July 25, 2009 | Here’s a truism: The wealthiest 1 percent have never had it so good.

According to government figures, 1-percenters’ share of America’s total income is the highest it’s been since 1929, and their tax rates are the lowest they’ve faced in two decades. Through bonuses, many 1-percenters will profit from the $23 trillion in bailout largesse the Treasury Department now says could be headed to financial firms. And most of them benefit from IRS decisions to reduce millionaire audits and collect zero taxes from the majority of major corporations.

But what really makes the ultra-wealthy so fortunate, what truly separates this moment from a run-of-the-mill Gilded Age, is the unprecedented protection the 1-percenters have bought for themselves on the most pressing issues.

The rich have never had it so good | Salon

For Healthcare reform to be of any value

• Every legal American citizen and resident must be covered.
• Everyone capable of paying premiums must do so. Those legitimately unable to pay should be subsidized.
• Preferably a non-profit government run insurance should pay for healthcare but at minimum a robust public insurance option must be included that channel all healthcare dollars to healthcare.

The aforementioned requirements are simple but extremely difficult to implement for one specific reason; many large corporations make exorbitant profits from the current inefficiency of our system and have thus far successfully lobbied Congress to write Healthcare Reform to insure their exorbitant profits remain. The reality is the only way to reduce our healthcare cost is to remove profits from areas where no real innovation is required, specifically private insurance companies that take 30% of your premiums simply to pay your bill.

Let’s be clear. If healthcare reform does not occur now, it will likely not occur for some time and will be more costly to solve going forward. If healthcare reform does not occur now, many employers will drop health insurance, all premiums will be increased immediately, those with pre-existing conditions will likely remain uninsurable, and private insurance companies will continue to rescind policies, select procedures you may have, select medicines your doctor may prescribe, select the hospital you are able to get care from, and select your doctor in order to maximize their profits.

Those concerned that illegal aliens may get medical care should insist that the healthcare reform ensure ones nationality for care except for communicable diseases which could affect us all irrespective of nationality.

Healthcare reform should be paid for by everyone based on one’s ability to pay. While it is true that this will puts a heavier burden on the wealthy, said burden is justified given the nature of wealth in this country being unevenly distributed to the top 5% and 1%, not because they are more productive or produce anything of lasting value to society, but because of the structural design of our capitalist society rewarding capital manipulation more so than producing goods and services of societal value. With 1% of the population owning 34% of the wealth of our nation, 5% owning 58.9%, 10% owning 71%, 20% owning 85%, and the lower 40% owning less than 1% of the wealth, as well as income similarly distributed, the societal gain from marginally taxing those of us who benefited from a country rewarding the skills that allowed us to flourish, should be seen as a responsibility to maintain a viable society.

One should note that most working people pay taxes on most of their income while the very rich whose monies are tied to stocks and investments will generally pay a maximum indexed tax to 28%. One should also note that most working people pay social security taxes on all their income while the more well off stop paying social security taxes on income over $106,000.

The argument then that asking the rich to pay a bit more in taxes for healthcare reform is unfair or would affect the economy is at best a scare tactic or at worst selfish and evil. If one stands by facts and understand income and wealth distribution in the country and the real reasons for such inequity, the population at large will be able to force politicians to pass healthcare reform specifically and better laws that inhibits the unsustainable transfer of wealth our current healthcare system and financial structures continue to allow.

Pertinent Links:

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm

Reforming the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare system is a major issue in the news these days. The goal of the reform efforts, we’re told, is to expand coverage to the uninsured and to reduce costs. But what many experts and citizens see as the most sensible solution to these problems is kept out of the discussion by the corporate media.

Single-payer national health insurance is a model in which healthcare delivery would remain largely private but would be paid for by a single federal health insurance fund (much like Medicare provides for seniors). Single-payer is favored by a majority of Americans and physicians, according to recent polls (New York Times/CBS, 1/11-15/09, Annals of Internal Medicine, 4/1/08).

Yet a recent study by FAIR found that of hundreds of stories about healthcare in major outlets earlier this year, only five stories included the views of advocates of single-payer–none of which appeared on the TV networks. In May, news coverage of the arrests of single-payer advocates showed that practically the only way to get single-payer mentioned in the corporate media is to get thrown out of Senate hearings.
Let’s send a message to the networks: The insurance lobbies and many politicians don’t want to talk about single-payer. But that makes it all the more important that the media do. Sign our petition to ABC, CBS and NBC, demanding that single-payer be a part of their coverage of the healthcare debate. Add your name below to lend your voice to this effort to broaden the debate over the broken U.S. healthcare system.

