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Why Obamacare Scares America
Newscom
Listen to your grandmother. The Democrats’ new health-care plan may benefit working class folks, but the president’s sales pitch is giving them a heart attack.
On arriving in Orange County, California, I expected hostility to President Obama’s health-care agenda, especially in my Republican family. But it surprised me to hear my Catholic grandmother say that if health-care reform passes bureaucrats will show up at her door advising euthanasia—and especially to hear my mother, now undergoing chemotherapy, insist that were Obamacare already law it is more likely than not that she’d now be dead.
Why can’t Obama take the approach on health care that works better—and that scares my grandmother less?
How to explain these dubious fears? They’re partly due to a deliberate, shameful GOP misinformation campaign. As Steve Pearlstein wrote in The Washington Post, “The recent attacks by Republican leaders and their ideological fellow-travelers … have been so misleading, so disingenuous, that they could only spring from a cynical effort to gain partisan political advantage.”
Well put! But isn’t every major partisan debate rife with deliberately misleading rhetoric? Most notable aren’t the brazen falsehoods so much as their uncommon effectiveness—it is impossible to sew such exaggerated paranoia absent fertile ground.
My grandmother, my mother, and countless other Americans may be misinformed about the particulars of health-care reform, and express certain misbegotten fears, but health care proponents would do well to understand the anxiety’s source: Theirs is ultimately a fear of rapid, sweeping policy shifts, especially those brought about by lengthy, amorphous legislative proposals that leave unclear exactly what might change the month after next.
How could that uncertainty fail to rile anyone with health care they like? Ours is a country where many citizens have premised career choices, financial decisions, and even where they reside on ensuring affordable access to quality insurance. Investment in any system, no matter how flawed, breeds a perfectly rational risk-aversion when changes are proposed. What perplexes me is how frequently elected officials underestimate that impulse.
Is Social Security facing long-term insolvency problems? Is our immigration system broken? President George W. Bush responded to those widespread beliefs by advocating sweeping, “comprehensive” reforms that failed largely because they freaked out too many Americans. Even worse, the policy problems he failed to address still exist, but are unlikely to be readdressed for some time—among the many downsides to comprehensive reform is that its failure renders every facet of an issue politically radioactive.
Especially curious is President Obama’s decision to pursue comprehensive health care reform when it failed so spectacularly under the Clinton Administration. In contrast, “small bore” reform efforts initiated years later extended insurance to millions of children and afforded senior citizens a hugely expensive prescription drug benefit. Why are those who seek further reform so invested in a sweeping approach certain to provoke intense blowback? They’ve enjoyed their best successes using more incremental methods!
Though an Obamacare skeptic, I am hopeful that some health-care reforms will be made, as is my family. This American Life, a favorite radio program in my household, recently aired a segment on rescission, the insurance industry practice whereby insured Americans, having paid premiums over many years, find their claims rejected when they get breast cancer or diabetes or some other costly illness—the insurance companies scour their archived applications hoping to find an innocent mistake, often unrelated to their condition, that serves as a pretext for cancelling their policy. Why don’t the Democrats draft, pass, and enact legislation that ends rescission? It would be wildly popular, even among Orange County conservatives. And it would rectify an injustice.
How Rich People Smoke Pot
Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
Justice Clinton?
As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono. McKinnon is co-chair of Arts & Labs, a collaboration between technology and creative communities that have embraced today's rich Internet environment to deliver innovative and creative digital products to consumers.
Assassinating Americans
Conor Friedersdorf, a Daily Beast columnist, also writes for The American Scene and The Atlantic Online's ideas blog.
Limbaugh's Latest Shameful Outburst
Conor Friedersdorf, a Daily Beast columnist, also writes for The American Scene and The Atlantic Online's ideas blog.
Murders at Gitmo?
Conor Friedersdorf, a Daily Beast columnist, also writes for The American Scene and The Atlantic Online's ideas blog.
MOZART
Most of the States so vehemently opposed to Obama and anything he wants to do are in the South. The South is the most ignorant part of this country .. They are still fighting the Civil war. They soil their collective pants every day when they realize once again that there is a black President of this country. The insurance companies have hired bus loads of people to go around the State screaming obscenities about the President and his effort to fix our broken health care system. How do I know this? I live in Texas. Texas is the center for the Lunatic Fringe.
Flan
4:01PM Aug 4th 2009
If you got your information from the CBS News last night, you would believe that "angry protesters" are cropping up "everywhere Democrats are trying to defend health care reform." "Conservative websites" like Freedomworks are recruiting them, based on "real fear over the increased taxes" and "government control" of the health care system.
Max Pappas from Freedomworks shows up to speak on their behalf.
Freedomworks isn't some "organic grassroots" outfit. It's run by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey -- corporate lobbyist, global warming denier and ladie's man. The President and CEO of Freedomworks is Matt Kibbee, who was trained by Lee Atwater. Kibbe was behind the attempt to get Ralph Nader put on the ballot in Oregon in 2004, prompting a complaint to the FEC of illegal collusion with the GOP.
Steve Forbes is on the FreedomWorks board. As Paul Krugman noted, their money comes from the Koch, Scaife, Bradley, Olin nexus, as well as other reliable funders of right wing infrastructure including Exxon Mobil.
