Thursday June 25, 2009, 3:27 pm
What If we stripped away ...

the $13 billion in insurance company profits

the $119 million in CEWO bonuses

the endless DENIALs

the soaring co-pays and premiums

YOU OWULD HAVE HEALTH CARE between you and your doctor

That's the President's Plan!

Keep the coverage you have now

or Choose from a range of plans including a PUBLIC HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION

to lower costs and keep insurance companies honest

Call your Senators 1-888-436-8427

Tell your Senators It's YOUR HEALTH and it should be YOUR CHOICE.

Thursday June 25, 2009, 3:27 pm
Thank You Blue!

Thursday June 25, 2009, 3:27 pm
Senate Report Finds Insurers Wrongfully Charged Consumers Billions
24 Jun 2009 Health insurers have forced consumers to pay billions
of dollars in medical bills that the insurers themselves should
have paid, according to a report released today by the staff of
the Senate Commerce Committee. The report was part of a multi-pronged
assault on the credibility of private insurers by Commerce Committee
Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.). It came at a time when
Rockefeller, President Obama and others are seeking to offer a
public alternative to private health plans as part of broad health
reform legislation. Health insurers are doing everything they
can to block the public option.



Public Health Plan Could Save Money Faster: Policy Group
A nationwide health insurance exchange that includes a Medicare-like government option could save $1.8 trillion more than if only private plans are offered, a prominent private U.S. health policy group said on Wednesday.


Medicare for All (Single-Payer) Reform Would Be Major Stimulus for Economy 2.6 Million New Jobs,$317 Billion in Business Revenue

First-of-Its Kind Study: Medicare for All (Single-Payer) Reform Would Be Major Stimulus for Economy 2.6 Million New Jobs,$317 Billion in Business Revenue, $100 Billion in Wages

TransGriot: 10 busted myths about the Canadian health care system.

Friday June 26, 2009, 11:04 am

Introducing the Eyes & Ears Health Care Investigative Unit


Today, Huffington Post's Eyes & Ears began mobilizing a new cadre of citizen journalists to follow health care reform legislation, help track the key players and methods involved in crafting related legislation. JOIN US!

Friday June 26, 2009, 7:32 pm
Health Care Industry Spends $1.4 million a day on health care lobbyists

More than enough to pay for health care for every single American man, woman and child!

Saturday June 27, 2009, 8:21 am
Write to the President, every day:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Click Here For Contacting Congress State by State.

Look up your members of Congress and call them now:http://my.barackobama.com/callcongress

Saturday June 27, 2009, 9:33 am

Small Business Owner Discusses the Need for Health Care Reform

...when I hear "public option" I don't hear "free option." I am not here asking for free health care, a government handout. I am asking for rational
health care. As a business owner, I would gladly pay 8 percent of my payroll into a public option ...

Saturday June 27, 2009, 10:57 am

What Did You Sacrifice To Afford Healthcare ?
As a person who was born on the UKs National Health Service,who has been a lifelong recipient of the service,and now works within it,I see that the right wing of the USA, are telling lies about healthcare.Most Americans are going without ..something

Saturday June 27, 2009, 11:08 am
The rationing that takes place in U.S. health care is unnecessary. A number of studies (notably a General Accounting Office report in 1991 and a Congressional Budget Office report in 1993) show that there is more than enough money in our health care system to serve everyone if it were spent wisely. Administrative costs are at 31% of U.S. health spending, far higher than in other countries’ systems. These inflated costs are due to our failure to have a publicly financed, universal health care system. We spend about twice as much per person as Canada or most European nations, and still deny health care to many in need. A national health program could save enough on administration to assure access to care for all Americans, without rationing. (from Physicians for a National Health program)

Saturday June 27, 2009, 11:29 am
Thank you, Arielle; it's obvious the in$urance companie$ don't want their golden goo$e (Congre$$) to stop giving them their golden egg$.

