Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

Well done.

Sincerely Yours,

Theodore Roosevelt
Woodrow Wilson
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard M. Nixon
James E. Carter
William J. Clinton

-

cc: William H. Taft
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert C. Hoover
Gerald R. Ford
Ronald W. Reagan
George H.W. Bush
George W. Bush


...and Bill from Portland, Maine

My Comment on Redstate and Other Conservative Blogs

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Orlando Sentinel: 1 Year Fight Over Health Care is "Fast-Tracking"??

My hometown paper has taken to the GOP talking points with an editorial ironically titled "Don't pull a fast one with health reform. It is calling Reconciliation a "a fast-track process" as well as an "historic error for Democrats to resort to" in order to "muscle through" health care reform. Dudes...we've been debating health care for OVER A YEAR now! What hasn't been said already?

Funny, I don't recall them complaining about Reconciliation with the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, or any of the other dozens of times it has been used by the GOP. But now that the Dems are finally considering what they should have done last year in order save our health care system from impending disaster, this year-long process is now being treated as a fast-tracked scam.

Even though the GOP used it to make the rich even richer, it would be wrong, goes their argument, to use reconciliation now because:

...an abuse of the process in the past is a poor argument for doing so now.

Reality check: Reconciliation is in the Constitution. Fillibusters requiring a super-majority IS NOT. Even if you agree with the principle of a fillibuster, no reasonable person can argue that the GOP is using it responsibly. They have fillibustered EVERY SINGLE BILL in the Senate!! Even bills that get over 80 votes in the end, even bills that fund our troops, even a bill to pay unemployment benefits!

The article even acknowledges the Dem plan is good and mocks the GOP plan as meager. They even admitted that the GOP has offered "little beyond obstruction." But in the very next sentence, the editorial board confusingly states this:

But if the Democrats' plan so sharply divides Congress that it can't become law unless rules are bent, it will be a weak plan. Already unpopular with the public, it'll be vulnerable to repeal when the partisan balance in Washington, D.C. shifts.

Democrats also will further poison the atmosphere in Congress if they pull a power play through reconciliation. Good luck getting anything else done — even on urgent matters such as the economy.

There's a better way forward. Senate and House leaders should hash out their differences in open meetings. They should strip the payoffs from the bill. They should make more room for good ideas from Republicans — Mr. Obama already has suggested four.

Riiiiiiiight!! Let's load up the bill with MORE ineffective GOP ideas and THEN they will play nicely!!

The GOP is opposed to covering everyone. Period. They said so. They are on the record against subsidies and against the public option. Passing a bill that says we promise we'll work harder on fraud and the ever present "tort reform" is a joke that WILL NOT stop the out of control price gouging and won't cover one extra person.

The GOP will also not repeal this. Once in effect, people will have health care coverage and will see that the sky didn't fall. Could you imagine the GOP trying to take away Medicare?? No, in fact, after years of arguing to gut Medicare they have the audacity to pretend to be its guardians--ironically while all the while opposing "government-run" healthcare!

That is why the GOP is fighting SO HARD, along with the insurance industry, to stop this bill! They know it will work and once its in effect, it will be too late. However, if they defeat the bill, all the false, negative things they said will become true and they will run campaign after campaign saying how they saved us from disaster with the added bonus of saying (rightfully so) that the Democrats can't govern.


Don't LET THESE LIES go answered! Take a few seconds and VOTE NO:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-edpoll-saturday,0,2955208.poll

While you are at it, respond to this poll to. It asks if Dems should move forward on HCR without GOP support. Obviously, vote YES!:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/os-poll-health-care-reform-030510,0,1120017.poll

They print the results of the polls the following day. Since tomorrow is Sunday, when most people get the paper,...let's send them a strong message!

The Best Statement on What Dems Need To Do NOW About Healthcare

From my favorite national blog, election projection website electoral-vote.com:

The Democrats are clearly in for bad news in November unless something changes and speeches aren't going to be enough. In particular, if after spending a year trying to get a health-insurance reform bill through Congress, the whole project dies now because the Democrats have only 59 seats in the Senate--a luxury the Republicans haven't had since 1923--many voters will conclude that the Democrats spend all their time bickering with each other and are incapable of governing. Everyone in Washington knows very well what the Democrats have to do, namely, get the House and Senate to stop squabbling with each other over abortion and the Medicaid limit and come to a compromise bill that 50 Democratic senators and 218 Democratic representatives support. Then the House has to pass the Senate bill intact followed by both chambers passing the compromise bill polishing the rough edges, in the Senate via reconciliation, even if that means firing the Senate parliamentarian, Alan Frumin, and replacing him with a Democrat. Some Democrats believe they will be better off in November with no bill than with this bill, but if that were true, minority leader Mitch McConnell would long ago have given Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) permission to vote for cloture in order to pass the bill and thus saddle the Democrats with an awful bill they would have to defend in the midterms. But McConnell knows that some aspects of the bill (like forcing insurance companies to accept uninsured sick children) will kick in the day the bill is signed and are wildly popular, thus giving the Democrats something to campaign on.