Freedomworks has a long history of skunk works. In 2004, a woman who identified herself as a "single mother" in Iowa, Sandra Jacques, appeared at a George Bush town hall and gushed about his plan to privatize Social Security. She left out the part about being an employee of Freedomworks, who were lobbying on the issue at the time.
David Koch is also Chairman of the other major outfit heavily involved in these "organic" uprisings, Americans for Prosperity, whose members lynched Democrat Frank Kratovil in effigy. Koch is the 19th richest man in the world. They recently renamed the New York State Theater in Lincoln Center the David H. Koch Theater.
These aren't just some organizations that these guys gave money to. They run them.
This extreme violent behavior is being organized and funded by those at the highest levels of the conservative infrastructure. It's not some sideline, some quirky hobby. It is the function and purpose of these organizations to threaten and intimidate elected officials in order to subvert the will of the electorate to a corporate agenda.
http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/08/04/how-come-cbs-journalists- cant-recognize-paid-lobbyists-when-they-see-them/
Please call your representatives and tell them these thugs do not represent you. Please ask them to support single-payer health insurance
xlntcat
I live in the South and those thugs do not represent me. I have called and expressed this to not only my representatives but to CNN and those who allow their advertising dollar to sponsor Glenn Beck.
The end-of-life language in the healthcare bill is the work of Congressman John Isakson. a republican from Ga. Hospitals have been required to offer Living Wills to adult patients since Geo. H W Bush passed the mandate. As soon as the GOP inserted the language, they were on the floor of house misinterpreting their own work as "killing Grandma." They need to be held accountable for their misrepresentation. We are paying these idiots to behave like "frat boys"
hockeydog
MOZART, your post on "freedomworks" is excellent! Unmasking the little Wizards of this Oz, or Ooze, is probably the best we can do.
My radio dial actually picked up some guy named Michael Savage yesterday, and it was like listening to something from Alice in Wonderland.
That knucklehead was turning everything around, portraying the pawns that the insurance industry is paying to bus in to these "town-hall" meetings, as ordinary everyday Americans.
When you listen to the yabbering of these yahoos, it becomes clear that they are just ordinary waddlers, who finally have their chance at ten minutes of fame. Doesn't matter what noises emerge from their mouths, as long as it is loud!
But, having learned the hard way, (Cheney taught us this, that sounds carry meaning), it is important to not discount this new high-profile lobbying technique.
Let's give credit where it is due. The Insurance Industry is four-square behind the GOP. AIG loves the GOP!
littlepitcher
George the First's admin denied seniors payment for flu shots by Medicare. Additionally, "commodities" programs which feed low-income seniors gave out huge quantities of cholesterol-high processed cheeses and half-fat canned pork, presumably in an effort to kill off even more seniors.
We need public option, but with loud public watchdogs. Sic'em, Beast!
galeso
littlepitcher, the increase in obesity has come from carbohydrate calories and mostly (60%) from fresh fruits and vegetables, OK sugar is the other 40%. The carbon tax should raise the cost of fresh fruits and vegetables and correct some of this.
hockeydog, The Insurance Industry is four-square behind the GOP and the GOP can do nothing to keep this from passing because they do not have the votes to stop it or even to slow it down. What is your point?
xlntcat, Glen Beck is an idiot, he reminds me of Al Franken when he was on Air America just spewing whatever rhetoric that gets passed to them.
MOZART, you are right we should have not fought the civil war, spared 3 million lives, and gone our own way. Didn't we learn anything from Iraq?
commie47 (sorry I could not resist), 428% increase is a totally meaningless number all by itself. It could mean they went from $1 profit to $5.28 or $1 gadzillion profit to $5.28 gadzillion. If neverlate is correct, you are complaining about lest than 10% in a good year and 1% or 2% in 2000. The health insurance industry is spending $2 per employee per day to save their industry, is that so wrong?
Conor Friedersdorf, is saying we should fix the problems and do what can be done, not throw 500,000 people out of their jobs and start from scratch.
After "Universal" health care gets passed what are we willing to do for the 5 billion (that is right BILLION) who will still be uninsured?
Has anyone checked to see what companies have done rescissions? Does Blue Cross or Allstate do this or is it mostly done by the tiny companies?
The birthers are wacko, do they really want Biden as President? You know the guy who asked someone in a wheelchair to stand up and take applause?
incognito-ergo-sum
I heard Glenn sobbing on the radio today because the MSM missed some do of his, or something he liked. After his "Poisoning Pelosi" video, what does he expect? respect? No way.
wolfboi1970
Well said... I'm a Georgia Boy myself, and LOATHE the IDIOT GOPers, they are nothing but BAD liars, sneeks, self-serving, thiefs, who preach "family values" and "christian ways" all while screwing a hooker, hurting their wife, disowning their gay son, and makes CHRIST ALMIGHTY weep openly in heaven that they tie their hate filled morals to the bible.
****** HILLARY 12' ****** PUT AN ABLE PERSON IN OFFICE
BullMoose
Dick Armey alway's seems drunk to me. He stutters like he just had 4 martinins everytime i've heard him speak.