Monday June 29, 2009, 11:41 am
Write to the President, every day:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Click Here For Contacting Congress State by State.

Look up your members of Congress and call them now:http://my.barackobama.com/callcongress

Monday June 29, 2009, 11:43 am
Here is how your Representatives/Senators are voting on the public option.

http://standwithdrdean.com/where_congress_stands?chamber=&party=&state=&hc_status=&commit=Filter

Contact info, included.

Monday June 29, 2009, 8:33 pm
Avedon Carol had another good post on health care yesterday:

Baucus Regrets Not Including Single-Payer in the Health Care Mix

He conceded that it was a mistake to rule out a fully government-run health system, or a "single-payer plan," not because he supports it but because doing so alienated a large, vocal constituency and left Mr. Obama's proposal of a public health plan to compete with private insurers as the most liberal position.

They really are more stupid than words can convey. I mean, I realize Baucus was more interested in killing single-payer than in getting even a half-decent healthcare bill passed, but, seriously, how old do you have to be to understand haggling? And how could you fail to get the optics in this? (Except that, of course, they didn't dare bring up single-payer, or people would have had to talk about it, and people would have been defending it in public, and then they'd have to explain why they weren't getting it. And I'm not sure Yglesias is right that a single-payer plan couldn't possibly have passed. That public discussion might have made more people aware that their own legislators were standing directly in the way of their own healthcare. There has to be a point at which legislators begin to have nightmares about their heads ending up on pikes.) We really are led by morons.

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 10:57 am
Lobbyists Buying Votes?: Special Interests' Impact on Health Care Reform

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 4:15 pm
Arizona Republicans fight for the rights of health insurance companies to gouge and abuse its customers.

Thursday July 2, 2009, 10:37 am
Health Care Reform : New HELP Bill Covers 97 Percent Of Americans, Costs $600 Billion
So health care reform WITH a public option would cost $400 billion less than reform WITHOUT a public option. Seems pretty clear which way we should go.


Update...The incoming president of the American Medical Association, Dr. J. James Rohack, said his organization now supports a public plan, after initially indicating its opposition. The AMA supports an “American model” that includes both “a private system and a public system, working together,” he said.

Thursday July 2, 2009, 2:53 pm
Here is how your Representatives/Senators are voting on the public option.

http://standwithdrdean.com/where_congress_stands?chamber=&party=&state=&hc_status=&commit=Filter

Contact info, included.

Thursday July 2, 2009, 5:53 pm
Republican Senator Jim DeMint Inadvertently Concedes That Public Health Insurance Option Won’t Take Over The Market

Sunday July 12, 2009, 7:41 am
Michael Moore's health care documentary 'Sicko' can be viewed online in its entirety here.(Hat tip to 'citisven' at Daily Kos.)


Bill Moyers Show Reveals Insurance Lobby's Secret Plan to Attack 'Sicko' and Michael Moore
Moyers will expose for the first time the health insurance industry's secret campaign against Michael Moore and his film, "Sicko." It contains a stunning revelation and admission by a top health insurance executiive--former head of publicity for CIGNA...

Thursday July 16, 2009, 11:01 pm
What is so hard about using some logic here????

47 million un insured
20 million under insured
fast food companies and insurance companies making profits hand over fist. Bushes tax cuts for the rich still in effect

Subtract 10 million poor/indigent/mentally ill, etc, who are uninsured and will have to get free care = 37 mill un-insured who can pay.
18.5 million can pay $50/mo = 925,000,000
18.5 mill can pay $100 = $1,850,000,000
20 mill under insured will switch and can pay $100 = 2,000,000,000
That is a grand total of $47,750,000,000

That is FORTY SEVEN BILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS IN PREMIUM PAYMENTS PER YEAR.

That does'nt count the millions who'll switch from private companies if they can pay $100 or 200 per month and have their entire family covered even with pre-existing conditions.

