Political involvement should be a requirement for citizenship
Last June I urged then-candidate Barack Obama to use his presidency to transform the country for the 21st century world, not simply to repair the damage to our economy, foreign policy, and defenses done by the Bush administration. By that standard, his first three months have been a remarkable success.
Gary Hart: Obama’s First 100 Days and the Politics of Transformation
Arlen Specter will ultimately represent the savior of President Obama’s policy by given him a veto proof senate. This switch is not solely a selfish move to keep his senate seat, but a realization that the Republican Party is no longer a viable governing entity or a source of any good ideas going forward. Make no mistake; Senator Specter is no left winger, so his addition to the party will moderate certain issues which all in all will be good for continued large majority support of the President’s policies.
It is imperative that we make most of the changes to change the direction of the country now as it is unlikely that we will match the momentum that we have now. Single payer healthcare or some thing that gets us there organically is a major issue that we must push. Cap & trade and green energy will also be a catalyst to grow manufacturing jobs in the US. It is now time to call all Democrats and Republican politicians to force them forward before the lobbyist are successful in mitigating this progress.
This shows why Fox News is simply an arm of the Republican party disseminating propaganda instead of news. This type of misinformation can materially affect the publics support for health care reform.
Goler reverses meaning of Obama quote to falsely suggest he supports European-style health care
Summary: Fox News’ Wendell Goler cropped a comment by President Obama and took it out of context to falsely suggest that he supports creating a health care system "like the European countries." In fact, Obama was paraphrasing the town hall question he had been asked before explaining why he opposed such a system.
During the April 24 edition of Fox News’ Special Report, White House correspondent Wendell Goler cropped a comment by President Obama and took it out of context — effectively reversing the statement’s meaning — to falsely suggest that Obama supports creating a health care system "like the European countries." Goler claimed that Obama "doesn’t want to do it halfway" on health care, and then aired a clip from a March 26 online town hall event of Obama saying, "If you’re going to fix it, why not do a universal health care system like the European countries?" Following the clip, Goler reported: "His critics worry universal health care would mean government-run health care." In fact, Obama actually said, "Now, the question is, if you’re going to fix it, why not do a universal health care system like the European countries?" [emphasis added] In doing so, Obama was paraphrasing the town hall question he had been asked — "Why can we not have a universal health care system, like many European countries, where people are treated based on needs rather than financial resources?" — before explaining why he opposed such a system.
During the March 26 "Open for Questions" town hall event, Jared Bernstein, chief economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, read Obama the following question submitted online by "Richard in California": "Why can we not have a universal health care system, like many European countries, where people are treated based on needs rather than financial resources?" After explaining of health care reform, "the reason that I think it is so important is that the high costs of health care are a huge drag on our economy," Obama paraphrased the question he had been asked, saying "Now, the question is, if you’re going to fix it, why not do a universal health care system like the European countries?" before responding that America’s current employer-based system "works for a lot of Americans. And so I don’t think the best way to fix our health care system is to suddenly completely scrap what everybody is accustomed to and the vast majority of people already have. Rather, what I think we should do is to build on the system that we have and fill some of these gaps."
I am one of President Obama’s most ardent supporters. I canvassed for him, I donated to his campaign, I raised money for his campaign, I was a precinct captain, and I continue speaking to conservatives convincing many of them to what we all assume President Obama is trying to attain.
A single payer health care insurance is absolutely the most efficient way to pay for healthcare. Mathematically speaking that fact is incontrovertible. In the past President Obama supported that. The President stated that he would let the facts dictate the solution to this problem. I understand that because of disinformation on the attempt to equate a single payer healthcare insurance with socialize medicine, that many in congress are scared to go outright with such a system. The only acceptable alternative is to have the government provide competing not for profit insurance. The reality over time will likely make the government not for profit insurance option the only viable option which is where we want to be given its efficiency and because the vast majority of premiums will go into healthcare as opposed to shareholder dividends, executive pay, and salesmen pay. Additionally because doctors will have one source to work with for payments, there cost is dramatically reduced given that fewer employees would be necessary and wasted time for the complexity of working with different insurance companies are no longer required.
We have a very small window to effect this drastic change. If it is not done by summer, it will not be done. It is imperative that everyone call their Senator and Congress person and let them know that we must have single payer insurance but that we will accept no less than a not for profit government insurance to compete with the for profit insurance companies.
Senator’s Contact info: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Congress Person Contact info: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/mcapdir.html
Let us be honest. If President Obama allows the insurance companies to win this battle, we can no longer support him as if he caves on one of the most important issues to our country, then it is unlikely he will accomplish any of the other necessary and progressive items we elected him for. If this is the case, it is time for use to work arduously to the creation of a third party as both the Democratic and Republican parties would have proved to be incompetent.
