An Insurance System That Places Profits Over People Isn't The Best In The World

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.

SWTD #59

Racism is Patriotic And Other Right Wing Delusions

Racism isn't born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list ~ Denis Leary, American Actor (DOB 8/18/1957).

This commentary is in response to a blog post from "The Oracular Opinion", a right-leaning site I visit infrequently. I say my visits are infrequent because, as of late, I have given up blogging and the reading of other's blogs. I decided to check in today, however, and after composing a reply, decided to turn my comments there into a post for my blog.

The issue the proprietor of "The Oracular Opinion" was concerned about was that five students at the Live Oak High School (in California) who wore T-shirts with the America flag on them (on Cinco de Mayo) had their free speech right violated when the Principal sent them home. The Principal determined that wearing the flag T-shirts on that particular day was incendiary.

"The Oracular Opinion" called for it's readers to show their support for the students who organized the "display of patriotism", by reposting Chris W's (a Libertarian blogger) thoughts (from his blog) on their blog. I agree with the sentiment. Which is why I've decided to post my support for the wronged party - the students who were celebrating Cinco de Mayo and subjected to an ugly display of racism in the process! As a frequent poster to "The Oracular Opinion" pointed out - the wearing of the T-shirts on that particular day could certainly be interpreted as a big "up yours" to the Hispanic students.

Other ethnicities have days on which they celebrate their heritage, such as St. Patrick's Day (Irish), Oktoberfest (German) and others. It seems to me that nobody has a problem with anybody who wishes to honor their heritage by celebrating one of these ethnic holidays. The only ethnic holidays some people seem to have a problem with are those celebrated by individuals with brown skin.

The Principal who decided to send the students home was later pressured into apologizing. Perhaps he was being overly PC, but I do not believe he was wrong for taking the feelings of the Hispanic students into consideration. If he felt that they had worn the T-shirts on purpose to make a statement against the celebration of Cinco de Mayo I believe he was correct to send them home. And he should have stuck to his guns and stood by his original condemnation of the American flag T-shirt wearing student's ugly display of racism.

Or not. After reading the actual news story, I think what really happened was that the students just acted insensitively. They saw the Hispanic students celebrating Cinco de Mayo during previous years and thought that they'd counter their fellow student's enthusiasm with a "patriotic" display of their own. When it was pointed out that they were being insensitive and perhaps they should apologize, their response was "fat chance".

Since insensitivity to the ethnic background of anyone whose heritage is different than yours is a vital component of being a patriotic American (or so the Right-wing would have you believe), I've concluded that this really isn't that big a deal. We just need to get these kids (and their parents) some diversity training.

Who we really should be condemning here are people like Chris W who use opportunities like this to spread their lies about America being under attack. Specifically he said that "our history, our culture and our way of life has been assailed by forces from within to the point to where if you celebrate America and what it stands for, you are called a racist, a Nazi or a tea-bagger".

He concluded by urging his readers to "band together to show the anti-America crowd that we will not accept these assaults on free speech and patriotism". This is all complete nonsense of course. It is, however, in line with the "culture warrior" BS perpetrated by the likes of Bill O'Reilly.

As for Chris W's claim that these student's free speech rights were infringed upon - in "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District", the Supreme Court ruled that students do not "shed their constitutional rights when they enter the schoolhouse door". But the ruling also said that schools do have the ability to restrict the free speech rights of students if it is "necessary to avoid substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others".

So the students acted insensitively and perhaps the Principal overreacted. In the end, I don't really care. What I do care about is posts like Chris W's. My conclusion, based on his blog post, is that those on the Right (Republicans and Libertarians) believe that racism is patriotic. Perhaps you've heard that Libertarians support open borders? The Libertarian party platform states that they believe "economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across national borders", and they "condemn bigotry as irrational and repugnant".

However, "freedom" and "liberty" demand that individuals be free to practice racism if they so desire. Rand Paul and John Stossel have been in the news recently voicing their support for the right of private businesses to ban anyone from their property they want to. Of course Mr. Paul and Mr. Stossel both droned on regarding how abhorrent they would deem such a decision to be. And they claim that they would not patronize such a business. I find their protests unconvincing.

In my opinion these arguments are simply a smokescreen used to enable racism. Why else would this Libertarian blogger be so eager to use this story to perpetuate the myth about America being "under attack"? (which plays into the Right-wing meme that we should blame the brown people for our problems).

The effect of Arizona's recent anti-immigrant laws has been to drive Hispanics away from the Republican party. Hopefully this law never is prevented from going into effect, although I have heard that people are presently being stopped and asked to present their papers proving citizenship or lawful right to be in the country. However, regardless of what happens, at least the Republican Party has been exposed for the bigots they are.