I've also been advocating a 1penny tax on the fastfoods, foods/beverages w/ high fructose cs, and every bottle/glass of alchohol, but in thinking about it more, we should have a 1 penny federal sales tax on EVERY purchase. I can hear the opponents shouting about making the poor poorer, but my statement is 1 cent on each purchase NOT on every dollar or hundred dollars. From candy bars to fruit to big screen tv's to your house. 1 cent on everything. I'm willing to pay $50.01 for my full tank of gas if I can get affordable health care. How about y'all?

Saturday July 18, 2009, 10:29 am
Amendment to Grant States Right to Implement Single Payer Passes Committee TodayToday witnessed the landmark passage of the States Single Payer Amendment which would remove federal barriers to implementation of a single payer health care system at the state level.


President Obama: Congress Must "Seize This Opportunity" On Health Care (VIDEO)


"This is what the debate in Congress is all about: whether we'll keep talking and tinkering and letting this problem fester as more families and businesses go under and more Americans lose their coverage," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio address

Saturday July 18, 2009, 11:54 am
READ the Bill and make INTELLIGENT comments about it.. Know what's in the bill for yoursef , don't rely on somebody else's spin. The actual bill text (scroll down to Learn more, then Read bill text):http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1864

Tuesday July 21, 2009, 11:21 am



FiveThirtyEight: Rumors of the demise of ObamaCare have been greatly exaggerated. But rumors of Jim Demint's constituents losing their health insurance are true

Tuesday July 21, 2009, 12:42 pm
NOTHING SECRET ABOUT IT.... The Huffington Post's Sam Stein obtained a copy of a private RNC memo, detailing the party's strategy for defeating President Obama's health care reform campaign. As Stein noted, "While documents like these commonly are passed around behind the scenes by like-minded partisans on both sides of the aisle they usually don't make their way into the public."

That's true. What I found interesting about the memo, though, was just how few surprises there were. The Republican strategy against health care reform is entirely transparent. It's like watching a football team that doesn't bother huddling to call a play in advance, but instead just tells the other team exactly what they're about to do.

Reading over the 12-page RNC memo, we learn that there are key phrases Republicans are supposed to use ...

Obama's plan for health care is deemed an "experiment" and a "risk" that could bankrupt the country and dangerously change the doctor-patient relationship.

... while trying to slow the reform process down so they can kill legislation ...

"The Republican National Committee will engage in every activity we can to slow down this mad rush while promoting sensible alternatives that address health care costs and preserve quality," the memo affirmatively declares.

... while resisting the very idea of reform itself.

As for a Republican alternative to the president's agenda, the RNC memo doesn't offer much in the way of details, save to make the argument that the status quo isn't as bad as it is being painted.

In other words, Republicans are saying the same things in private that they're saying in public -- and they're effectively daring the majority to overcome their opposition.

Friday July 24, 2009, 7:00 pm
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, told Bloomberg's Al Hunt today that he thinks the odds of passing health care reform this year are "very, very good."

And yet, he keeps tweeting messages that suggest he's not exactly committed to meaningful reform.

Friday July 24, 2009, 10:33 pm
FINEMAN EXPLAINS GOP HEALTH CARE STRATEGY.... Newsweek's Howard Fineman was on MSNBC's "Countdown" last night, and talked a bit about how the congressional minority is approaching the debate over health care reform. He was a little more candid than usual.

He initially talked about the Republican Party now being run by a new "RNC" -- "Rush, Newt, [Liz] Cheney" -- that is more committed stoking "racial fears and resentments" and talking about "where Barack Obama was born

Fineman added, "I talked to people on the Hill all day today. Talked to Republicans as well as Democrats. Republicans claims they have a plan. They don't. They claim they're going to have a plan. They won't. Their whole strategy ... is to stand on the sidelines with their arms folded while the Democrats try to work this thing out. That's their whole strategy."

He concluded by saying President Obama is "on the right side" of this debate, and the GOP is "on the wrong" side.