Just another goat bound to the outer darkness. Money loving Mammon worshipping phoney.
southernborn
I almost took offense at your comment about the south being "the most ignorant" but after I read you are from TX, I figure you have the right to say that. I was born in the south, raised in the south, live in the south, as have my ancestors for at least 350 years but these damn people make us all look like fools and what is more sad is how many people in the south seem to buy into this crap. It is beyond me to figure it out or to explain it.
It isn't just the presidents race.......it is more, I think. I heard this stupid woman at Arlen Specter's town hall, say (something like this), we don't need to government to help people who are uninsured, they can be helped by the community (like I said those aren't the words she said but that was the meaning). Now, I guess they think it better for people to have to put out jars in stores begging for money for treatments they can't pay for. That is what these people want, to always have something that someone else doesn't and to have that person be needy. Must make them feel very superior and helpful when they drop a dollar into a jar, wow! that person who has cancer now only needs 500,000 more generous souls to add a dollar to the jar. I do donate when I see these situations but I'd prefer these people have insurance.
Doing piecework legislation on health care would be fine if they took care of the biggest problem first and that is the uninsured. What is suggested by this article is take care of the insured by changing rules for them first, it would not pave the way to help get insurance for those who don't have it, it would still be this hard to pass that part of it.
dana64
A Good SOUTHERNBORN.....I had to laugh at that line ...........i remember George Bush used it too........
DO they not realize that most of the DEFICIT and DEBT of Gov. is due to the expense for keeping Medicare and MEDICAID etc.........could INDIVIDUAL good HEarted people have come up with those AMOUNTS??
they live in the MIDDLE AGES it seems
newswoman
At the risk of offending many people from the south, I think the Baptist Church is partly responsible for the ignoranace of these people. They would have people believe in a fundamentalist belief in the 'Bible, i.e. Noah's Ark, Virgin Birth, Garden of Eden, Lot's wife into pillar of salt, etc. These stories are ALLEGORIES, but they believe they all happened as told. If you can believe in this stuff as literal truth, you can believe anything.
aBigDeal
Yeah, because Left-wing groups Moveon.org and ACORN aren't centrally organized, aren't financed by billionaires, and don't hire people to do their dirty work.
Gimme a break.
mathomas
MoveOn and ACORN also don't strategically order their supporters to silence legitimate debate at town hall meetings with synchronized screaming. This isn't freedom of speech, but a tactic is straight out of the Nazi playbook that is anti-American by definition.
Ctmom4
Yes they do. Organizing for America has sent e mails calling for their members to come out and "drown out" the protesters. George Soros has spent millions funding these left wing organizations. They don't need to hire people to do their dirty work. They just call out the union goons from SEIU.
incognito-ergo-sum
They don't do dirty work, they inform the public and ACORN lets mickey mouse sign up 100 times to vote, but then they flag those registrations and poor mickey doesn't get in the voting booth.
Left wing groups have the facts, and facts have a left wing bias.
dana64
you are wrong .............the financing behind the right wing groups and think tanks is far far bigger,
THE left has only these 2 groups the RIGHT WING so many more,
BESIDES the Right wingers are not afraid to BULLY and INTIMIDATE
the left is very TAME by comparison.
newswoman
the GOP set up Acorn as a 'strawman'. It was never anything more than a voter registration group. Another GOP lie.
This user is no longer registered.
n--Y--CharlestonDoverThis user is no longer registered.
n--Y--CharlestonDoverReason
Spoken like a true Dittohead.
You forgot to ask "where is his birth certificate?"
Ctmom4
The Town Hall yesterday, in New Hampshire, was filled with Obama supporters and campaign workers. They were bussed in, complete with their printed signs. The only violence at a town hall so far has been by SEIU goons who assaulted a man selling flags, outside of the meeting.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
incognito-ergo-sum
Of course the folks in the South are no longer racial, and your post is a glowing example of Southern education.
koyaanisqatsi
CharlestonDover: You should apologize for a lot more than your misspellings.
dana64
OBAMA has saved Capitalism................that is by running a DEFICIT......so think again.
THOSE WHO Left a MESS for him to fix SCREWED AMERICA.
Think again.
Hatred BLINDS............Obama IS GREAT
elldeen
No, Reason, you are wrong. CharlestonDover spoke like a true DOODOOHEAD cos Rush and his fans are so full of it!
newswoman
The racism about Obama is as much in the north as in the south. Just watch some of those healthcare meetings. In this case it seems to be generational. Senior citizens (born in the 30's and 40's) liked those days when they could 'look down' on blacks and use the 'N' word.
mcmchugh99
I don't believe they are scared. This is just another Republican scare campaign. They always do things like these, since they oppose all health care reform and are trying to block it any way they can.