Visit http://www.SinglePayerHealthcareNow.com and http://PoliticalTruths.info for more on rational for single payer healthcare insurance.
The race for healthcare reform is on. It is imperative that we contact the senators. If it is not passed this year we are toast for at least 4 more years.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Montana Democrat, who is expected to take the lead on writing a health care reform package, has said he wants to have a bill ready by the end of June.
The committee’s top Republican, Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, said last week that "if we don’t get it done this year … it ain’t going to be done for four years."
"That’s why Senator Baucus and I are on an aggressive schedule," said Mr. Grassley during a health care forum in his home state last week. "I think we have momentum right now."
Beginning this week, the committee will host a series of three roundtable meetings between senators and health care industry experts in preparation for piecing together a health care reform package.
A single payer insurance is preferable however we must insist that at least the government-run insurance to compete with private insurance is included. Ultimately that will converge to a single payer system as a for profit insurance simply cannot compete with a non-profit insurance plan. Esoteric plans can be handled by the private sector but we must have a single payer for basic healthcare insurance.
A bitter partisan battle almost certainly will accompany any attempt to change the nation’s health care system.
Democrats likely will insist on the inclusion of a government-run insurance plan for middle-class Americans that would compete with the private sector – a provision that worries Republicans. A massive government-insurance plan modeled after Medicare and Medicaid may drive many private insurers out of business, Republicans say, resulting in fewer health care options for Americans.
"I think we believe, along what Democrats believe, that all Americans should have access to high-quality, affordable health insurance," House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said Sunday on ABC’s "This Week" program. But "we’re not for a plan that puts the government in charge of our health care, decides what doctors ought to be paid or what treatments ought to be prescribed."
Let your senator and congress person know that they have your support for fast-tracking healthcare via reconciliation which only requires a simple majority vote.
Another difficult decision Democratic leaders face is whether to bypass regular legislative rules to allow health care reform to pass the Senate by a simple majority using a fast-track procedure called "reconciliation."
Our current health care system will be the demise of our country unless we get a single payer system. Read these points with an open, objective, non-partisan, and non-idealistic point of view.
Insurance for anything works because a large group of random people each put a small amount of money into a fund to pay for the loss that is incurred by the unlucky few. This prevents any unlucky event that one is insured for from bankrupting them.
Most insurance companies are for profit corporations and as such have a CEO, CFO, president, board of directors, salespersons, other employees, and shareholders to which dividends must be paid. Therefore the total amount of money any insurance company can payout is the total amount of insurance premiums collected, plus any income or loss made on the investment of those premiums, minus the salary of the CEO, minus the salary of the CFO, minus the salary of the President, minus the salary of board of directors, minus the salaries and bonuses of salespersons, minus the salaries of other employees, minus the dividends paid to shareholder.
This scenario works well for insuring just about everything except health care. In order to cover those large non-healthcare expenses, insurance companies must attempt to insure only healthy people thus denying many with preexisting conditions any coverage. They must deny as many surgeries and procedures they can get away with and they must deny many medications.
We have tried PPOs, HMOs, and everything in between and they have all failed to reduce cost, increase service, or insure everyone.
A for profit market based system for creating medicines, medical procedures, and medical devices is likely the best way to ensure that we will realize innovations in medicine. That said, as a country we must decide if delivery of these health care services is more efficient with for profit insurance as opposed to a single payer nonprofit based insurance system. After careful analysis, the only solution to our healthcare problem must begin with a single payer insurance that does not restrict which doctor or hospital you use. With a single payer system:
Given that every American at some time gets sick or gets into an accident that ultimately we all pay for directly or indirectly, every working American should contribute to the single payer pool. The unemployed must be covered as well.
Many argue that a single payer system would be restrictive. It is untrue. HMOs and PPOs are very restrictive. They select the pool of doctors you may choose from. They select what procedures and surgeries are allowed. They select what medicines can be prescribed. Why; because of their bloated cost structure.
Many argue falsely that it would be too expensive to include the uninsured. Every person paying for health care insurance directly or indirectly is paying for the uninsured given that they are not denied medical coverage anyway. They simply get more expensive coverage in emergency rooms.
Over the last 25 years we have allowed a very destructive thought to metastasize in our brains. We have allowed politicians and private enterprise to convince us that all government is bad, though when private enterprise has failed, they have constantly begged the government for rescue. The reality is that we must have a balance between both. Our health care system needs a competently run government. Government and competency are not mutually exclusive. We are the government and we can make it as competent as we want it to be first by electing competence instead of ideology.
We are at an impasse with health care. It is imperative that we open our minds and look at the problem objectively, factually, and by the numbers. A single payer system is ultimately our most efficient choice.
Click here for real life examples of the havoc our current system is having on real people.
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