This isn't exactly shocking news to those who've been watching the debate unfold, but it was nice to hear it mentioned on the air, especially from a media figure who doesn't often chastise Republicans so candidly.

My only caveat is that Republicans aren't exactly "standing on the sidelines with their arms folded." When it comes to genuine policy work and the heavy lifting of governing, that's clearly true. But when it comes to politics, I suspect Dems would be thrilled if the GOP simply stayed out of the way with their arms folded. Instead, they're churning out a whole lot of lies, misleading the public, and confusing the media.

Friday July 24, 2009, 11:20 pm

Our friends at Sadly, No! take a look at the actual outcomes between the US and Canada. I don't think it will surprise you to see that the U.S. system doesn't measure up so well

Saturday August 1, 2009, 4:52 pm

Health Care Reform : Uninsured Camp Out for Free Health Care


An estimated 3,000 people traveled to Wise, Virginia, to receive free
health, dental and eye care from volunteer doctors, nurses and support workers, who provided the care at their own expense.

Sunday August 2, 2009, 8:33 pm
If you want the real hard facts on health care, here's the plain and simple truth... studied and researched ... to try and put together a mythbuster, this is more comprehensive than even I would have done. We already have people standing in long lines just to see a doctor, we already have denied/rationed care.

UnitedHealthCare is making record breaking profits and under the guise of The Lewin Group
are advising congress. They actually have health scare talking points like the one about killing granny.http://mediamattersaction.org/factcheck/200907300008

There will only be change when those unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62

More myth debunking is taking place at http://healthcarereformmyths.org, a site maintained by dedicated citizens with nothing to gain but possibly some intellectually honest debate





See also, http://www.pleasecutthecrap.com . Handy reference against the rumors.

Monday August 3, 2009, 4:49 pm
Robert Kuttner: Faint PraiseWhy is our health system so massively inefficient? Because it is run by and for private insurers, aided and abetted by for-profit drug companies and hospitals. Even if we insure more people, as President Obama hopes to, a fragmented, profit-oriented system dominated by these interests simply cannot yield the most efficient use of health outlays.

Monday August 3, 2009, 5:43 pm

Geithner Hints Dems Will Move Ahead On Health Care Without Republican Support - If They Must


When I think of how much the Bush administration shoved down the country's throat on strictly partisan votes, it makes me crazy when Democrats start talking about being bipartisan. This kind of talk by Tim Geithner on This Week with Geo. Stephanopoulous

Monday August 3, 2009, 11:12 pm
So, thanks to Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Speaker Pelosi says she will bring a vote to the floor on single-payer after the recess. Are you all ready to make those phone calls and write those letters?


Nancy's contact info..http://speaker.house.gov/contact/
Send our speaker an e-mail of encouragement.

Tuesday August 4, 2009, 2:59 pm
* The Democratic National Committee released a pretty hard-hitting statement this afternoon, slamming Republicans for "inciting angry mobs" or "rabid right-wing extremists."

* On a related note, "Town Halls Gone Wild" continued today in a variety of locations.

* CBS News offers a good example of how not to report on the right-wing harassment strategy.

* Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D) of Texas hasn't changed his mind
at all after his run-in with a right-wing mob: "I am more committed
than ever to win approval of legislation to offer more individual
choice to access affordable health care. An effective public plan is
essential to achieve that goal."

* What's more, Doggett told CNN
today, "I'll tell you, unless more Americans who are suffering under
the insurance companies get out there and express their opinion, write
their letter to the editor, call these talk shows -- if they don't get
their message out the insurance companies will win in September and we
just cannot let that happen."

* HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reminds folks of "the reason we're even having this conversation" about reform in a WaPo op-ed.

* Nice to see Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) have a few unkind words about George W. Bush and health care today.

Thursday August 6, 2009, 1:51 pm
HCAN Playbook For Thwarting Town Hall Protesters
How to deal with the crazy GOPers.