The Democrats cannot give in to this scare campaign, or they will not get another chance to pass health care reform in a generation.
lisaqmoon
I lived in Texas for over 25 yrs of my life & in the south completely & I do not ever remember running into the nutty fringe people keep talking about. The south is full of a hell of allot of people from all over the country & the world. Yes there are the crazy fringe there I am sure but no more than up north. Now that I am closing in on 50 very shortly & my folks are in their early 70's this bill has me concerned. I have no interest in stressing out about my folks having to talk to some jerk about their care every 3 or 5 yrs. Yeah that will keep them real healthy. Nothing like depressing the elderly to make them live long and healthy life. My dad has a plastic heart valve & when or if he needs a new one before he passes on I want him to get it. I don't care if he will only live 6 months more. He is my dad and I don't want the government making the decision for us.
ryokisan
I can't believe you lived in texas and never ran into anybody like that!! haha. I live in Texas and I grew up with it. Of course, I grew up in a small rural town so maybe that is part of hte reason...
newswoman
No, you would rather have the insurance company do it. Dope! Besides you only make out a living will ONCE, then give it to your doctor so he or she will know what you want done at the end. There is no death panel. Stop believing such silliness.
Carl Bernstein (All the President's Men) couldn't get his insurance to approve an MRI!! It costs $7000! We need healthcare reform and bad.
case1234
I have good employer provided health insurance, but 47 million Americans don't... 7 years ago me and my family were in that number while facing medical difficulties. It was not a good time. I still remember that experience and support health care reform.
But, you don't have go through something recognize a moral obligation.
democracyforall
I know people living all over the U.S., including the south, who are scared to death of this bill. They don't health care changed forced on them . This is not a regional issue.
sophia5
When you spend so many years standing in DMV Lines,
or hearing how broke the government run post office is,
or how the government ran Amtrack into the ground, or
how veterans' government health care is run, how medicare
is broke, how social security is broke,
we should all be worried about
government running anything with competence.
Even Obama said FedEx and UPS are run well, while the
U.S. Post Office is in trouble. Let's see, private companies
successful, US post office run poorly.
Everyone get ready. TAKE A NUMBER !!!
ryokisan
Sophia5,
Don't stand in line then, use the Internet....it's been around awhile now and it works pretty well. I haven't been to the DMV in YEARS. I don't know about you but I went to a public university and I also got governemnt loans and when I contact the department of education about my loans they are always incredibly friendly, very helpful and very willing to help. As a matter of fact, and you are probably ALL going to think this is BS but it's the truth, anytime I've ever contacted the IRS about anytihng they have been friendly and helpful. Really. Not that I do it all the time or anything....but when I have it has been a good experience. And let me just say that plenty of private companies have kept me on hold or in menu after menu just TRYING to get to someone to talk to. And I highly doubt that calling a government agency about somethign is going to get me a cheaper overseas outsourced Customer Service line. You may not like the government expansion but government does put people to work. And I'm in healthcare and the VA HIT system is first class. I don't know about the care b/c I don't now anyone currently who uses it but the HIT system is top notch.
ryokisan
Also, i lived in Japan and they had a form of national health insurance and I nor anyone I knew faced rationing or long lines/waits for care. I have known people in Cananda who have said that for some non essential tests the waits can be long but they still prefer their system to ours b/c at least everyone has the same level of access to healthcare. Also, if the government plan isn't efficient then more people just go to the private companies who don't defraud their customers due to regs and the competition of the government.
JCSAtx71
sophia5,
Your post is another that is completely and entirely WRONG, and they are flawed on a couple of points.
As of the very moment, more than 48 million Americans are uninsured. The reasons for this are many, but among the most common:
Insurance for American citizens is offered, in large part, by private companies. Private insurance companies, simply by virtue of being for-profit entities, are beholden NOT to the individuals they are paid to insure in the first place, but to the shareholders of the Insurance companies themselves;
Due to rising health insurance premiums, many smaller employers simply cannot afford to offer health benefits;
Most companies require a minimum length of service from an employee before even offering the option of purchasing health coverage from a PRIVATE insurance company;
Nationally, family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance increased 119 percent between 1999 and 2008, and could increase another 94 percent to an average $23,842 per family by 2020 if cost growth continues on its current course, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report.
President Obama's proposal is designed to bring a government-sponsored option into the equation. If an individual is happy with any insurance they are already receiving, they are welcomed to keep it. For those persons whose employer is unable to offer insurance, or if the employee is simply unable to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of premiums, that individual will then have the option of receiving their health coverage from a public company.
Your attempt to call what is nothing for than another OPTION to those Americans who, for whatever reason, are simply unable to afford insurance from the private companies whose mantra continues to be something akin to "Love it, or leave it," is not only wrong, it also smacks of hysteria.
democracyforall
This is a national issue.
A way to solve health care for the uninsured is to establish non-profit cooperative (NPC) plans with the government offering solutions with those plans and cooperating with local/regional governments.
There would be 2 types of NPC plans.
1. H-NPC - Healthwise Non-Profit Cooperative
This plan would be set up for those individuals who are termed uninsurable due to their health risks, such as a heavy smoker with lung cancer or someone who has a progressive, untreatable disease.
All research hospitals and hospital universities would be required to treat these patients.
2. F-NPC - Financial Non-Profit Cooperative
This plan would be set up for those individuals who can not afford insurance because the premiums are too high for them and their families. Any doctor or hospital would be accessible to these patients.
The terms of treatment for H-NPC patients would be this:
The funding for these patients would come from various sources:
1. The government will establish all services and goods purchased for these patients to be tax exempt.
2. The insurance companies with NPC plans would get guarantees from governments for funding.
3. The patient's income and assets would be assessed regarding their ability to pay.
If the patient has the financial ability to make monthly premium payments, they will pay an affordable rate based upon their income.