Conservatives!! Stop the Lies & Hypocrisy on Health Care Reform!

This started as a comment to a GOPer but I decided to make it a post. First off, STOP LYING!

YOU WILL NOT GO TO JAIL if you don't have health insurance!

My God, how desperate are you?

There will be no death panels, no pulling the plug on grandma, and rest assured that there is nothing in this bill that will destroy the all powerful insurance companies--trust me, you conservatives have ensured that their interests are well protected.

And to the GOPers who say that they don't believe in government interference or higher deficit spending...let me school you.

The Medicare Part D Plan, which gave subsidies to drug companies for seniors, (but won't allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors--genius), is the largest government interference in decades...orchestrated entirely by REPUBLICANS!!

It cost $1.2 TRILLION, not the $848 billion cost of the Senate bill.. and unlike the Senate bill working it's way through, the Medicare Part D Bush bill was funded ENTIRELY THROUGH DEFICIT SPENDING!!

The House and Senate HCR bill are both deficit-neutral--a requirement from Obama. The nonpartisan CBO actually says they both SAVE money. Unlike the Bush bill, where not only was it thrown onto the deficit... Bush officials threatened to fire Medicare's chief actuary if he shared honest cost estimates with Congress!

The hypocrisy is sickening. They don't give a damn about government interference or deficit spending. They also didn't give a damn about seniors...they did this to get their votes. But the GOP doesn't care if there is a health care crisis. The uninsured probably won't vote GOP...so screw them!

The GOP does not want a bill that will save lives because they don't want anything perceived as a Democratic victory. They will stop at nothing, even delaying funding for our troops, in order to kill this because their own sad politics are more important to them than their constituents.

Ask them, what is their answer to health care insurance premiums RISING 10% every single year? Answer: Screw 'em...as long as we can say we screwed Obama.

Your GOP at work.

How to Negotiate Like a Democrat

When someone like Harry Reid is a major Dem "leader", you know we are in trouble:




I remember being told in 2004 by Senate Dems that they were utterly helpless to stop the GOP jugernaut of 55 Senators when they steamrolled us with god-awful legislation, like the bankruptcy bill written by the credit-card companies.

Dems kept offering amendments to that bill:
--give soldiers a break from bankruptcy serving overseas. DENIED.
--give people a break who are bankrupt because they had no medical insurance and had high hospital bills. DENIED!

The bill passed just the way Bush and the GOP wanted it. They negotiated--by saying my way or the highway. And as expected, our guys caved.

GET US IN OFFICE! The Dems cried. Things would be different!

So we did. We put into office a Dem prez, a supermajority in the House, and a "fillibuster-proof" Senate. NEVER will we have this majority again--but it apparently isn't enough to get any of our signature legislation passed.

It didn't have to be this way...

Reid could have broken the healthcare reform bill in two.

Reid could have at least threatened Reconciliation.

Reid could have at least threatened nuking the fillibuster to 55 votes. (67 to amend rules, but 51 to start fresh).

What did we have to fear? Retaliation? Really? Would the mean GOP "slow down" the Senate? What would that look like? Put the jobs creation bill up...let them try to stop it...just what the F*&K are you so damn afraid of?

Give 'em Hell Harry, my ass!

8 Million Children Have NO Health Care Insurance...

So what are the opponents of Health Care Reform offering to solve this crisis?

Local Business Attacks Health Care Reform

The veternarian clinic on Broadway in Oviedo has a sign up that says "Vote NO on Healthcare".

Brilliant. A Tea Party Veternarian. And apparently one stupid enough to think the best way to get his message to a representative is to advertise on a run-down sign in front of a dive.

To be perfectly clear, THOUSANDS of people here in Central Florida don't have insurance. They either don't have jobs, have crappy jobs that don't cover their expenses (although I know that can't be you, Mr. Tea Party Vet.), or have a pre-existing condition.

That means that their condition goes untreated until it gets so bad that they have to go to the emergency room and pray to get seen within 10 hours (which will afford them some time to figure out how to pay the inevitable bill).