Thursday August 6, 2009, 3:07 pm
Contrary to Steele’s Claim, State Republicans Are Actively Promoting Town Hall Mobs and Violence

Thursday August 6, 2009, 3:38 pm

VIDEO: Republican Right-Wing Rage Cultivated At McCain-Palin Rallies Being Harnessed To Oppose Obama's Agenda Today


Some attendees admit they don't live in the Congressman's district, so why attend the meeting? The wave of unfounded, anti-Obama hate found legitimacy through the McCain Presidential campaign last year. Republicans are actively supporting the hate...

Thursday August 6, 2009, 10:32 pm




Tampa Town Hall On Health Care Reform Disrupted By Violence
(VIDEO)

Police officers were called to calm down an unruly crowd outside a health care reform town hall meeting in downtown Tampa, Florida on Thursday evening, according to local news reports.

Angry protesters screamed, yelled and banged on windows as officers hurried to guard the entrances to the facility, where U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor was trying to discuss the various health care reform proposals being debated in Congress. One photojournalist said that a fistfight broke out inside the building, reports WTSP.

Many of the hundreds of protesters said that they had been inspired by a conservative activist group promoted by Fox News host Glenn Beck and some received emails from the county Republican party, according to the St. Petersburg Times.....

The Tampa Tribune reports that some protesters carried racist caricatures of President Obama and added details of more fights and scuffles.....

Thursday August 6, 2009, 10:43 pm


Republican Teabaggers yell "Kill Your Parents" at Monday's Health Care town hall with Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH)

Friday August 7, 2009, 3:44 am

Right-Wing Turncoat Gives the Inside Scoop on How the GOP Is Screwing Its Healthcare Baby


The GOP is willing to disrupt the health care debate if they can't win it. Yesterday in Tampa, a mob of Glenn Beck supporters nearly caused a riot. The Republican is an uncaring idiot who cares for no one but itself? To hell with the guy in the street!

Friday August 7, 2009, 1:32 pm
Anti-Reform Group Takes Credit For Helping Gin Up Town Hall Rallies

Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, the operation that’s running a national campaign against a public health care option, is now publicly taking credit for helping gin up the sometimes-rowdy outbursts targeting House Dems at town hall meetings around the country, raising questions about their
spontaneity.

CPR is the group headed by controversial former hospitals exec Rick Scott that’s spending millions on ads attacking reform in all sorts of lurid ways, a campaign that’s being handled by the same P.R. mavens behind the Swift Boat Vets.

In response to my questions, a spokesman for the group confirmed that it has undertaken a concerted effort to get people out to the town hall meetings to protest reform. The spokesperson, Brian Burgess,
confirmed that CPR is emailing out “town hall alert” flyers, and schedules of town hall meetings, to its mailing list.

These efforts — combined with CPR’s effort to enlist Tea Party-ers, as reported yesterday by TPM — provide a glimpse into the ways anti-reform groups are trying to create a sense of public momentum in their favor.

CPR spokesman Burgess confirmed that the group had set up a list serv designed to reach out to “third party groups” involved in the health care fight, including the Tea Party activists. And in a statement emailed to me, Scott, who was ousted as a health-care exec amid a 1990s fraud probe, took credit for the town hall showings.

“We have invested a lot of time, energy and resources into educating Americans over the past several months about the dangers of government-run health care and I think we’re seeing some of the fruits of that campaign,” Scott said, though he claimed outrage was spontaneous.

Similarly, America’s Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, the insurance industry group, has stationed employees in 30 states to track local town hall events.

The question is whether these uprisings are actually helpful to the anti-reform cause, or whether their raucus agitprop will work againt them. Dems have blasted out to reporters examples of protestors harrassing House Dems.

“The more you dig the more you learn that this is a carefully orchestrated effort by special interest lobbyists and the Republican Party, who are using fringe elements on the right to protect insurance company profits and defeat health care reform,” said House Dem leadership aide Doug Thornell. “The anger at these events looks very similar to what we saw at McCain/Palin rallies in the fall.”