Sign Here

We are finally rebuffing the evil of the for profit insurance companies who are trying to make it seems that some how a government option or single payer healthcare system is less efficient than ours.

This video shows the type of editing that FoxNews is famous for when dealing with Democrats, Liberals, or folks they want to harm. It is for this reason that those who get their news from FoxNews are generally less informed and continue to vote against their own financial interest.

Healthcare Reform Would Be A Done Deal If We Stick To The Facts

If false and misleading ads from the private for profit health insurance companies and their cohorts were debated objectively by responsible journalists, the healthcare reform debate would be over. If Congress follows the will of the people and the facts that are readily available on the internet from reputable objective organizations, the healthcare debate would be over.

Fact:
It is mathematically impossible for a for profit private insurer to be less expensive than a public not for profit insurance giving the same benefits. It is for this reason why insurers are fighting the public option. They must convince you that basic arithmetic does not apply here. Of course it does.

Fact:
Medicare’s administrative cost is between a low of 2 percent and a high of 6 percent. Private for profit insurance ranges from 16 percent to over 30% in administrative costs. In other words for every thousand dollars you pay in premiums 300 of those dollars go into the pockets of shareholders, overpaid executives, advertising and other costs. Those are dollars that could have been used to lower healthcare costs.

Fact:
Accusations by for profit health insurers and their cohorts stating that government will take over healthcare delivery are false. It is a fact that for profit insurance today tells you which doctor you can see. It is a fact that for profit insurance tells you what medical procedure you can have. It is a fact that for profit insurance tells you which hospital you can use. It is a fact that for profit insurance tells your doctor which drugs you may be prescribed. It is a fact that for profit insurance selectively rescind your coverage if they can find away to qualify your medical condition as pre-existing. It is a fact that for profit insurance will not insure those with pre-existing conditions.

Fact:
US Healthcare as % of GDP: 15.3%
Canada Healthcare as % of GDP: 10%

Fact:
US Per Capita Cost of Healthcare: $6714.00
Canada Per Capita Cost of Healthcare: $3,678.00

Fact:
Government Spending on Healthcare Per Capita is 23% higher in the US than Canada.

Fact:
Canadian health outcomes are better than ours.

If we stick to the facts healthcare reform will be realized

Links:

Most People Support Public Option
CBS/New York Times Poll
Quinnipiac Poll

Cost of Administering Healthcare in US Versus Canada Versus All Countries
The New England Journal Of Medicine
OECD Health Data 2009
World Health Organization Core Health Indicators

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

Pool Boots Kids Who Might "Change the Complexion"

Watch Video

Kids at Creative Steps Day Camp were thrilled to go swimming once a week at the Valley Swim Club. But after only one trip to the private club, they were…

"I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’" said camper Dymire Baylor.

The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers’ first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.
"When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool," Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. "The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately."
The next day the club told the camp director that the camp’s membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded.
"I said, ‘The parents don’t want the refund. They want a place for their children to swim,’" camp director Aetha Wright said.
Campers remain unsure why they’re no longer welcome.
"They just kicked us out. And we were about to go. Had our swim things and everything," said camper Simer Burwell.
The explanation they got was either dishearteningly honest or poorly worded.
"There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club," John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.

While the parents await an apology, the camp is scrambling to find a new place for the kids to beat the summer heat.

This story simply broke my heart.

Pool Boots Kids Who Might "Change the Complexion" | NBC Philadelphia

This is why we have had problems solving our problems as a country and will continue to have them. It is impossible to take a party seriously if a large percentage of them thinks this way. This shows Sarah Palin is not the sole Republican lacking intellectually.

Right Wing Republicans know they are in trouble when even FoxNews propaganda machine turns against one of their own.

Even Fox News has started to turn on Sarah Palin. In the midst of a segment about the Alaska Governor’s battle against "liberal" attacks, Liz Trotta went off-message.

Frankly, "the woman is inarticulate, undereducated," Trotta said, arguing that for once liberal criticism was "well-deserved."

"I think all the liberal stylists … really have a case. She just begs for adjectives like flaky and wacky." When pressed, she added, "We’re talking about somebody who, right from the get-go, has been a flashy person who gets into a lot of trouble and really has no credentials for any job."

Fox News Contributor Rips Into Palin: "The Woman Is Inarticulate, Undereducated" (VIDEO)