That is, until you turn the magic age of 65. (DKos member Hunter put it best... 63 or 64? Socialism. 65? Oh, that's fine then.)

Someone who is this dispassionate about people should probably not be operating on your animal.

Insurance CEO makes $57,000...an hour

Living the dream....

Only in America...

Fight for Our Health Insurance Executives

The real victims of Obama's insidious plan to provide health care for all Americans:

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Seminoles...Call your representative for HC reform TODAY

A representative from Suzanne Kosmas's office confirms that anti-health insurance reform zealots are flooding the Congresswoman's offices with calls.

THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM PRO-HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM SUPPORTERS.

Please take a moment to call or email Rep. Kosmas -- or whomever your Representative -- and tell him/her to support President Obama's plan that includes a public option!

Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (202) 225-2706
Congresswoman Corrine Brown (202) 225-0123
Congressman John Mica (202) 225-4035
Congressman Alan Grayson (202) 225-2176

Senator Bill Nelson (202) 224-5274
Senator George LeMieux (202) 224-3041

White House comment line (202) 456-1111

PS: Here's a simple way to explain why America DESPERATELY needs health care reform using the back of a napkin.

Obama's Health Care Speech: full text and video

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, and the American people:

When I spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. We were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. Credit was frozen. And our financial system was on the verge of collapse.
As any American who is still looking for work or a way to pay their bills will tell you, we are by no means out of the woods. A full and vibrant recovery is many months away. And I will not let up until those Americans who seek jobs can find them; until those businesses that seek capital and credit can thrive; until all responsible homeowners can stay in their homes. That is our ultimate goal. But thanks to the bold and decisive action we have taken since January, I can stand here with confidence and say that we have pulled this economy back from the brink.

I want to thank the members of this body for your efforts and your support in these last several months, and especially those who have taken the difficult votes that have put us on a path to recovery. I also want to thank the American people for their patience and resolve during this trying time for our nation.

But we did not come here just to clean up crises. We came to build a future. So tonight, I return to speak to all of you about an issue that is central to that future - and that is the issue of health care.

I am not the first President to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last. It has now been nearly a century since Theodore Roosevelt first called for health care reform. And ever since, nearly every President and Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. Sixty-five years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session.

Our collective failure to meet this challenge - year after year, decade after decade - has led us to a breaking point. Everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured, who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. These are not primarily people on welfare. These are middle-class Americans. Some can't get insurance on the job. Others are self-employed, and can't afford it, since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer. Many other Americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous illnesses or conditions that insurance companies decide are too risky or expensive to cover.
We are the only advanced democracy on Earth - the only wealthy nation - that allows such hardships for millions of its people. There are now more than thirty million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two year period, one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point. And every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. In other words, it can happen to anyone.
But the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem of the uninsured. Those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. More and more Americans worry that if you move, lose your job, or change your job, you'll lose your health insurance too. More and more Americans pay their premiums, only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick, or won't pay the full cost of care. It happens every day.

One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it. Another woman from Texas was about to get a double mastectomy when her insurance company canceled her policy because she forgot to declare a case of acne. By the time she had her insurance reinstated, her breast cancer more than doubled in size. That is heart-breaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America.
Then there's the problem of rising costs. We spend one-and-a-half times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren't any healthier for it. This is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages. It's why so many employers - especially small businesses - are forcing their employees to pay more for insurance, or are dropping their coverage entirely. It's why so many aspiring entrepreneurs cannot afford to open a business in the first place, and why American businesses that compete internationally - like our automakers - are at a huge disadvantage. And it's why those of us with health insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it - about $1000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care.
Finally, our health care system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers. When health care costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on programs like Medicare and Medicaid. If we do nothing to slow these skyrocketing costs, we will eventually be spending more on Medicare and Medicaid than every other government program combined. Put simply, our health care problem is our deficit problem. Nothing else even comes close.

These are the facts. Nobody disputes them. We know we must reform this system. The question is how.

There are those on the left who believe that the only way to fix the system is through a single-payer system like Canada's, where we would severely restrict the private insurance market and have the government provide coverage for everyone. On the right, there are those who argue that we should end the employer-based system and leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own.

I have to say that there are arguments to be made for both approaches. But either one would represent a radical shift that would disrupt the health care most people currently have. Since health care represents one-sixth of our economy, I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't, rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch. And that is precisely what those of you in Congress have tried to do over the past several months.

During that time, we have seen Washington at its best and its worst.

We have seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform. Of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed their work, and the Senate Finance Committee announced today that it will move forward next week. That has never happened before. Our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses; hospitals, seniors' groups and even drug companies - many of whom opposed reform in the past. And there is agreement in this chamber on about eighty percent of what needs to be done, putting us closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been.