Funding would come from 5 sources:
1. Federal subsidizing - up to 30%
2. State subsidizing - up to 30%
3. Local/Regional subsidizing - up to 30%
4. Fundraising Donations, Benefits or Lotteries - up to 10% or supplemented by patient premiums
5. Patients who are financially able to pay, based upon their income and total assets.
All funding would be managed at the local/regional level, each patient being given personal contact.
BullMoose
SHIBI MOZART LOVER
MOZART
Is it my imagination or are there more lunatics walking around and posting now than there used to be... say five years ago.
It must have something to do with the country going broke and most States closing their Mental health Clinics.
The poor dears are roaming around in a state of complete paranoia. Just today I heard some idiot Republican tell people that Obamas health plan will kill all the old people. Then there are the Birthers. Then the killings of Doctors and the guard t the Hallocaust Museum. Jeez. The whole country is getting run over by the lunatic fringe. We try to ignore them and laugh at them but they are getting more dangerous all the time. Crazies running loose is never a good thing.
Here in Texas the insurance companies have hired busses full of people
who are instructed to disrupt public meetings with their signs and their screaming o bscenities about the Obama administration.
These people do not care about fixing a broken health care system, they are determined to break Obama, what about that do you not understand?
Texas is soiling there collective pants since this country elected a black President. What about that do you not understand??
Barack Obama is our President, he wants to fix the health care system in this country.God knows it needs fixing.
You need to understand that and not be so fast to join the crazies.
xlntcat
The insurance industry is shelling out $1.3 million per day to kill health reform. They are the only ones who benefit from the status quo. Their paid stooges are in buses in every state and in my state the local network affiliates are in bed with them also. CNN refused to run an Ad that counters the claims of the infamous Patient's Rights group. It is hard to fight that much money. Check and see how many millions they have paid your representatives not to represent you.
hungryhungryhorus
More than there used to be 5 years ago? Where the hell were you Timothy McVeigh set off a bomb in Utah? Did you completely miss out on the abortion clinic bombings and black church burnings in the 90's?
rtchap2
I live in Texas and I must say that everything you say is a load of CRAP! I cannot count the number of people that regret voting for Obama. You broadcast a ton of misinformation just like your President. Insurance companies have not filled one bus that I have seen. I tried to get into Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee's townhall in Houston yesterday and did not see one cronie from either party, just very concerned citizens. You are part of the group that is spreading misinformation like Obama saying AARP has endorsed his plan. Texas has not missed a beat since Obama has become President. Strongest economy, lower unemployment numbers and alot of companies from California are moving here. The U.S. Post office is closing some shops around this great nation and you want the Govt. to run healthcare. Gimme a break!
djanimaequeen
"I cannot count the number of people that regret voting for Obama."
That's because you live in TEXAS!! BTW, he's YOUR president too. If you disagree then get the hell out of my country.
AlanD2
The AARP, while not endorsing his plan, does agree with Obama's goals.
If you want private insurance companies to continue to run health care, consider this July report:
"An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period."
incognito-ergo-sum
The Postal Office must, I repeat must, handle any mail they get, which is the equivalent of public education where all children must be educated as much as possible.
There is no way the P.O. could be a for profit organization. You know this so why keep using this tired old argument.
AARP had not unequivocally turned down the Pres, just some jumping the gun here.
I will bet you gave old George the benefit of the doubt if he did something similar.
Pierretrudeau
I live in Canada. We have government healthcare and it's great. What you are told about government run health care is nonsense. I'd rather have healthcare run by the government than by greedy insurance companies who care more about profit than patient health.
You need to get a grip
elldeen
You remind me of when Sarah Palin said that people should "stop making stuff up". Then she turned right around - and claimed that Obama wants to establish a "Death Panel" in his health care reform. But the insurance companies already have their own Death Panels because they make life and death decisions all the time. So ain't this the pot calling the kettle black?
ryokisan
RTCHAP2. uh, no its not. I live there too and there are plenty of very poor rural areas. I wouldn't be boasting about the freakin' californians moving here and buying up land and building freakin strip malls everywhere. It's ridiculous. And I don't know what part of Texas you live in but where I live, there is practically a race line down the middle of the city east/west. Now, everythign the poster said may not be 100% true, obviously, but EVERYTHING isn't CRAP either. Some of it's true. Let's be honest here. how about Texas education?
Texas is #49 in verbal SAT scores in the nation (493) and #46 in average math SAT scores (502).
Texas is #36 in the nation in high school graduation rates (68%).
Texas is #33 in the nation in teacher salaries. Teacher salaries in Texas are not keeping pace with the national average. The gains realized from the last state-funded across-the-board pay raise authorized in 1999, which moved the ranking from 33 to as high as 26th in the nation, have disappeared over the last five years.
Texas was the only state in the nation to cut average per pupil expenditures in fiscal year 2005, resulting in a ranking of #40 nationally; down from #25 in fiscal year 1999.
Texas is #6 in the nation in student growth. The general student population in Texas public schools grew by 11.1% between school years 1999 and 2005, with the largest percent of growth seen among low income and minority children.
