Health Care For Us, Or Wealth Care For Them?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 26, 2010 by admin in Politics
Friday, February 26th, 2010I’d feel a lot better about buying insurance if I didn’t feel like I was supporting Wall Street’s gambling addiction.
I must confess to being a bit of a simpleton in some ways, so could someone please explain to me what the health care summit and the health care reform act have to do with reforming health care? And since when does someone “win” a summit meeting? I had to check the definition of the phrase to make sure I’m not crazy for asking that question. Personally, I’m a little stuck on a few ideas, one being that “fixing the health care problem” means that, well, someone will be fixing the health care problem, not just making sure that we all have an equal opportunity to take part in it. And by “it” I mean “the problem”. I feel odd finding myself aligning with a lot of Republicans (although I have pretty liberal social attitudes, I think I’ve formed my own little political party in my head) on an issue like the individual mandate. If I’ve already opted to not give my money to an industry that generates 20% of its revenue from my boss wanting me dead, why would I start now? Oh yeah. Because I’d get a tax penalty if I didn’t. This is starting to feel a little creepy. After being told that my tax dollars would be used to bail out the gambling-addicted banking and insurance industries, now I’m being told that if I don’t give them business, I’ll pay more taxes? Why do I feel like I’m trapped in some weird revolving door? Oh. It just might be the combination of the Goldman Sachs Government (they were negotiating a deal to acquire the treasury department last year, you know) and the influence peddling of the the Media Lobbying Complex. I’m glad I read a lot. It keeps me alertly apolitical. Everyone seems to have an informed opinion on health care, but if you really want to know what’s wrong with health care, ask a nurse.
Why I Don’t Care If The Health Care Bill Passes
[ Comments Off ]Posted on January 3, 2010 by admin in Health & Wellness, Politics
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010America’s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system. But the Health Care Bill certainly will present someone with a bill.
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I feel sorry for Barack Obama. Not only will history likely blame him for the long tail of the bank failures and bailouts for which the Bush administration was actually responsible, it will also likely blame him (because of the passage of the health care bill that has divided the country recently) for the continued malignancy that is our decrepit, bloated, and corrupt “health care system”. I put that phrase in quotes because I believe that – as the late Walter Cronkite once said – “America’s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system“. While a bunch of Democratic congressmen who have nothing to worry about regarding their health care plans sit around patting themselves on the back for passing a health care bill that has supposedly been the dream of generations of Democratic politicians, the fact is that things won’t change for many, and we’ll still be left saddled with the most expensive and least effective health care in the developed world. The bill does NOTHING to fix what any intelligent person sees as the fundamental problem; it might in fact worsen it. Whether you describe the problem as being a result of government meddling and insurance, or as patient overuse of treatment because insurance will pay for it, or as a result of doctors requiring malpractice insurance, you will notice the word “insurance” keeps popping up. The fact is that the mind-boggling arrangements for billing and payment that exist today would be IMPOSSIBLE without the insurance industry supporting its piece of what really is an incredibly elaborate and blatant ponzi scheme being pulled off by an industry and a profession that operates under the ultimate smokescreen: an illusion of benevolence Read the rest of this entry »
Poll: Are You A Healthtard Like Me?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 1, 2009 by admin in Politics
Thursday, October 1st, 2009After hours of reading, I still don’t feel like I understand the current health care legislation. How about you?