****************************************

Update: The White House attacks CPR for manufacturing anger.

This blog’s homepage is here.

Posted by Greg Sargent | 08/04/2009, 12:12 PM EST | Categories: House Dems, health care, political advertising

Sunday August 9, 2009, 3:13 pm
I heard that this morning on MTP, Gingrich asked Palin, Romney and Huckabee to join him in supporting the next republican grass roots initiative…in an effort to prove conservatives mean what they say, he wants all seniors and vets to renounce medicare, social security and VA benefits. Gingrich says we have to walk the talk. When a befuddled Stephanopoulis said, really? Gingrich said yes, we have to show the left that we don’t need ANY government help. American seniors and vets are strong people, they’ll find a way to get along without these socialist services.

Let's see if the Right is willing to walk the walk and give up their "socialist" programs.

Monday August 10, 2009, 11:51 am
Wherever there's a RepubliCON angry mob ... alway$ follow the money ...

Coal Lobby’s ‘Purest Form Of Grassroots’ Delivered By GOP Voter Fraud Company

Paid staff will both call people already on the group’s list and talk to other people at public events, asking them if they want information or T-shirts or would be interested in asking a question at a town hall meeting. “This is the purest form of grassroots,” Lucas said. “It’s facilitating constituents to talk one-on-one with members of Congress.

The new project will use 225,000 volunteers dubbed “America’s Power Army.” They will visit town hall meetings, fairs and other functions attended by members of Congress and ask misleading questions about energy policy.

Anti-Reform Group Takes Credit For Helping Gin Up Town Hall Rallies
Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, the operation that’s running a national campaign against a public health care option, is now publicly taking credit for helping gin up the sometimes-rowdy outbursts targeting House Dems at town hall meetings around the country, raising questions about their spontaneity.

CPR is the group headed by controversial former hospitals exec Rick Scott that’s spending millions on ads attacking reform in all sorts of lurid ways, a campaign that’s being handled by the same P.R. mavens behind the Swift Boat Vets.

Monday August 10, 2009, 3:44 pm

Health Insurance Reform Reality Check


Get the facts about the stability and security you get from health
insurance reform instead of listening to industry and right wing hype.

Monday August 10, 2009, 6:30 pm

$1.2 TRILLION WASTED : The 6 Biggest Ways Our Health Care System Throws Away Money


More than $1.2 trillion spent on health care each year is a waste of money. That's half of the $2.2 trillion the USA spends on health care each year, according to the most recent data from accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute

Wednesday August 12, 2009, 9:51 am
Whistleblower: Insurance firms behind town hall disruptions
Man arrested at Obama event had loaded gunHeld in police custody; was also carrying pocket knife...
Stewart recalls conservative attacks on anti-war protesters

Wednesday August 12, 2009, 10:54 am
Chris Matthews had on the Ron Paul supporter who showed up with a handgun to the New Hampshire town hall on health care led by President Obama. On Hardball yesterday, he really
laid into the man -- a Kramer lookalike named William Kostric -- with some tough questions about just what the hell he hoped to accomplish:

Matthews: Why did you bring a gun to a meeting with the President of the United States, given the violent history of this country with regard to presidents and assassinations? Why did you bring a gun to a public event with the president? You know the history of this country. If you love this country and its history, you know we've had a problem with people with guns and presidential events. Why did you bring a gun to an event with the president?

... OK, you brought a sign that says, 'The tree of liberty has to be watered with the blood of tyrants,' and you're carrying a goddamn gun at a presidential event. I think those things make people wonder what you're about.

Matthews gets to the core point eventually:

Matthews: I'm gonna ask you: What do you bring to this discussion about health care? By bringing a gun, and that sign that you quote Jefferson from, what does that bring to a debate that this country's engaged in -- and we're looking at your gun right now, and your sign on there -- what did you -- and it's loaded, you pointed that out -- what are you doing to help this debate?

