Tag Archives: Health Care

This Is Gonna Hurt…

I’ve been wanting to use this classic post (I Hate Your Politics) for years, but never really had the opportunity.  Well… I do now.  And what I’m writing here isn’t directed at any individual politician – it’s directed at us.  I’m highlighting the section on liberals, but you should really read the whole thing, because he nails conservatives and libertarians perfectly.

So, let’s take a look, shall we…

Liberals: The stupidest and weakest members of the political triumvirate, they allowed conservatives to turn their name into a slur against them, exposing them as the political equivalent of the kid who lets the school bully pummel him with his own fists (Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself). Liberals champion the poor and the weak but do it in such condescendingly bureaucratic ways that the po’ illedumacated Cleti would rather eat their own shotguns than associate with the likes of them. Famously humorless and dour, probably because for a really good liberal, everything is political, and you just can’t joke about things like that.

Defensive and peevish even when they’re right. Under the impression that people in politics should play fair, which is probably why they get screwed as often as they do (nb: 2000 Presidential election). Feel guilty about the freedoms their political positions allow them, which is frankly idiotic. Liberals are politically able to have all sorts of freaky mammal sex but typically don’t; good liberal foreplay is a permission slip and three layers of impermeable barriers. The only vaguely liberal person we know of who seemed to enjoy sex in the last 30 years is Clinton, and look what he got out of it.

Fractious and have no sense of loyalty; will publicly tear out the intestines of those closest to them at the most politically inopportune times. The attention spans of poultry; easily distracted from large, useful goals by pointless minutiae. Not only can’t see the forest for the trees, can’t see the trees for the pine needles. Deserve every bad thing that happens to them because they just can’t get their act together. Too bad those they presume to stand for get royally screwed as well

Sound familiar?  And, yes, I wince when I read this, but he has a point.  Actually, he has several points.  Liberals/Progressives don’t lose because of their ideas.  We lose because we throw in the towel at the first loss.  We start out strong, but can’t go the distance.  It’s not that we don’t have the will… we don’t have the stamina.  And we take every political defeat personally.  Which is naive and foolish and exactly the formula for getting nothing done.  It also is a great way to absolve ourselves of any responsibility.  Health Care takes a massive hit?  Well, let’s not keep fighting.  Let’s just turn our backs on everything we’ve been fighting for, opine that all politicians are the same (Really? Really?) and walk away with our fantasy of next time.  Talk about a vicious cycle.

Actually, it’s a losing cycle, but we do excel at the purity purge.  Maybe Conservatives have taken a page out of our playbook?

I also know we don’t behave this way in our personal life.  I know that if our kid doesn’t get a good grade in math we don’t say “Forget about math, just walk away, it’s all rigged.  You failed, so it’s over”  We tell them to keep trying.  We also don’t demand that our loved ones agree with us 100% of the time.

So this defeatist attitude when it comes to Health Care is really p*ssing me off.  Seriously, that’s it?  You’re done?  Obama and the Democrats suck, and what’s the point?  Not exactly the type of person I’d want next to me in a foxhole.

I want Health Care Reform today as much as I wanted it a year ago.  I plan to fight for what I want, and keep on fighting.  I am signing onto the long haul and accept that there will be setbacks.  What I refuse to do is go down the familiar path of all or nothing.  Been there, done that.  It hasn’t gotten us anywhere.  In the nineties we lost the health care battle and walked away.  We can’t afford to do that again.  So instead of looking at this latest battle as a defeat, I’ll be looking for what I can take from it and build on.  And it isn’t as if insurance companies are going to get their act together and things are going to be honky-dory from now on.

There are many battles ahead.  The question is: do we have the stamina to fight them?  Or, is it just easier to wash our hands of all of it and remain pure-ly ineffective?

The GOP and Health Care

Everyone that reads Delaware Liberal can probably agree that health insurance is a huge strain on Americans, businesses (big and small) and the government. For instance, according to the New York Times, small businesses are looking forward to a sharp increase in health insurance costs.

Insurance brokers and benefits consultants say their small business clients are seeing premiums go up an average of about 15 percent for the coming year — double the rate of last year’s increases. That would mean an annual premium that was $4,500 per employee in 2008 and $4,800 this year would rise to $5,500 in 2010.