Between school years 1999 and 2005, the number of central administrators employed by Texas public schools grew by 32.5%, overall staffing in public schools grew by 15.6%, while the number of teachers grew only 13.3%.
djanimaequeen
It's not your imagination. Yesterday one moron posted that "according" to Obama, 5 billion people will be uninsured. 5 billion. Let me say it again because I think it's the most ridiculous thing I have ever read in my entire life: 5 billion. Does this person realize there are only 300 million people in the US? We need a public option AND we desperately need funding for mental health care facilities.
rtchap2
Yes you do desperately need a mental health care facility and check in quickly. Obama is a JOKE and you need not slam people for their opinion. Thats what all Liberals do. Oh yeah I very much disagree with you and by the way what country are you in. Must be North Korea!
mathomas
"Thats what all Liberals do," rtchap2? Nice generalization. But you seem to have completely missed djanimaequeen's point. Erroneously claiming that 5 billion people will be uninsured is not an opinion: it's a grievous misstatement that has no basis whatsoever in fact. An opinion is something based on an informed consideration of the issues. Someone who thinks that 5 billion people will be uninsured if health care reform passes has clearly not read or thought very much about this issue, and is just making stuff up or repeating someone else's disinformation.
scott1607
rtchap2... He's not slamming them for their opinion, he's slamming them for not being able to count yet opening their mouths to some very stupid stuff. And in any event, some opinions need to be slammed. Just because you have one doesn't mean it's worth anything.
Ctmom4
I guess that would explain why Nancy Pelosi said that every week, 500,000,000 Americans were losing their jobs.
ryokisan
rtchap2!!! the poster wasnt slamming someone for their opinon! They were slamming them for the ridiculously unfactual, ney IMPOSSIBLE statement they made. Did you even read the post?
newswoman
RTCHAP, you think Obama is a joke? HAHA. And you probably voted for the dumbest president in the history of the U. S., George W. Bush.Who can take you seriously?
incognito-ergo-sum
I suppose the pay is better than standing on a street corner dressed as a slice of pizza, but are there some jobs too low to take? Remember the telephone callers who quit rather than lie about Obama?
Sorry the folks in Texas will do anything for a buck.
Dreamer4Ever
If we wait, it'll never happen.
That's the danger with "incremental" reform. Ultimately, every reform, no matter how huge in intent, is "incremental" when it starts out. It'll take years of tweeking to get this right.
But when you aim low, you accomplish low.
We've been aiming too low for 60 years.
kaonashi
A dilemma this president has is that a certain segment of the population will oppose him regardless of what he proposes. He could discover a cure for cancer and find opposition. In that light, it makes sense for him to swing for the bleachers. What I expect will happen is that an extremely limited single-payer program will be passed - and in succeeding years, your ideas of incremental reform will be realized as its benefits are understood. Yet without a government option, we'll just continue tossing money down the bottomless insurance company hole. The government option, even limited, is all we need at the moment.
MaliciousDisorder
That segment is over 58 million.
Dobodob
I'm for the private option - you pay for your health care and I'll pay for mine. The way to save money is to require payment for care. No money, no care. I think in a civilized society, those without the means to obtain what they want would stop asking others to get it for them.
incognito-ergo-sum
And no neonatal million dollar care, no care for children who are poor and no care for folks with less money and great health than Dobodob has.
Everyone else is left to get sick and maybe spread something to old DODO.
ryokisan
I accidently read your name as Dodobob but that makes sense based on your statement (those without the means to obtain what they WANT would stop asking others to get it for them) really? This is your answer to healthcare reform...uh yes, I have cancer, I want healthcare but I don't deserve it b/c I can't pay hundred of thousands of dollars????? It's not like wanting a damn lexis and being pissed you can't have one and have to drive a kia instead for goodness sakes!
newswoman
Are you talking about children and babies? Dododob? That's who needs healthcare, not able bodied men (that is REP propaganda). Stop listening to the uninformed and study the problem yourself, then you might understand the real problem. Poor babies...no FREE coverage!
Shockacon
This is a reasoned discourse on the fears, the fearmongers, the challenges America faces, and constructive proposals solutions for achieving sorely needed reforms in healthcare. Where does one begin to attack the many-headed monster? Insurance companies? Medical school training? Doctors with controlling shares in for-profit hospitals? Pharmaceutical companies? Drug advertising in the media? Lobbyists in Washington, DC? Legislators who won't take a stand before they stick their fingers in the air to see which way the political winds are blowing? Extreme right-wing conservatives who light the match with disinformation then stoke the fires with hatred? Something has gone terribly wrong here and now that Pandora's box has been opened, it cannot be closed again. Americans with guns, an attitude, a persecution complex, and frustrations born of intolerance and resistance to change should make us all pause. Should things get out of hand to the point of violence, it will be time for those of us who want to discuss the bills under consideration, reach a conclusion, and advise our legislators how we think they should proceed to call for law and order.
PhilMcRoin
advise away at your legislator.. good luck with that..
and.. Drug advertising in the media.. I remember the first time I saw an ad for prescription medicine on tv I thought, "what the hell was that?" Am I on some sort of medical journal channel or something? nope, just regular TV.. now it is so common nobody even blinks.