I must confess that in spite of reviewing the current proposed health care legislation in its original forms, and reading a variety of summaries from both sides of the issue , I am still completely mystified as to what’s being decided. This is one instance in which I’m not going to play armchair quarterback and criticize Barack Obama (whom I once fervently supported) when this legislation ends up failing to serve the best interests of the US citizenry, because what I DO understand is that he is confronting a hopelessly corrupt and greed-driven industry with literally billions of dollars at its disposal, and hundreds of politicians fully in its pocket. I haven’t been fully insured since 1998, mostly because I simply don’t believe in the very foundations of of our health care system, and the way the insurance industry (which is really just an investment gambit) first parasitically attached itself to our right to health and well being, and later helped drive the cost of medical care into an astronomical range that is simply absurd in the context of natural markets and prices, and finally played a central role in the global banking crisis. How can I possibly care about labyrinthine, Rube Goldbergian legislation involving a system I fundamentally don’t support? In spite of these feelings, I remain a little ashamed that I don’t feel better informed. How well do you feel like you understand the legislation? Vote below… Read the rest of this entry »
Cynicism Is A Sorry Kind Of Wisdom
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 10, 2009 by admin in Politics
Thursday, September 10th, 2009What did YOU think about Obama’s health care speech?
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This is not a scientific poll
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It’s rather poignant somehow that it was Barack Obama who said that on the campaign trail. The statement implies a kind of positive hopefulness that is one of the key reasons I voted for the man. I struggle with a certain cynicism about the current administration though; I wonder on occasion if I’ve been duped again by a clever campaign, and I wonder, as I’ve said before, if President Obama is doomed to a Carter-like presidency; a fairly decent man, swimming in the shark tank that is Washington. However, the confidence and clarity of his health care speech last night (full text, single page here ) reinvigorated some of my flailing hope for change in the capitol. I’m almost ashamed that his remark that “I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last” made me think of Clinton, who would’ve prided himself on the ambiguity of the statement, in that he’s not claiming to fix the problem, he might just be the last president to try. I’m not fundamentelly cynical, but I think that to not be cynical about politics is naïve. And although on an individual basis with humans I’m one of the most hopeful people you’ll meet, the ongoing “Brady Bunch Dividing Line” that some American citizens have drawn between themselves seems irreversible, and completely immune to rational thought and discourse. Especially when we have a desperately struggling, profit-driven news media fanning these attitudes at every turn. So a speech like President Obama’s speech last night keeps me going, even if one of the most inspiring lines in the speech was written by Ted Kennedy: “What we face is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.” If we can remember as a country that our real, deeper American values are those regarding a certain character based on decency and reason, we’ll be alright. And I thank the president for reminding us of that. What do you think? Read the rest of this entry »
What Would Jesus Do About Health Care In America?
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on August 16, 2009 by admin in Politics
Sunday, August 16th, 2009And when will the Democratic Party learn that it’s not about principles, it’s about media control?
 See More At Jesus’ General |
The answer to that will probably remain open to speculation. If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’ll probably say “Nothing. He’s dead, if he ever existed“. If you do believe in Jesus though, I’d hazard to guess that you’d agree that he’d say something like “Let’s stop all these wars and heal some sick people with the money we save“, unlike the Christian Right (Why do they call them that anyway? They never are.) which continues to believe in torture and war while attacking the idea of saving lives. On a more personal and practical level though, I’d like to address this Obama fellow, and his handling of the continued irrational ranting of the far right. Hey White House staff! Did you learn NOTHING from the last eight years? Somebody let me at that Napoleonic twit Rahm Emanuel. I’ll kick his midget ass six ways to Sunday and start a new media blitz where the White House DOESN’T moronically defend itself from the psychotic ramblings of a bunch of health and insurance industry funded astroturfers. FRAME THE DEBATE Mr. Obama. Don’t even directly address the idiocy that extreme conservatives and the health/insurance industries spew. Keep talking about change, and MAKE IT HAPPEN. If you keep up the ignorant and ineffective tendency to chomp on every piece of insane spin-bait they throw your way, your agenda remains doomed. Which I wouldn’t mind, except I thought when I voted you guys in that your agenda had something to do with our agenda. I also thought you were smarter than this. Is it too late to take my vote back? Unfortunately, this is not a battle over principles, it’s a battle over the media, and the current administration is losing. Routinely. C’mon you guys, you’re smarter than this. President Obama has more intelligence in his pinky than a county full of red state values voters. Let it show.