The 1950s to 1970s Republican Party was the party of small business, but yet, in this health care debate, I see the Republican Party of today has consistently sided with the health care industry and consequently saying no to their base of small businesses.  The GOP has shown their hand several times in health care reform — 1992, the years they were in control of the government and today — that they are fine with the system the way it is. Will these small business owners ever realize that the GOP is not concerned with them anymore?

(Note, you can’t say that the Republican Party is the party of small government when under Reagan and Bush II, the government grew and grew).

Some Not So Random Political Thoughts

Just because I was sedated and sadistically eviscerated during my stint in Third Person Rehab, I still had time in between fevered dreams to think about what was going on locally and nationally. Here are a couple of observations:

1. The seeds to defeat in Saturday’s 37th RD Special Election were sown by Bob Gilligan in 2002.

2002 was the year that the Delaware General Assembly was reapportioned following the 2000 Census. The final deal looked something like this: In exchange for the R’s carving out a seat especially for Lonnie George’s daughter, the D leadership in effect sold out Dave Brady, Rick DiLiberto, John Schroeder, and Shirley Price. 

If those last two names look familiar, they should. They’re both from Sussex County. Both of their districts were gerrymandered to the point where it was virtually impossible for them to get reelected. Gilligan also looked the other way while Wayne Smith carved a series of districts right at the minus 5% population threshold in Western Sussex, thus giving that area disproportionate representation while the more moderate eastern Sussex area got proportionately less.

Here’s how reapportionment works when it comes to population. If you take the entire population (not voters, but population) of the state of Delaware and divide it by 41 (the number of state representative districts), you would get the average population/district. The law permits a deviation of plus or minus 5% from that figure. Skillful manipulation of those numbers enabled the Rethugs to keep control of the House even after the population and popular sentiment turned against them. However, that would not have been possible had Gilligan and the D’s challenged the redistricting in Court, as several districts (Lavelle, Valihura, Schroeder) clearly did not meet the ‘compact and contiguous’ standard for drawing districts. Gilligan, of course, had no interest in doing this since perhaps the most clearly unlawful district (“The Barbell”) was that drawn for–wait for it–Lonnie George’s daughter. Not only had George and Gilligan been in Democratic House leadership together in the early ’80’s, but Gilligan had a real nice job at Del-Tech and Lonnie was his boss. Connect the dots.

So, what had been a reasonable district for Rep. Schroeder now became a monstrosity stretching from Lewes to Georgetown. That is the district that sent the lobbyist to Dover on Saturday.

Democrats should be thankful for a truly-inspired effort by Ron Robinson.  Should he choose, he has a real political future. If there is a God, Robinson will be a resident in Bob Venables’ senatorial district. It would be difficult to imagine a greater upgrade for a Senate seat than that.

A word about Melanie George Marshall. My criticism is about the shady process that got her into office, NOT her performance there.  She raises the collective IQ of the House by several points, and she is a very detail-oriented legislator who has demonstrated her effectiveness on an array of issues. Hopefully, she’ll have a district that meets minimal legal standards in 2012. 

Finally, despite the handwringing from the good government types, the D’s must grab the toro by the horns after the 2010 census, and redistrict in a manner that reflects their numerical advantage. You’ll hear the usual bleating from the Rethugs, the same Rethugs who fixed the game with Gilligan’s help for the past 20 years, but bleep ’em. If the D’s are in power, it’s time to optimize it.

2. It is time for Obama to crack Democratic heads.

Depending on what seats are vacant, the D’s have somewhere around 58 Senators. He’s simply gotta call them all in and tell them, “We’re gonna pass meaningful health care reform with or without you. We’re not gonna count on any Republican support. The American people want this. It’s the right thing to do.  And, if you’ve been paying attention, the main reason why the Rethugs are so virulent in their opposition is b/c they’re terrified that this will prove so popular with the American people that they will be rendered politically irrelevant. As will any of you who oppose this. I intend to use the full power of my office to reward my supporters and to punish my enemies. Senators Carper, Baucus, Lieberman and Conrad, do you understand what I’m saying?”

I’m really concerned that wussiness could well be Obama’s fatal flaw. Time to prove me wrong.