Or, at least to the majority of Hispanics. Otherwise it seems that these laws are receiving (unbelievably) broad support. How long will people continue to buy into these Right-wing delusions? We do not need a border fence. I am in support of protecting the wages of our workforce from being driven down by an influx of cheap labor, but the way to do this is through programs like E-Verify. Republicans going after the victims (Hispanics fleeing poverty and enticed to cross our borders by corporations offering them employment) is not the answer.

Republicans claim we need to close the border first for a reason. Because they don't really want to cut off the source of cheap labor their corporate donors crave. What they really want is to keep the "illegals" afraid. So afraid that when their employers force them to work "off the clock" or under hazardous conditions - they don't complain.

And the Republicans (and Libertarians) want us to know whom to blame for our declining wages - the brown people. This is why they encourage racism with preposterous claims of America being "under attack". This is why they have countered "diversity training" with the term "politically correct".

This is also why they attack the Left. Because the Left rejects the notion that we should blame the victims - the "illegal" aliens fleeing poverty who would not be coming here if nobody would hire them once they arrived - for our immigration problems. And because we support a "path to citizenship". Not because it's an ideal solution, but, again, because we do not believe in punishing the victim.

In conclusion I urge you not to fall for arguments like Chris W's. "America" (Loony Libertarians and far-right tea-bagger types) is not "under attack". They claim they are victims when, in actuality, they're attempting to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment. Because this is what the wealthy fascists who fund their astroturf organizations want you to believe. It's simple misdirection. Blame the "brown people" and not the wealthy corporatists who actually are to blame for the decline of the Middle Class.

SWTD #40

It's Everyone Else's Fault

The biggest cause of trouble in the world today is that the stupid people are so sure about things and the intelligent folks are so full of doubts ~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English Logician and Philosopher.

I'm becoming disheartened. In regards to political discourse in this country... and in regards to blogging. My last post received ONE lousy comment (7 actually, but the other six I posted myself by way of sock puppets). Man, how pathetic. Meanwhile, Conservative bloggers are getting 100 PLUS comments! Maybe I should hang it up.

I have less than a half-dozen readers, and (by my estimate) only three people (or less) who actually ever comment. Why am I wasting my time? Just like the radical Righties disrupted the town halls they're dominating the blogosphere. At least, as far as dinky one-person run blogs go. These morons are mad and they want everyone to know it (I'm talking about the people who have commented on the blog I just linked to, and others like them, not the blog proprietor specifically).

The sad thing is that the corporate-funded astroturf organizations have them deluded to the point where they think the majority of Americans are with them. Their idiotic worries regarding socialism, the President purposefully bankrupting the government, and health insurance reform being akin to Hitler's final solution ARE TAKING CENTER STAGE!

(for the record, Republicans are the ones who are purposefully attempting to bankrupt the government. "Starving the beast" is a fiscal-political strategy of some American conservatives to use budget deficits via tax cuts to force future reductions in the size of government. The term "beast" refers to government and the programs it funds, particularly social programs such as welfare, Social Security, and Medicare.)

Witnessing this, the "independent" voters may jump ship in 2010 and 2012, not realizing that to actually make progress they should pick an ideology and stick with it. Saint Reagan and bush-the-stupider (whom I have dubbed "President Doofus") proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that conservatism is NOT the way to go. We'll be f*cked royally if Barack Obama is not re-elected in 2012.

I guess it's "cool" to be independent though, and vote based simply on your feelings. GWb was president when the economy crashed? Conservative economic principals aren't to blame, just the man. Maybe McCain can fix the problem. No matter that his "solution" would be more of the same, HE'S A DIFFERENT GUY! Plus, Hillary voters, he has a woman VP! No matter that she's clearly not that bright. Who, when asked which news periodicals they read, would say they read them all, but then not be able to name ONE?

BUT... then McCain made the mistake of "suspending" his campaign and rushing back to Washington to "fix" the crisis. And he screwed that up. By canceling on David Letterman to chat with Wolf Blitzer.

That made him look stupid, so the Independents were pushed towards Barack Obama. Not because they agreed with Democratic economic principals. Because he offered "hope" and "change". I'm not knocking Hope and Change, because they were more than a slogan. But the slogan is all that a lot of Independents (and Democrats) heard.

So now they may be ready to swing the other way. No matter that reversing course 100 degrees back to a plan of action which has been proven disastrous is idiotic in the extreme. They may do it anyway! Why?? For no other reason than they're "independent", apparently.

And the Democrats may stay home. Because Barack Obama isn't changing things quickly enough for them. No matter that the primary agenda of the remaining Republicans in Congress is to obstruct. Also, even though Democrats gained a bunch of seats in the last election -- and I'm sure it has something to do with demographics and who they're representing -- why does it seem like the Republicans who are left are the craziest of the crazy?

Virginia Fox and Michelle Bachmann are loony toons. I apologize ladies; there are some crazy dudes as well. Joe Wilson rudely called out "you lie" as the President spoke before a joint session of Congress, then immediately afterward lied about having worked as an immigration lawyer. In a vain attempt to stop people from voicing their suspicions that what he really meant to say was "You lie, boy". And John Boner claimed that the public option was a popular as a garlic milkshake, even though a majority of Americans support it.