(this post may cause headaches, diarrhea, insomnia, canker sores, high cholesterol, and acne. In most cases, side effects of this post are minor and either do not require medical attention or can be treated easily. However, if you develop any serious problems, such as suicidal thoughts or behavior, hallucinations, or panic attacks, notify your healthcare provider immediately.. if you have one)
xlntcat
The irony is that it is those who carry signs accusing the other side for facisms and Nazism that are behaving like facists and Nazis. They are the one's trying to rule through misinformation and intimidation. They are the ones determined to stamp out democracy and the democratic process.
PhilMcRoin
You mean the people that are being led by corporations that continually meddle with our government in an attempt to gain control of public policy are accusing others of fascism?
cravermi
Even the incremental reform approach would bring out the same distortions and angry, unproductive rhetoric. I want to be positive, however, Obama will get no support from Republicans on anything. 40% of the stimulus package was tax cuts and yet had NIL Republican support.
I hate to say this but the only thing that Republicans hate more than a Democrat, is a Democrat that is black.
ukeman
good grief man; talk about beating around the bush.
Does the country need reform or not?
I think you left a lot out; namely what most sane, objective observers realize; we are dealing with the warped GOP.
I don't have to catalogue their dirty policitics married to racism, corporate greed and deception; it's pretty obvious.
(there are a few reasons for fear right there; enough to get some people to vote against their own best interest.)
GPatton
We need someone to stand up to big Pharma and the insurance crooks. Obama's doing neither. Maybe a future president will. But we also need people to show they're concerned about government mandated enthenasia. But also that Uncle Sam will not have to pick up an enormous bill for keeping people on life support indefinitely. George Patton
neverlate
I think what we are really seeing here is a bunch of old people who realize that the Government is about to let other people in on their cozy Medicare deal, and they don't like it.
hungryhungryhorus
I'd like to see someone go around at these town hall meetings with a petition to end socialist programs like Medicare and Social Security. I wonder how long it would take all those people to shut the hell up then...
cbeenthere
Most of the people I hear talking about ending SS and Medicare want it done after they get their money out, they are pretty specific about that. Of course, what they conveniently forget is the equal share their employers have put in, and their share only amounts to half of what is "on the books" for them. Let them take that to the bank at one percent or buy 1 share of stock. Maybe they should consider that before they agitate to end these programs. As a former employer of a base of 15, and at times up to 65 for fifteen years, I would be in "fat city" if I had what I put in for them, and I want back what they didn't mind having contributed "for" them at the time. Big talkers got it all figured out.
Lilli917
Most of these people suffer from a lot of misinformation and aren't able to sort it all out. Did anyone else notice that the man who was screaming at Arlen Spector yesterday was on TV this am. Turns out he is on permanent disability for his "lung disease". How on earth can he scream and carry on like that if he has such bad lungs that he can't work? Who on earth does he think creates his disability check? Maybe his case should be reviewed!
AlanD2
Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY) offered an amendment on July 30th that would eliminate government-run Medicare. Not a single member of Congress, including 57 Republicans, voted for the amendment.
Does this mean that House Republicans will now shut up? (Stupid question.)
OldCrow
Why would any rational person believe the government would improve health care?
Medicaid is going bankrupt
Medicare is going bankrupt
Social Security is going bankrupt
A 'cash for clunkers' program that was supposed to run for months, ran out of money in less than a week.
A trillion dollar stimulus program is not stimulating the economy or preventing and has tripled our driven out debt.
And the President wants us to believe the government won't mess up the health care system even more than it is?..
Heck Congress doesn't even know what's in the bill they are voting for..
He should start off small, fixing one area of health care (excessive litigation, or medicaid fraud) and gain the confidence of the public.
whalie
OldCrow,
-Actually 'cash for clunkers' ran out of money because it was extremely successful and popular, not because it was mismanaged. It was meant to stimulate car sales and it did.
-The stimulus has actually shown some growth in the economy, very small growth but remember it was an 18-month plan, not a 3-month plan.
-Congress has aides that read through these enormous bills and report back to them. So while Senators do not read the bill themselves they are aware what is in it when they vote for it (which can also be disappointing).
For every government program that has problems (and there are a lot of them), there is another that is doing just fine. Government mails your letters, protects your borders, puts men on the moon, provides relief/support during a natural crisis and however poorly managed, takes care of our vets, our disabled and elderly.Yes government needs to cut waste and red tape, but generalizations as "government can't do anything right" are disingenuous, cynical and just plain wrong.
newswoman
Medicare and Social Security prograams can be funded by raising the rate of taxation. It's as simple as that. Why don't you people rage about the cost of the wars? We've spent billions if not trillions on these unwinnable wars. You watch, we will have to pull out of Afghanistan and even Iraq without winning. Just like Viet Nam and Korea. And in the mean time, many lives will have been lost needlessly.
MaliciousDisorder
If you want to pay more taxes just send a check and leave other peoples money alone. I'll bet the people in Iraq are happy to vote with out death. Go find a protest to join, maybe in France.
OldCrow
I'm not 'for' any wars, or their funding. I've just worked with the government enough to know they generally make things worse not better.