With the Passing of Kennedy, Time for Obama to Emulate JFK

Though JFK inspired so many of ‘bulo’s generation with his appeal to youthful idealism, people forget that it was Lyndon Baines Johnson who succeeded in passing most of the landmark bills that JFK had proposed, but had not gotten moved through the Congress.

Here’s what LBJ did:

He resolved to complete Kennedy’s legislative agenda, and his success in this mission made him perhaps the greatest presidential legislator in the country’s history. Johnson termed his program the Great Society, and his achievements in civil rights, voting rights, easing poverty, and other measures between 1964 and 1969 rivaled and eclipsed Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. Johnson’s Great Society agenda included initiatives that touched the lives of all Americans, such as Medicare and Medicaid, federal aid to education, immigration reform, environmental and consumer protections, the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT). The Great Society also created the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, food stamps, Head Start, and Model Cities, and implemented many other reforms. Subsequent presidents and congresses challenged many of Johnson’s Great Society programs. But most remained in place, serving as a safety net for disadvantaged Americans, and as federal commitments to housing, education, and other programs cherished by middle-class Americans.

Here, in part, is how LBJ did it:

Robert Dallek, the historian, said that Lyndon Johnson might have been the greatest vote counter ever in Congress, not because of his math skills but because of his unrivaled ability to read his fellow politicians and his utter ruthlessness in using what he knew.

”He knew most everything about his colleagues in the Senate — what they drank, where their wives wanted to go on junkets, whether they had a mistress or not, were they happy with their parking space, what the interests and needs of their constituents were,” Mr. Dallek said.

Mr. Dallek said that L.B.J. also instinctively understood the all-consuming neediness of his fellow politicians.

”So many of these guys who go into politics are narcissistic characters — they want attention, they need it,’‘ he said. ”People like Johnson and Hoyer and Lott know how they can turn that sort of pathology into a very constructive business for themselves.”

And, here, straight from one of LBJ’s former top staffers, is how LBJ would enact a meaningful health care bill. Read it, it’s really cool.

The Beast Who Studies Presidential History believes that, like Kennedy, Obama’s weakness is not his willingness to pursue an aggressive agenda. Quite the contrary, it his unwillingness/inability to get beyond his own innate caution to pursue meaningful change. In other words, in honor of Ted Kennedy, Obama must emulate the successor of the fallen President Kennedy.

It is time for Obama to stop allowing these narcissistic freelancing senators from pissing all over health care. It is time for him to say, “We’re getting this done with 51 votes. It will be meaningful and it will include a public option in honor of the Lion of the Senate. We’re going to break the stranglehold that the insurance companies have over people’s healthcare. I’m getting to 51 votes by any means necessary. Either you’re with me or against me.”

It is also time for Obama to unleash Biden on the Senate he purportedly knows so well. If Biden can’t get hopeless shills like Carper behind this, then the voters will have to. But keep in mind: Carper is essentially spineless and he will do nothing to jeopardize his worthless but lengthy political career. And, there’s lots more where he came from.

The time for getting bogged down in process is over. Trying to logically rebut whacko ‘death panel’ and ‘they’re going to kill grandma’ crap is a sucker’s game. Rethugs are so terrified that their corporate sponsors in the insurance industry are going to suffer a direct hit that all they’re doing is throwing up the most far-fetched shit possible. And Obama has played right into their game. Obama must call a halt to this game. He must tell recalcitrant ‘Democratic’ senators that either they’re on the bus or they’re not on the bus (yes, a Ken Kesey reference). He must take the lead  in unmasking the insanity that has passed for discourse in order to give the Senators cover (aka courage).

El Somnambulo sees this as the defining moment of the Obama Presidency. If he continues on his overly-cautious path, his will be a failed Presidency, and his failure to implement meaningful health care protection for all Americans will be his signature failure. He must articulate the vision of Ted Kennedy and he must employ the tactics of LBJ to get this done. It’s right there for him. All he has to do is step up and do what effective presidents have done.

UPDATED: Conservatives Want Government Out Of Our Health Care… Except When They Don’t

Via HuffPo:

On July 13, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law a measure that establishes–among other restrictions on access to sexual and reproductive health services–an in-person counseling requirement and a 24-hour waiting period before a woman can obtain an abortion. Proponents of the new law claim that it helps inform women’s abortion decisions. In truth, however, this distortion of the informed consent process only hinders access to abortion services.