The best that Kostric can do is babble incoherently -- rather Kramerlike, actually -- about "showing the other end of it" so you can "pull people in your direction." He manages to finally blurt out that he actually thinks everyone would have been safer at the Town Hall event if everyone there had been packing heat.

Of course, that begs the questions of whether President Obama would have been safer, doesn't it?

Especially with crackpots like this in the crowd.

Wednesday August 12, 2009, 2:54 pm

Professor Stephen Hawking Enters U.S. Health Care Debate

"I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the National Health Service," he told The Guardian. "I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.

Sunday August 16, 2009, 2:22 pm
The brutal truth about America's healthcare vs Stephen Hawking, who said, "I wouldn't be here today if it were not for the NHS. I have received a large amount of high-quality treatment without which I would not have survived.." And a student who suddenly found himself unable to move and had to be supported by his wife would not have been able to get that sort of care in the United States at all, let alone be kept alive and allowed the time to think that made it possible for him to become *the* Stephen Hawking.

Sunday August 16, 2009, 4:35 pm
WHITE HOUSE STILL BACKS PUBLIC OPTION

Monday August 17, 2009, 11:10 am
Krugman: All That Stands In Way Of Universal Health Care Is Greed, Lies And Gullibility

Howard Dean On Public Option: "You Can't Really Do Health Reform Without It"

Tuesday August 18, 2009, 5:31 pm
WATCH: Man Who Brought Assault Rifle To Obama Rally Was Part Of Radio Stunt

The man with the semi-automatic (referred to in interviews as "Chris," no last name) was spotted at the protest by CNN news cameras, in the middle of a Q&A. Today, his interviewer -- Ernest Hancock of conservative talk radio show Declare Your Independence With Ernest Hancock -- went on CNN and explained to host Rick Sanchez that he and Chris were actually in the middle of a radio broadcast. Hancock, also packing heat at the rally, had invited Chris to come down the protest with his rifle to be interviewed. The two men had known each other for two years, through their work for presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).

During the segment on CNN, Rick Sanchez said, "the more we look into this, the more it appears that it was really planned." Hancock concurred: "Oh, it's more planned than you think." In addition to scheduling the interview, Hancock had also informed the local police force.

As the interview continued, Rick Sanchez loudly exclaimed, "This was a publicity stunt!"

"Oh absolutely," Hancock responded.

Sanchez pushed on, "isn't there something terribly disingenuous about putting people on like that? And isn't there also something a little bit... dangerous about playing these kinda games--"

"Oh, it's not a game," Chris interjected.

"---with what I imagine is a loaded weapon," Sanchez continued.....

Chris is also featured in a YouTube video produced by the libertarian group Freedom's Phoenix. In this video he expounds further on his right to bear arms. He also explains that he is "absolutely totally against health care... health care in this way, in this manner, stealing it from people. I don't think that's appropriate."

Wednesday August 19, 2009, 2:51 pm
BE THERE ... 9/12/2009 in D.C.


The place to organize for the March on DC
(93)
August 15, 2009 • Category: Blog, Featured
I just wanted to remind everyone that you can connect with other people in your state by joining our ning social networking site. JOIN NOW and find a bus to ride in on, or a caravan of cars coming from your area. Connect with others in your state and work together to spread the word!
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Saturday August 22, 2009, 11:06 am

"Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care—to equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals. While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter? Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America."

Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey in arecent Wall Street Journal op-ed on health care.

Whole Foods Backlash & Boycott: Bloggers Outraged Over CEO's Anti-'ObamaCare' Column

Thursday August 27, 2009, 9:50 am
McCain jokes about taking hundreds of thousands from healthcare lobby

Friday August 28, 2009, 1:14 pm
Veterans For Common Sense: Veterans demand an apology from the Republicans and FOX for lies about the VA

Wednesday September 2, 2009, 10:29 am

Who Will Be Hurt if the Democrats Pass Health Care Alone
If the Democrats pass the health care bill, and are able to do it with a public option, the Republicans will have once again put themselves on the opposing side of groundbreaking legislation.

