I have to commend these people.

The police said that 17 people were arrested after refusing to leave the lobby of an office building on Park Avenue where the insurance company Aetna has offices. They were charged with criminal trespass. In addition, the police said, three of those arrested were charged with obstructing governmental administration.

Also notice where Aetna has their offices, they’re on Park Ave! Surely they can’t afford to have such nice offices for their executives by actually paying out healthcare claims all the time!

I was waiting to see when the likes of these people would strike. This is from the Christian Coalition. Sigh…they might as well be on another planet as far as I'm concerned.

As the debate over health care reform continues it is becoming clear that the final result will ultimately come down to what a handful of lawmakers do.  And what they do will have a great deal to do with what they hear from you.

Specifically, members of Congress known as “moderates” and others known as “Blue Dog Democrats” represent the key in this debate.  And they need to hear from the people that they represent.

They need to know that Americans don’t want “reform” that would cause millions of Americans to lose their current insurance, forcing them on to a government plan.

They need to know that Americans oppose "reform" that would result in the rationing of health care for the elderly or disabled.

Tell them that Americans are opposed to any “reform” that pays for health insurance for illegal aliens – and that we oppose spending one dime of taxpayer money to subsidize abortion.

Let them know that we want REAL reform that makes health care more affordable, offers more choices to consumers and protects our liberties.

Don’t wait. Conservatives gained a great deal of momentum in August, but we must keep it up.

Click here to view our list of priority legislators in the fight against Obamacare.

Let them hear from you today.
Sincerely,
Roberta Combs

Posted via email from Jason’s posterous

Disney of all corporations should be leading the charge in the current debate for reforming the nation’s dysfunctional healthcare system. Instead they’re asking their employees to foot the bill for healthcare insurance premiums. Why aren’t they organizing and going to town hall meetings to wage war with the likes of Cigna, Humana, GHI,  Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross and Blue Sheild and &c.?

The clash pits image-conscious Walt Disney Co. against Unite Here Local 11, an aggressive union known for its street-theater militancy. On Thursday, union supporters dressed as Snow White, Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters staged a mass “sick-in” while Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger was scheduled to speak inside the convention center.

Local 11 says the company, which took in $4.4 billion in net income last year, has betrayed Walt Disney’s family-friendly ethos by asking 2,100 employees of three hotels to pay a share of their premiums if they seek company healthcare.

They really object to the right-wing and corporatists in the United States attacking their system! I have to take their side on this one.

You can't be serious.

On Wednesday night, Rep. Joe Wilson [R, SC-2], shouted "You lie!" at President Obama when he said that the healthcare bill would not cover illegal immigrants. "The supporters of the government takeover of healthcare and liberals who want to give healthcare to illegals are using my opposition as an excuse to distract from the critical questions being raised about this poorly conceived plan," Wilson said the next day in a campaign fundraising video. However, in 2003 [under Bush], Wilson voted to provide federal funds for illegal immigrants' healthcare. The vote came on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which contained Sec. 1011 authorizing $250,000 annually between 2003 and 2008 for government reimbursements to hospitals who provide treatment for uninsured illegal immigrants. The program has been extended through 2009 and there is currently a bipartisan bill in Congress to make it permanent.

Posted via email from Jason’s posterous

Chris Hayes over at The Nation. beat me to this but I too was just about to blog about the NY Times piece on Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst last night. Let’s put the outburst aside for the moment. I’d really like to hear him say why he thinks that the President is lying when he says that his plan won’t cover illegal immigrants.

This is what Hayes says:

Here’s what I find fascinating. There’s been a ton of viral emails floating around the right-wing making the claim that the bill covers illegal immigrants, and talk radio has been whipping up the fervor as well. Wilson clearly thinks that is, indeed, the case. But he’s a sitting member of Congress! One would imagine he gets his information about pending legislation from reading it itself or being briefed by his staff, not from viral emails in his inbox.

Someone should have Congressman Wilson come on the air to explain his position.

Posted via email from Jason’s posterous

I’m reading Bob Herbert’s latest Op-Ed in the NY Times this morning where he’s talking about Obama and the trials and tribulations of passing healthcare reform. There’s a paragraph I came across that I thought was interesting and wanted to comment on.

The president has not made it clear to the general public why health care reform is his top domestic priority when the biggest issue on the minds of most Americans is the economy. Men and women who once felt themselves to be securely rooted in the middle or upper middle classes are now struggling with pay cuts, job losses and home foreclosures — and they don’t feel, despite the rhetoric about the recession winding down, that their prospects are good.

What Mr. Herbert is saying is indeed true but that’s not all. Yes, it is obvious that the economy is the number one concern of the majority of Americans who are struggling right now. However, healthcare costs are a major factor in their struggle and that is something that cannot be denied. It is the reason for many a bankruptcy which can often lead to foreclosure. Fixing healthcare is a major step towards fixing the economy. It’s one essential piece of the puzzle.

I do agree with Mr. Herbert that the President has not been as forceful and open in explaining to the public what his plan for healthcare reform is. I would also have to agree with this paragraph below.

It’s still early, but people are starting to lose faith in the president. I hear almost daily from men and women who voted enthusiastically for Mr. Obama but are feeling disappointed. They feel that the banks made out like bandits in the bailouts, and that the health care initiative could become a boondoggle. Their biggest worry is that Mr. Obama is soft, that he is unwilling or incapable of fighting hard enough to counter the forces responsible for the sorry state the country is in.

Howard Dean was right when he said “when you trade your values for the hope of winning, you end up losing and having no values — so you keep losing.” This is why as Dean would say you can’t be “Republican-lite” you have to stand up for what you believe in. If the President embraced what he knows is the best solution to fix healthcare and hit the trail in almost a campaign mode (good to see Organizing for America starting to rev things up) he’ll end up better off I think. The American people want the public option he needs to embrace it and unite the Democratic majority in both houses of Congress to pass this thing! Here’s another good cliche–bipartisanship is a means, not an end onto itself.

The best line was when Frank said to the teabagger that “trying to have a conversation with you would be like arguing with a dining room table.” This also goes for congressional Republicans as well. They have shown that no matter what the Democrats come up with they’re not willing to compromise one bit. They don’t want any reform to the system at all. They won’t even accept Senator Conrad’s co-op option! Therefore, the majority should proceed without the Republicans and get the President the best possible bill with the public option intact that he can sign.

This paragraph alone tells you the power that healthcare industry lobbyists have over the federal government.

Still, industry lobbyists say they are not worried. “We trust the White House,” Mr. Kahn said. “We are confident that the Senate Finance Committee will produce a bill we fully can endorse.”

Whatever bill ultimately becomes the reality of all these negotiations, I’m sure,  will be better than the healthcare system we have now. With the mindless-head-in-the-sand opposition that the right wing is putting up any bill is a small victory. It won’t be the best bill however if it does not have the “public option” and instead goes for the non-profit “co-op option.” The reason for this will simply be campaign contributions. Furthermore, if all these lobbyists are working on this bill then why not call of your town hall protesting thugs? Why have Freedom Works and all these people whip up this mob?

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