But what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many Americans have toward their own government. Instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics. Some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. Too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points, even if it robs the country of our opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. And out of this blizzard of charges and counter-charges, confusion has reigned.

Well the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care.

The plan I'm announcing tonight would meet three basic goals:

It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. It will provide insurance to those who don't. And it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. It's a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge - not just government and insurance companies, but employers and individuals. And it's a plan that incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans - and yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election.

Here are the details that every American needs to know about this plan:
First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have.
What this plan will do is to make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies - because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives.

That's what Americans who have health insurance can expect from this plan - more security and stability.

Now, if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who don't currently have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job or change your job, you will be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you will be able to get coverage. We will do this by creating a new insurance exchange - a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. Insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lets them compete for millions of new customers. As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. It's how everyone in this Congress gets affordable insurance. And it's time to give every American the same opportunity that we've given ourselves.

For those individuals and small businesses who still cannot afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we will provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need. And all insurance companies that want access to this new marketplace will have to abide by the consumer protections I already mentioned. This exchange will take effect in four years, which will give us time to do it right. In the meantime, for those Americans who can't get insurance today because they have pre-existing medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill. This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it's a good idea now, and we should embrace it.

Now, even if we provide these affordable options, there may be those - particularly the young and healthy - who still want to take the risk and go without coverage. There may still be companies that refuse to do right by their workers. The problem is, such irresponsible behavior costs all the rest of us money. If there are affordable options and people still don't sign up for health insurance, it means we pay for those people's expensive emergency room visits. If some businesses don't provide workers health care, it forces the rest of us to pick up the tab when their workers get sick, and gives those businesses an unfair advantage over their competitors. And unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek - especially requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions - just can't be achieved.

That's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance - just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. Likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers. There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95% of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. But we cannot have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system by avoiding responsibility to themselves or their employees. Improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part.
While there remain some significant details to be ironed out, I believe a broad consensus exists for the aspects of the plan I just outlined: consumer protections for those with insurance, an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance.

And I have no doubt that these reforms would greatly benefit Americans from all walks of life, as well as the economy as a whole. Still, given all the misinformation that's been spread over the past few months, I realize that many Americans have grown nervous about reform. So tonight I'd like to address some of the key controversies that are still out there.

Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple.

There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false - the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up - under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.

My health care proposal has also been attacked by some who oppose reform as a "government takeover" of the entire health care system. As proof, critics point to a provision in our plan that allows the uninsured and small businesses to choose a publicly-sponsored insurance option, administered by the government just like Medicaid or Medicare.

So let me set the record straight. My guiding principle is, and always has been, that consumers do better when there is choice and competition. Unfortunately, in 34 states, 75% of the insurance market is controlled by five or fewer companies. In Alabama, almost 90% is controlled by just one company. Without competition, the price of insurance goes up and the quality goes down. And it makes it easier for insurance companies to treat their customers badly - by cherry-picking the healthiest individuals and trying to drop the sickest; by overcharging small businesses who have no leverage; and by jacking up rates.

Insurance executives don't do this because they are bad people. They do it because it's profitable. As one former insurance executive testified before Congress, insurance companies are not only encouraged to find reasons to drop the seriously ill; they are rewarded for it. All of this is in service of meeting what this former executive called "Wall Street's relentless profit expectations."

Now, I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business. They provide a legitimate service, and employ a lot of our friends and neighbors. I just want to hold them accountable. The insurance reforms that I've already mentioned would do just that. But an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. Let me be clear - it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it, and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance. In fact, based on Congressional Budget Office estimates, we believe that less than 5% of Americans would sign up.

Despite all this, the insurance companies and their allies don't like this idea. They argue that these private companies can't fairly compete with the government. And they'd be right if taxpayers were subsidizing this public insurance option. But they won't be. I have insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. But by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at private companies by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers. It would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities.

It's worth noting that a strong majority of Americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort I've proposed tonight. But its impact shouldn't be exaggerated - by the left, the right, or the media. It is only one part of my plan, and should not be used as a handy excuse for the usual Washington ideological battles. To my progressive friends, I would remind you that for decades, the driving idea behind reform has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage affordable for those without it. The public option is only a means to that end - and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. And to my Republican friends, I say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have.

For example, some have suggested that that the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies. Others propose a co-op or another non-profit entity to administer the plan. These are all constructive ideas worth exploring. But I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need.