Hmmm… Proponents of the new law claim that it helps inform women’s abortion decisions?  Now, I don’t buy that for a minute.  In fact, the only way someone can justify this position is if they believe women are incapable of reaching decisions on their own – as in women are too stupid to think for themselves.  That said, I do find the “let’s help them make an informed decision” argument quite fascinating since Conservatives/Republicans have taken the exact opposite stance when it comes to informing people about living wills.

What’s also predictable is how the GOP tosses out its keep government out of our health care in favor of keep government out of our health care… except for when We want it in our health care. This is, after all, the party of Terri Schiavo.

So which is it?  And I know this is a tough question for Republicans, since consistency isn’t their strong suit.

UPDATE: So much for their “free market” ideals.  Now they want to ban private insurers from paying for abortions.

Well, I suppose we should have known. Apparently the big holdup with Max Baucus’s Finance Committee bill is… abortion. (Yeah, I wondered what the hell that has to do with finance, too.)

But wait, it gets better! The Senate Republicans not only demand that abortions not be paid for with public funds (something already forbidden by the Hyde Amendment), they want to prevent private insurance plans from paying for them, too.

(h/t crooks and liars)

We Already Have Death Panels

Please go read Southern Beale’s entire piece, and then pass it on.

Don’t talk to me about death panels, Sarah Palin.

You, who so carelessly bolstered a lie about healthcare reform to score a cheap political point; you, the most craven of political opportunists, who fearmongers about some dystopian socialist/fascist fantasyland; you, who earlier this year were only too happy to accept free medical, dental and veterinary care from the U.S. military for Alaska’s remote villages; you, dear lady, are an idiot.

In your free market wonderland everyone somehow manages to get healthcare, even those who are poor or live in isolated areas, though the poor and isolated in your own state required assistance from the federal government.

And despite all of this, you appear blithely unaware that the free market healthcare system we have now does, indeed, have “death panels.” I’ve been part of a death panel conversation. I know about death panels.

You have no idea what it’s like to be called into a sterile conference room with a hospital administrator you’ve never met before and be told that your mother’s insurance policy will only pay for 30 days in ICU. You can’t imagine what it’s like to be advised that you need to “make some decisions,” like whether your mother should be released “HTD” which is hospital parlance for “home to die,” or if you want to pay out of pocket to keep her in the ICU another week. And when you ask how much that would cost you are given a number so impossibly large that you realize there really are no decisions to make. The decision has been made for you. “Living will” or no, it doesn’t matter. The bank account and the insurance policy have trumped any legal document.

If this isn’t a “death panel” I don’t know what is.

Brava!

Put Up Or Shut Up – More Of This Please

Anthony Weiner (D-NY) hits it out of the park by double-daring Republicans to back up their trash talk about government run health care… by voting on eliminating medicare.

It’s about time someone called them out.  Make them put their vote where their mouth is – if they dare.  It’s quite a dilemma for the GOP, and I wonder how they’ll reconcile all their anti-government health care screeds with one of their largest voting blocs – the over 65, medicare crowd.  My guess is they’ll suddenly start saying things like, “Well, Medicare isn’t really government health care.”

And it’s incredibly annoying that statements like Government run health care will kill old people receive attention when the true message is Republicans want to end Medicare.

Hats off to Anthony Weiner!  My new favorite Congressmen.

Why Isn’t This Called Bribery?

Via WaPo:

The roiling debate about health-care reform has been a boon to the political fortunes of Ross and 51 other members of the Blue Dog Coalition, who have become key brokers in shaping legislation in the House. Objections from the group resulted in a compromise bill announced this week that includes higher payments for rural providers and softens a public insurance option that industry groups object to. The deal also would allow states to set up nonprofit cooperatives to offer coverage, a Republican-generated idea that insurers favor as an alternative to a public insurance option.

At the same time, the group has set a record pace for fundraising this year through its political action committee, surpassing other congressional leadership PACs in collecting more than $1.1 million through June. More than half the money came from the health-care, insurance and financial services industries, marking a notable surge in donations from those sectors compared with earlier years, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity.

