I was asked if I could be tough, because I was going to be telling doctors that they couldn't do things and that I would be expected to keep a 10% denial rate. ...we were told that the medical reviewer that had the highest denial rate was going to receive a bonus at Christmas ~ physician Linda Peeno, in a 6/21/2007 interview with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, recounting her experienes working as a medical reviewer for Humana in the 1990s.
An email I received yesterday from the astroturf Teabagger billionaire-funded FreedomWorks says, "This is our moment. The House of Representatives will be voting next week on a FULL REPEAL of the 2,000 page, job-killing ObamaCare law. Send your letter to Congress to show your support! This is a huge chance for the Tea Party movement to start reversing the Democrats' big government agenda which threatens to bankrupt America". According to FreedomWorks the House will debate and vote on the bill on Wednesday January 12th.
I clicked the link and was shown a sample letter which FreedomWorks wanted me to sign my name to and forward to my members of Congress. The sample letter, which FreedomWorks said I could make edits to, read as follows...
FreedomWorks Sample Letter: As a constituent, I urge you to vote Yes on H.R. 2, the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law" Act. Voters spoke loud and clear on Nov. 2nd: No government takeover of health care. This is an unparalleled opportunity to show Americans that this Congress means business and will stick to the promises made on the campaign trail, however difficult they may be.
We need to fully repeal ObamaCare because it will kill jobs, bankrupt the government, drive up everyone's health insurance costs, put bureaucrats in charge of our health care, and ruin the world's best health care system. Our government can't afford the $2.6 trillion price tag - and our families can't afford the taxes and sky-high insurance premiums that come with this massive bill.
Congress needs to focus sensible reforms like tax credit vouchers for the uninsured, and reforms to the individual market. These are reforms that are affordable, and don't grow the size of government. With 60% of Americans in opposition to ObamaCare, the time to repeal is now. Please vote Yes on H.R. 2.
Edited letter I forwarded to my Congresspersons: As a constituent, I urge you to vote NO on H.R. 2, the "Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law" Act. This bill is a complete joke, and put forward for political reasons only - which is made clear by the name of the act. The health care legislation passed in the last session will not kill jobs, is not a "government takeover" of the health care industry, and will save money (according to the nonpartisan CBO). The majority of Americans either are in favor of this bill or think it didn't go far (wasn't progressive) enough. A single-payer system would qualify as a "government takeover", but that option was never on the table, even though it would have been the most cost effective.
In the last election people identifying with the Tea Party turned out and voted. Many Obama voters, disgusted by Republican obstructionism in the last session of Congress, stayed home. Republicans are gravely mistake if they believe, and conduct themselves as if, they were given a mandate. A vote to repeal the health care legislation will be a vote against the wishes of the majority of Americans. As a constituent, I urge you to take a stand against obstructionism and work with your fellow congresspersons and the White House to get our economy back on track and not waste time voting on ridiculous legislation that has no chance of becoming law.
Finally, if you are truly interested in lowering the cost of health care please support legislation that opens up Medicare to any member of the public (regardless of age) that wishes to buy into it. The Democratic health care legislation does not need to be repealed to further bring down costs.
Sign the Petition: If you wish to sign the FreedomWorks petition click here. Fee free to use my letter in any way you see fit (by attaching your name to it or by modifying it).
- Further Reading
- Repeal health law? Poll shows many think it should do more by Jennifer Agiesta and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, The New Republic. 12/7/2010.
- America's Pay-or-Die Health Care System by Ralph Nader, Counterpunch. 5/6/2008.
That's great! Your changes make it a worthwhile letter. Job well done!
ReplyDeleteI am a Vietnam Combat Veteran who is sick and tired of watching our political leaders, Unions and others run this great country of ours into the ground.
ReplyDeleteOver the years I have seen our money go from being allocated under the Gold Standard to becoming nothing more than worthless pieces of paper. I have seen our political leaders send HUNDREDS of BILLION of dollars to other countries and cover it by reducing American's benefits and entitlements and by raising our taxes. I have see the Unions strike one American company after another OUT OF BUSINESS. I have seen people who have never worked a day in their worthless lives demand that the government support them.
Whom am I and just who do I think I am? One highly pissed off AMERICAN that is exactly whom I am.
So you are pissed off, Jim. Big F-ing deal! What are you going to do about it? How are you going to change the system?
ReplyDeleteyes w, great letter! I can't wait to see this vote come up, it is totally symbolic, but will also totally backfire on those thugs! The people will see what they truly are made of. Go to TomCats Politics Plus on my blog list and see the video he posted from a town hall. The guy in the audience asked his thug rep. what they plan on replacing Obamacare with. Great clip!!
ReplyDeleteOver the years I have seen our money go from being allocated under the Gold Standard to becoming nothing more than worthless pieces of paper.
ReplyDeleteThe US Dollar was taken off the Gold standard, by Richard Nixon on the advice of Milton Friedman. They had to do it because the costs of the Vietnam illegal war was more then the revenues of the US could pay back directly in gold, (especially since Charles DeGalle had been getting gold for dollars for a while after France and the US went their separate ways.)
The international banking elite don't mind since un-pegging the dollar from gold and floating it's relative value created another commodities market(IE monetary) with which to fleece investors. It also allowed them to target the middle class with a better inflation scheme then existed under the gold standard. The scheme allowed them to use the new powers they held since they could use market manipulation and other powers of the rich to undercut the middle class to push the US back to the dismal days of the Age of few robber barons and many working poor in the us like China has today.
This is why they are against ANY program that helps the poor and middle class like Social Security, Medicare, health care, unemployment, OSHA, Unions of any kind. And why since Reagan's time they have bought up all of the Media and use it to push the corporatist message repackaged right now as the brain dead tea bagger idealism, which is just rehashed corporatist divide and concur the poor and middle class with lies and rhetoric.
I have seen our political leaders send HUNDREDS of BILLION of dollars to other countries and cover it by reducing American's benefits and entitlements and by raising our taxes.
The VAST majority being military aid which is then usually spent of buying US made weapons, so in essence this is a form of welfare for the very well off weapons manufacturers, and their well paid lobbyists and paid for politicos (usually repugs)
I have see the Unions strike one American company after another OUT OF BUSINESS.
WRONG;
Outsourcing and Walmart have destroyed more jobs then any union ever did.
Outsourcing the jobs to the lowest paying locations because of free trading and free market capitalism are designed to undermine the pay scale of wages in the USA until we are willing to accept wages they want to pay(IE a return to the Gilded Age of barely subsistence wages for the masses and uber-wealthy for the select few.
That is the goal of the Club for Growth, US Chamber of Commerce (which gets much money from foreign corps) Koch Brothe3rs(money behind the entire tea bagger movement, like their daddy was the money behind the John Birch society)
Hope this helps
PS: w-dervish, I am the same Anonymous from Willy's glorious place.
So your name is Mike? That's what Will said he finally "figured out".
ReplyDeleteWhoever you are, thanks for stopping by, and for the highly informative comment.
No my name is not Mike,
ReplyDeleteI am Anonymous, the only blogger who actually admits what I am to both parties in Washington, and their lobbyists and corporate backers.
Somebody who doesn't count, especially if Katherine Harris FLA 2000 or Ken Blackwell OHIO 2004 is in charge of the voting.