AlanD2
MaliciousDisorder: I'm glad to see that you are still malicious. If you don't like paying taxes, get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan. We should probably cut our military down to a third of its current size too.
Alaric
By all means raise taxes.Continue increasing the transfer of wealth from young to old. Young families don't need the money to provide for their kids and their future. Senior citizens do. They who have had a lifetime to plan and have foolishly put their hopes in gov't. Raise their taxes and keep heaping debt on those who have no voice in the process.
AlanD2
OldCrow said: "A trillion dollar stimulus program is not stimulating the economy or preventing and has tripled our driven out debt."
Trippled our national debt? You've got to be kidding. At the end of the Bush 43 administration (which doubled our national debt) our debt was about $10 trillion.
I think you've been drinking too much of your handle.
connie47
First of all, it's not Obamacare. He has authored exactly ZERO of these bills. He wants healthcare/insurance reformed and Congress is working out the various bills.
Second, anytime a hugely-profitable industry, like health insurance, coughs up over a million bucks a day to defeat something, you'd better be damned suspicious of why they are so desperate to defeat it. They have one motive and one motive only - to pick your pocket clean.
neverlate
The Helathcare Insurance industry is reasonably profitable with gross margins around 19% and profits in the low single-digit percentile. It is not "hugely profitable. For example, Microsoft, Oracle and Apple have substantially higher margins than the insurers.
connie47
Health insurance company profits rose 428% between 2000 and 2007. That's four hundred and twenty-eight for those who think I left out a decimal point.
Premiums rise between 5 and 15% faster than earnings, depending on which study, which state. If your income kept pace, you're one of the privileged few in America. Insurance reform is for the other 98% of America.
jbuzz1
Connie47 - where do you get your 428% numbers? A large percentage of Americans are insured by non-profit Blue Cross...how do you factor their financial performance into your equation?
connie47
It's not my equation. I'll quote one source:
"UnitedHealth Group, the parent of UnitedHealthcare, just reported second-quarter profits more than double compared to last year. For all publicly traded health insurance companies, profits were up 428 percent from 2000 to 2007. The CEO of UnitedHealth Group made $324 million over a recent five-year period, while the CEOs of 23 top health insurance companies made a combined $1.4 billion over that same period."
PhilMcRoin
where does this 19% come from?? what is your source on THAT information? You forgot to mention that insurance premiums went up 87% between 2000 and 2007. For anyone to say that it is ok for these people to take your money and leave you high and dry when you need help is out of their mind.. Here are some more numbers for you..
Where I work, we have a pretty good insurance plan (aetna).. If you have a wife and 2 kids, your premium is $670 a month. If your make the nation average of 50k a year that is 16% of your income.. and that is only the premiums. If you actually plan on using your insurance you have co-pays, deductibles, out of network fees, prescriptions, etc. add 16% with 21% taxes and you get the scraps to live on. I'd rather pay a little more in taxes and keep that other 16%, but then I might just be crazy. I know I should feel sorry for all those insurance salesmen who have to pay their mortgage on their summer houses in the Hamptons but for some reason I just don't.
AlanD2
neverlate: And yet these insurance companies do this kind of stuff to increase their profits:
"An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period."
allonfla
The only thing scaring America is the GOP, the Conservatives and about 99% of the media who fail to separate fact from fiction and instead choose to entertain liars, swindlers and profiteers with absolutely no push back. Obama couldn't be more clear on what will NOT be in the bill, but turn on the news and you will some knuckle head anchor person giving legitimacy to liars like Newt.
Another thing scaring america? He's Black and they are idiots.
shoabear
alllonfla,
your comment is short and simple but completely sums up the problem. The state of the media is sickening and the fact that people like Glenn Beck are being taken seriously by some is well...ugh.
AlanD2
allonfla: The MSM no longer deals with news. Their only interest is in controversial sound bites that increase their ratings (and profits).
newswoman
MSNBC has the most informative morning program on TV, bar none. They have people from business, government, Dems and Reps, writers and other most interesting people. Faux News has Steve Doucy and Brian Kilmeade and sometimes their guest is GLENN BECK, the biggest wingnut on TV. 'nough said!
Holland
Conceding the lies about Obama's healthcare bill to make the tortured argument that easily manipulated Americans are "futile ground" in which to inspire fear, panic, and hostility excuses willful ignorance and is poor reasoning. Sure, in any discussion several differing points of view will compete to frame the debate, and both sides may mislead, but what's happening here is dangerous. It panders to the very worst in human nature and it doesn't stop until there's violence.
The question is; would tackling healthcare piecemeal sooth the fears of an easily manipulated public? The problem is not that the Healthcare bill is messy (it is, almost all bills are), it's that the Republicans use the ambiguity to terrifying affect the way David used sling and a stone against Goliath. They attack suddenly with an unconventional, indeed unethical, weapon (a lie so outrageous it must be "true") to, if not outright win, then assure everyone loses. Minorities can only win wars, whether legislative or battlefield, when they break from convention and decorum. It wouldn't necessarily matter if President Obama chose to keep it simple, the Republicans would keep lying to scare your grandma. It's all they have.
Thank you.
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