair-pulling, and general all-around shrilling is done, there will be a new direction for health care in this country. At this time, I have to accept I am without health care. I also will have to accept it may be possible I never receive the level of coverage I was accustomed to back 5 to 10 years ago. However, I do believe that future generations after me will eventually receive a level of coverage that I never experienced. I am okay with that.

Yes, the selfish part of me desires universal single payer coverage as of October 5th, 1961, but it is not going to happen. But at least I can rest easy in knowing a change is occurring. It is just that it is not occurring at the pace I selfishly desire.

Now, get the hell off my lawn.....

Err, scratch that. I live in an apartment.

Sigh. Slow news day. Nothing stands out as meme changing, or even meme misdirecting. Just the usual pointing out how insanely the current crop of Republicans continue to act, the pointing out of lies by the corporate arm of the conservative movement over health care reform, and the usual past time of comparing the size of a gnat's ass with a conservative's brain.

I do believe the gnat wins.

Never underestimate the power of denial.

(The Washington Monthly) Reading this, it reminded me just how challenging the right's sales pitch was going into the debate over reform. In some ways, conservatives couldn't possibly win the argument -- the status quo is ridiculous. We spend too much and get too little. Tens of millions of Americans go without coverage, and thousands die as a result of not having insurance. The existing private system screws over consumers, is a drag on the economy, and undercuts wage growth. The two groups of Americans best served by the status quo are seniors (in a Canadian-style, socialized system) and veterans (in a British-style, government-run system). Everyone else is in, at best, a precarious position.

[...]

They've pulled it off, so far, by telling almost comically-ridiculous lies, and managing to get scared, gullible people to believe them. It's no small feat. Indeed, it's almost impressive. Conservatives have managed to create a debate out of nothing but partisanship, paranoia, and greed.

Steve misses the most important reason the Conservatives have managed this feat; the ability of people to ignore even the most obvious of facts. Denial makes blind people of us all when we are not diligent of our thinking.

I am sick and tired of listening to people who have good coverage, who make good money, and are not threatened with the loss either, spew ignorance and false facts about health care reform. These people are content with their coverage because they don't need it to begin with.

Health care reform is about making the system work for people who need health care. But as long as health insurance is strictly a for profit system, people will be refused treatment. The insurance companies are set up to make a profit, which means NOT spending money on providing health care. So, you're procedure no longer costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, and is a reasonable thousands of dollars, big woo. The insurance companies still work at NOT paying for treatment, because it cuts into their profit. And if you are in the lower middle class to lower class, even thousands of dollars is not reasonable.

Cutting health care costs will not rehabilitate the health insurance system. It is run with a simple purpose, to make money off human suffering and death. There has been more then enough examples of the inhumane actions of this industry over the years. That they are willing to spend billions to prevent reform ought be a clue as to the depth of their callousness and inhumanity.

They already ration health care treatment. They already have made decisions that have resulted in the death of countless people. The original intent of HMOs were to contain cost. Instead, since their inception we have witnessed an escalation of health care costs.

Damn, I am in a foul mood.

The White House has put out a video debunking the Republican lies about health care reform.