Let’s stop playing games and just call this what it is.

Jon Stewart Destroys Bill Kristol On Healthcare

Jon Stewart gets Bill Kristol (The Weekly Standard) to admit the the VA system is an exceptional healthcare system but that the rest of Americans don’t deserve it. Kristol gets caught up in the typical GOP talking point trap of “government run healthcare is really awful but it’s so good that private insurance can’t compete.” Republicans are just incoherent on this issue. At least he wasn’t repeating the Faux News talking point that Barack Obama wants to kill your grandmother.

Think Progress has the report:

Kristol — who has urged conservative activists and Republicans to “resist the temptation” to work with Democrats in crafting health reform and instead “go for the kill” — responded that the military “deserves it,” but the American people do not:

STEWART: Are you saying the American public shouldn’t have access to the same quality health care that we give to our better citizens?

KRISTOL: To our soldiers? Absolutely. [Crowd boos]

Kristol explained that soldiers get paid less, but “one way we make it up to” them is by giving them “first-class health care.” “I feel like you’ve trapped me somehow,” Kristol observed. Indeed, Stewart explained the flaw in Kristol’s logic:

STEWART: I just want to get this on record — Bill Kristol just said that the government can run a first-class health care system.

KRISTOL: Sure it can. [Crowd applauds]

STEWART: And a government-run system is better than a private health care system.

Kristol tried to backtrack, saying he wasn’t sure the military system is “better,” and later argued that other government-run systems aren’t providing the best health care.

The full, extended interview is below.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Bill Kristol Extended Interview
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Joke of the Day

New CBO Report: Public Option Will NOT Drive Private Insurers Out Of Business

Oh well, there goes another talking point.

The report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the public option proposed by Democrats would not drive private insurers out of business and most people would still choose to get their medical coverage through employers.

The CBO Report also calls into question the Lewin Group’s analysis:

The CBO report estimated only about 10 million to 11 million people would sign up for the public option by 2019, far fewer than the 103 million cited in another analysis by the Lewin Group. The Lewin Group is part of Ingenix, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group.

The CBO report also estimated the Democratic proposal would boost enrollment in employer-based plans by about 12 million people because of the mandate for individuals to be insured.

Republicans often cite Lewin Group analysis to make their point that millions of people would lose their current health coverage if the proposed overhaul became law. But the CBO disputed the group’s conclusions.

“We anticipate that our estimate of the number of enrollees in the public plan would be substantially smaller than the Lewin Group’s, even if we assumed that all employers would have that option,” CBO said.

11 million vs 103 million?  Pretty big difference.

Here’s the thing that drives me crazy about private health insurers:  They have made no attempt to make their industry competitive.  They have done nothing to show that they acknowledge there’s a problem, and they sure as hell have shown no interest in fixing any part of health care.  Their arrogance is quite breathtaking.  Imagine if Maytag, Kenmore, etc. ran their companies like this.  They’d be out of business.  And the only reason private health insurers aren’t out of business is because they’re really a monopoly.

Drug Companies Get Subsidized For Bombarding Us With Ads

I really hate all the pharma ads on TV.  Now I have an even better reason to abhor them.  (h/t Digby)

Meanwhile, Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, has introduced a bill called the Say No to Drug Ads Act. It would amend the federal tax code to prevent pharmaceutical companies from deducting the cost of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements as a business expense.

“You should not be going to a doctor saying, ‘I have restless leg syndrome’ — whatever the hell that is — or going to a doctor saying, ‘I have the mumps,’ ” Mr. Nadler said in an interview. “You should not be diagnosed by some pitchman on TV who doesn’t know you whatsoever.” […]

Hello?  They’re getting a tax cut for pushing drugs?  And, make no mistake, that’s exactly what they’re doing.  Half the time I’m not even certain of what their little purple pill does.  All I see are high happy people running through fields.  And my favorite ads always end with… Tell your doctor.

Tell your doctor?  Shouldn’t that be the other way around?  Shouldn’t your doctor be telling you?  And can anyone tell me what other companies receive a subsidy to advertise?  No wonder reforming health care is such a battle.  One side gets all the breaks.