What Health Care Proposal?

To the best of my ability to dig through it, I just can't throw my mind or heart behind the health care reform bill proposed yesterday. There appear to be so doggone many holes in it, compared to the promises that won the election for democrats. Great discussion, focused around an op-ed piece in today's New York Times:

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The Big Speech

President Obama will be up against a tough audience we he talks about Health Care Reform Wednesday night; a lot of folks on BOTH sides of the aisle are none-too-happy with the way things are (or are NOT) coming together. This had better be one of his best performances, if he has any hope of getting substantive changes through congress.

Obama, Give Us the Diagnosis Straight

There’s a no-nonsense woman on Capitol Hill who trains newly elected members of Congress on how to become legislators. Her name is Judy Schneider, and one of the first lessons she teaches is that to move legislation, members need to be intimately familiar with the bill’s politics, policy and [...]

Technorati Tags: Health Care Reform, Obama, Healthcare

Civics 101

Okay, friends, neighbors, and countrymen - let's spend a couple of minutes on today's Civics Lesson. You remember that from school, don't you?  Where you learn how the government operates? Seems some folks in the health care debate weren't paying attention in class!

Protester holds up a copy of the ‘U.S.S. Constitution’ to prove that Congress can’t regulate health care.

One of the newest right-wing memes is that federal government doesn’t have the constitutional authority to enact health care reform. At a town hall protest in San Diego on Saturday, one attendee tried to make one of these “tenther” arguments by holding up a copy of the “U.S.S. Constitution’: Right here. I got a book here [...]

The Health Care Debate Continues

Yes, I know what posting this is going to do - rile up some of you who follow me on Facebook.  It's somewhat akin to feed raw meat to sharks, but I'm going to do it anyway.  Thanks to Brilliant at Breakfast for the original post: The Public Option for Dummies:


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Tales of Torture

Call it what you will, but I'm thinking that all of this is getting set to really explode into a continuing story of boundaries being broken by the Bush Administration. Chime in, please. Is this truly trouble or something blown out of proportion?

Interrogator Revved Power Drill In Front of Hooded Detainee -- Report Details More Abuses

CIA interrogators racked an unloaded handgun close to the head of a high-value detainee, and revved a power drill while the detainee stood naked and hooded, according to the just-released CIA IG report. They also threatened to bring in the mother and family of the detainee, al Nashiri, as well as using a stiff brush to induce pain, and standing on Nashiri's shackles, causing cuts and bruises. And interrogators threatened another detainee, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad, that they would kill his children if [...]

It's Time To Stop Believing

Indeed, it's time for any American with a brain to stop believing all of the lies that are being told about the health care proposals. Most importantly, we need to get the word to our elderly relatives that the "death panels" are a creation of fanatics and insurance companies. And they don't exist and WILL NOT exist!

Doug Thompson: Death panels: Another myth that won't die

Over breakfast at my local eatery this weekend, an argument erupted at a nearby table over "death panels" and the ravings of former Alaska governor and Presidential wannabe Sarah Palin. "Obama wants to decide who lives and who dies," an elderly woman said, her voice quaking. "The government will kill people." Her friend tried to calm her down but she wasn't buying.  "I don't want my life decided by the government," she continued. "I'm an American. This used to be [...]

UPDATE: Looks like Chuck Grassley has picked up a solid dose of reality:

Grassley Walks Back 'Pull The Plug On Grandma' Comment

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has backtracked on comments that the government "would decide when to pull the plug on Grandma," saying yesterday on Face the Nation, "It won't do that." Grassley also said, as he has in the past, that [...]

Technorati Tags: Healthcare Reform, Health Care, Death Panels

Ignorance of Americans

Ya' know, sometimes the blatant ignorance of Americans amazes me. Multiple myths about the health care proposals continue to resonate with far too many people.

Poll: Nearly Half Of Americans Believe "Death Panel" Falsehood

There's a pretty striking finding buried in the new NBC/WSJ poll: It turns out nearly half of Americans believe the "death panel" fib. The pollster read a series of predictions about the health care plan, and asked Americans whether they were "likely to happen" or "unlikely to happen." In the "death panel" one, Americans were asked whether the health care proposal [...]

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