And of course we have Joe Lieberman, who was for Universal Coverage before he was against it. Apparently he saw all the attention that Olympia Snowe was getting and wanted the media to fawn all over HIM. So, even though he caucuses with the Democrats he'll stand with the Republicans and single-handedly be responsible for health care insurance reform getting shot down. He gets to feed his ego and collect some big donations from the health care insurance lobby. As Stephen Colbert pointed out recently, the party he formed after he lost the Democratic primary in Connecticut was called "Connecticut for Lieberman", NOT "Lieberman for Connecticut".

If the Republicans are given another shot at destroying this country it will be because the moron electorate allows them two. Yes, Republicans are the masters of election fraud, but when people turn out in high enough numbers they can overcome that fraud.

People were so disgusted with George W. bush at the end of his presidency that they turned out in record numbers and pushed Barack Obama over the top. Next time around they may say to themselves, "this guy was not as hopey and changey as I was lead to believe, I think I'll vote for the other guy... or stay home". What they fail to realize is that the President is not a king. There is only so much he can do. He's up against the power of big money and their ability to buy off our elected officials.

Low information voters fail to take this into consideration. Which is why we may be doomed. If so it's everybody else's fault, not mine. I've done a lot of things that were stupid, but I'm not a moron. A blogger I follow who calls himself "Truth 101" recently posited that the morons shall inherit the earth. I'm worried that he may very well be right.

SWTD #27

Who Opposes Healthcare Insurance Reform

...It's official: no public option. Congratulations! Because you stood up, the President and the government heard you. The spineless wonders probably only caved because they care about their own hides, BUT if you didn't stand up you can bet Universal Health would have been passed. But don't celebrate yet -- there is still work to be done. Think the progressives will give up that easily? ~ Glenn Beck, Right-wing loony toon and Fox News propagandizer.

This morning I received an "urgent message" via email from the "League of American Voters" which warned me that I shouldn't become "complacent" regarding the defeat of "ObamaCare" (although the message implied that such a defeat may be imminent, otherwise Obama wouldn't be "frantic" about getting an interim senator to replace Ted Kennedy until the MA special election in January).

A "League" that purports to represent "American Voters" has got to be one of those "grass roots" organizations representing ordinary middle-class Americans, right? If "ordinary" Americans are really against reforming the healthcare insurance industry then this "monstrosity" should go down in defeat, shouldn't it? This is a democracy, after all. Shouldn't our REPRESENATIVES be giving us what we want?

So, lets take a look at the "League of American Voters" and the other so-called grassroots organizations and try to discern who, exactly, they are representing.

The "urgent message" concerning the fact that "ObamaCare" isn't quite dead yet was sent out by Newsmax. Financial backing for Newsmax was provided by a group of conservative investors, including billionaire, and "vast right-wing conspiracy" Godfather, Richard Mellon Scaife (dubbed the "funding father" of the Right by the Washington Post).

Newsmax founder Christopher W. Ruddy ascribes to the cuckoo right-wing conspiracy that Hillary Clinton murdered Vince Foster. In my opinion, Newsmax is in the same category as another blatant right-wing propaganda peddling "media organization" World NUT Daily, which claims that they are "A free press for a free people". They're good for a laugh, but not to be taken seriously.

According to PR watch, whose stated mission is to expose deceptive and misleading public relations campaigns, "the League of American Voters is housed at the very same Washington, D.C. address as a slew of other pro-business, conservative supposed grassroots citizen groups that lobby for business interests, like Americans for Tax Reform, the American Family Business Institute, and the Property Rights Alliance" (From "Big Insurance, Big Tobacco and You". Submitted to PR Watch by Anne Landman on 8/6/2009)

An article on Think Progress says, "The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform. A leaked memo ... details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress".

If we take a look at who is bankrolling these supposed "grassroots" organizations - we find that Americans for Prosperity's largest contributor, "Koch Family Foundations" is a long-time supporter of conservative and libertarian political causes (with a damaged reputation due to multiple guilty rulings in federal and state lawsuits) (from Wikipedia).

FreedomWorks contributors include foundations controlled by the conservative Scaife family (as reported by Mark Ames' in "The Exiled" and The Washington Post). Another deceptively named group, "Patients United Now", is actually a subsidiary of "Americans for Prosperity".

Given these facts, I think I can honestly conclude that opposition to healthcare reform isn't coming from average Americans citizens who've come together to form a non-partisan grassroots "league". Opposition to healthcare reform is coming wealthy conservatives defending the revenue streams of other wealthy conservatives, or as journalist Mark Ames puts it "billionaires are posing as grassroots groups to oppose anything that isn't in the billionaires' interests, including health care reform...".

SWTD #17