Be INFORMED

Monday, March 22, 2010

Republicans Get Health Care Too...

... and Mr. Michael Moore is happy to point that out to the GOPers around the nation.

The Great Thing About the Health Care Law That Has Passed? It Will Save Republican Lives, Too
by Michael Moore Mon Mar 22, 2010
(An Open Letter to Republicans from Michael Moore)
To My Fellow Citizens, the Republicans:
Thanks to last night's vote, that child of yours who has had asthma since birth will now be covered after suffering for her first nine years as an American child with a pre-existing condition.
Thanks to last night's vote, that 23-year-old of yours who will be hit one day by a drunk driver and spend six months recovering in the hospital will now not go bankrupt because you will be able to keep him on your insurance policy.
Thanks to last night's vote, after your cancer returns for the third time -- racking up another $200,000 in costs to keep you alive -- your insurance company will have to commit a criminal act if they even think of dropping you from their rolls.
Yes, my Republican friends, even though you have opposed this health care bill, we've made sure it is going to cover you, too, in your time of need. I know you're upset right now. I know you probably think that if you did get wiped out by an illness, or thrown out of your home because of a medical bankruptcy, that you would somehow pull yourself up by your bootstraps and survive. I know that's a comforting story to tell yourself, and if John Wayne were still alive I'm sure he could make that into a movie for you.
But the reality is that these health insurance companies have only one mission: To take as much money from you as they can -- and then work like demons to deny you whatever coverage and help they can should you get sick.
So, when you find yourself suddenly broadsided by a life-threatening illness someday, perhaps you'll thank those pinko-socialist, Canadian-loving Democrats and independents for what they did Sunday evening.
If it's any consolation, the thieves who run the health insurance companies will still get to deny coverage to adults with pre-existing conditions for the next four years. They'll also get to cap an individual's annual health care reimbursements for the next four years. And if they break the pre-existing ban that was passed last night, they'll only be fined $100 a day! And, the best part? The law will require all citizens who aren't poor or old to write a check to a private insurance company. It's truly a banner day for these corporations.
So don't feel too bad. We're a long way from universal health care. Over 15 million Americans will still be uncovered -- and that means about 15,000 will still lose their lives each year because they won't be able to afford to see a doctor or get an operation. But another 30,000 will live. I hope that's ok with you.
If you don't mind, we're now going to get busy trying to improve upon this bill so that all Americans are covered and so the grubby health insurance companies will be put out of business -- because when it comes to helping the sick, no one should ever be allowed to ask the question, "How much money can we save by making this poor bastard suffer?"
Please, my Republican friends, if you can, take a quiet moment away from your AM radio and cable news network this morning and be happy for your country. We're doing better. And we're doing it for you, too.
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. I'll have more to say on this tonight, live on CNN, at 9pm ET. I'll be talking with Larry King about the health care bill and where we go from here, considering we still don't have universal health care.

P.P.S. In case you missed these photos in yesterday's NY Times Sunday Magazine... That's the results of seven years of madness. The Iraq War began its 8th year this weekend. How can we remove more of those responsible for this tragedy in November?
www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/22/849024/-The-Great-Thing-About-the-Health-Care-Law-That-Has-Passed-It-Will-Save-Republican-Lives,-Too

HealthCare Bill Passes...

... and I must say that it is about damned time that something has gotten started with the health care problem in the United States!
Obama's bill is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and it will need to be tweaked many times before this plan works to the benefit of all of us. But, it is a start which has been a long time comming.
There are parts of the plan that I do not like, and then again, there are some things which I do like. I think that all of us can say the same thing.
As is par for the course, this bill does not please everyone, which was expected. You cannot please everyone all of the time no matter what you aim to do. Healthcare is no different.
Keep one thing in mind as you begin to hear about all that is wrong with this plan. It is a beginning. As is with most things in this life of ours, you have to start somewhere. If you remember, there was no health care plan under former President Bush. President Clinton got his ass handed back to him with he and Hillary's idea of a health care plan. Ronald Reagan did....nothing about this fiasco either. Many Presidents before Reagan did nothing either.
Now is the time to take what we have been givin by our President and to make it work for the good of all of the citizens of the United States.
Let's give this plan a chance to be formed into something good for us,okay?

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Obama And The Healthcare Lobbyist

http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2009/09/obama-vs-lobbyists-tomdispatch.html
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Obama vs. the Lobbyists (TomDispatch)
by Dollars and Sense
From Tom Engelhardt of TomDispatch; a link to Andy Kroll's article follows:
Congressman Joe ("You lie!") Wilson is undoubtedly not completely ignorant about how our health care system actually works. After all, in the course of his career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, he's received $244,196 in contributions from the health-care profession -- and that doesn't even count another $86,150 from the pharmaceutical industry or the $68,000 that came in from hospitals and nursing homes. In fact, if you go to the page at that organization's OpenSecrets.org website on Congressional contributions and start clicking around among the members of Congress, you'll be struck by how many times the health and pharmaceutical industries (and their lobbyists) pop up.It's not so surprising, of course, since there are staggering sums of money at stake, which means striking amounts of the same to inject like some potent drug directly into the bloodstream of our political system. Consider but one figure: since 2002, according to Harper's Magazine, the profits of the top 10 health insurance companies have increased by 428%. And the CEOs of those top insurers have a personal incentive for ensuring that those profits don't slide due to new health-care legislation; after all, they made a combined $690 million in the last nine years.In fact, any administration arriving in Washington wanting to do anything these days walks into a blizzard of money, not to speak of the fact that the wind at its back, the campaign wind that got it there, was already blowing strong with similar contributions. TomDispatch regular Andy Kroll offers a vivid portrait of that world at this moment and what it means for the Obama administration. —Tom Read Andy Kroll's article.