Wednesday September 2, 2009, 5:53 pm
When it comes to healthcare, there is no lie a conservative will not tell.

Wednesday September 2, 2009, 7:20 pm
PUBLIC OPTION WATCH.... Under the circumstances, the chances of passing a health care reform bill with a public option in the Senate will hinge on a dozen or so senators, whose support will make or break the provision. As of last week, two of the 59 senators in the Democratic caucus -- Lieberman and Landrieu -- were definite (or near-definite) opponents of a public option.

This week, the on-the-fence senators are clarifying matters a little further. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) or Arkansas, who just found out she's facing a credible, top-tier conservative Republican opponent next year, now opposes a public option.


"For some in my caucus, when they talk about a public option they're talking about another entitlement program, and we can't afford that right now as a nation," Lincoln said in a speech to the Elder Law Task Force at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Lincoln has said previously she would support whatever health care plan worked, but she indicated Tuesday that a plan including an expensive, government-funded health insurance program would not get her vote.

"I'm not going to vote for a bill that's not deficit-neutral, and I'm not going to vote for a bill that doesn't do something about curbing the cost in the out years, because it would be pointless

... I would not support a solely government-funded public option. We can't afford that," Lincoln told reporters before her speech.


This might be a good time to note that bloggers seem to be the only people in the country who realize that a public option would be cheaper than the alternative. If Lincoln is concerned about what "we can afford," she should be an enthusiastic champion of the public option. I suspect she knows this, but doesn't quite have the courage to explain this to her enraged constituents.

Other than Lincoln, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) seems iffy on the public option, though her in-state colleague, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), is an ardent supporter of the policy.

Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) was considered a "maybe," but he's
making it clear he's a "yes" on the public option. David Sirota argues that this is the result of a credible primary challenger, and I think that's absolutely correct.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has said he supports a public option, but as of yesterday, he's no longer willing to say whether he backs the measure or not. This probably isn't a good sign.

And then there's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who offered a muddled position on a public option late last week. Yesterday, Reid's office clarified matters, explaining that the Majority Leader envisions a public option that would be administered in part by private entities, though the HHS would still set the policies.

Of course, there's one point that's always worth emphasizing when this comes up. It matters whether these senators support a public option, but it matters just as much whether these senators would also support a filibuster of a reform package that includes a public option. It's one thing to oppose the policy; it's another to vote with Republicans and prevent the Senate from even voting on the reform package at all.
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Thursday September 3, 2009, 9:44 pm
Why Health Insurance Reform Will Pass This Fall -- It's the High Political Ground

Health insurance reform represents the high political ground for four major reasons:

1). Most Americans - including swing voters - can't stand the health insurance industry. As Congress reconvenes, the Administration and its allies will unleash a major drive to correctly define the battle as a contest between the interests of private health insurance companies and ordinary Americans. Health Care for America Now (HCAN), the big coalition of progressive organizations and Labor, will put it this way: If the insurance companies win, you lose. ....

2). The Obama Administration will use every ounce of its political capital to win this battle. The President and his top advisors understand that -- when it comes to health care -- failure is simply not an option. They know that defeat on health care would be a huge blow to the President's ability to pass his entire agenda and his own standing with the voters. People follow successful leaders - not those who fail.

As a result, the President will use every bit of his charm, his persuasive ability and the formidable powers of the Presidency to secure the votes to win.

And make no mistake. While Barack Obama would prefer a bi-partisan bill passed through the regular order with broad consensus, he has an iron will and will pass a bill by one vote using special budget procedures if that is necessary to win. He is a huge fan of Lincoln's Team of Rivals, but in matters of legislation his model is Lyndon Johnson.

Anyone who doubts the strength of his resolve - or his resourcefulness - doesn't yet understand Barack Obama.

be sure to read the entire article ...