Finally, let me discuss an issue that is a great concern to me, to members of this chamber, and to the public - and that is how we pay for this plan.

Here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits - either now or in the future. Period. And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize. Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for - from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy. I will not make that same mistake with health care.

Second, we've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system - a system that is currently full of waste and abuse. Right now, too much of the hard-earned savings and tax dollars we spend on health care doesn't make us healthier. That's not my judgment - it's the judgment of medical professionals across this country. And this is also true when it comes to Medicare and Medicaid.

In fact, I want to speak directly to America's seniors for a moment, because Medicare is another issue that's been subjected to demagoguery and distortion during the course of this debate.

More than four decades ago, this nation stood up for the principle that after a lifetime of hard work, our seniors should not be left to struggle with a pile of medical bills in their later years. That is how Medicare was born. And it remains a sacred trust that must be passed down from one generation to the next. That is why not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan.
The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies - subsidies that do everything to pad their profits and nothing to improve your care. And we will also create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead.

These steps will ensure that you - America's seniors - get the benefits you've been promised. They will ensure that Medicare is there for future generations. And we can use some of the savings to fill the gap in coverage that forces too many seniors to pay thousands of dollars a year out of their own pocket for prescription drugs. That's what this plan will do for you. So don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut - especially since some of the same folks who are spreading these tall tales have fought against Medicare in the past, and just this year supported a budget that would have essentially turned Medicare into a privatized voucher program. That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare.

Now, because Medicare is such a big part of the health care system, making the program more efficient can help usher in changes in the way we deliver health care that can reduce costs for everybody. We have long known that some places, like the Intermountain Healthcare in Utah or the Geisinger Health System in rural Pennsylvania, offer high-quality care at costs below average. The commission can help encourage the adoption of these common-sense best practices by doctors and medical professionals throughout the system - everything from reducing hospital infection rates to encouraging better coordination between teams of doctors.
Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan. Much of the rest would be paid for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers. This reform will charge insurance companies a fee for their most expensive policies, which will encourage them to provide greater value for the money - an idea which has the support of Democratic and Republican experts. And according to these same experts, this modest change could help hold down the cost of health care for all of us in the long-run.

Finally, many in this chamber - particularly on the Republican side of the aisle - have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care. I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. So I am proposing that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine. I know that the Bush Administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these issues. It's a good idea, and I am directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today.
Add it all up, and the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over ten years - less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration. Most of these costs will be paid for with money already being spent - but spent badly - in the existing health care system. The plan will not add to our deficit. The middle-class will realize greater security, not higher taxes. And if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just one-tenth of one percent each year, it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term.

This is the plan I'm proposing. It's a plan that incorporates ideas from many of the people in this room tonight - Democrats and Republicans. And I will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open.

But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it. I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.

Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true.

That is why we cannot fail. Because there are too many Americans counting on us to succeed - the ones who suffer silently, and the ones who shared their stories with us at town hall meetings, in emails, and in letters.

I received one of those letters a few days ago. It was from our beloved friend and colleague, Ted Kennedy. He had written it back in May, shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. He asked that it be delivered upon his death.
In it, he spoke about what a happy time his last months were, thanks to the love and support of family and friends, his wife, Vicki, and his children, who are here tonight . And he expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform - "that great unfinished business of our society," he called it - would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that "it concerns more than material things." "What we face," he wrote, "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."

I've thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days - the character of our country. One of the unique and wonderful things about America has always been our self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government. And figuring out the appropriate size and role of government has always been a source of rigorous and sometimes angry debate.
For some of Ted Kennedy's critics, his brand of liberalism represented an affront to American liberty. In their mind, his passion for universal health care was nothing more than a passion for big government.

But those of us who knew Teddy and worked with him here - people of both parties - know that what drove him was something more. His friend, Orrin Hatch, knows that. They worked together to provide children with health insurance. His friend John McCain knows that. They worked together on a Patient's Bill of Rights. His friend Chuck Grassley knows that. They worked together to provide health care to children with disabilities.

On issues like these, Ted Kennedy's passion was born not of some rigid ideology, but of his own experience. It was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. He never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent - there is something that could make you better, but I just can't afford it.

That large-heartedness - that concern and regard for the plight of others - is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people's shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand. A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgement that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.

This has always been the history of our progress. In 1933, when over half of our seniors could not support themselves and millions had seen their savings wiped away, there were those who argued that Social Security would lead to socialism. But the men and women of Congress stood fast, and we are all the better for it. In 1965, when some argued that Medicare represented a government takeover of health care, members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, did not back down. They joined together so that all of us could enter our golden years with some basic peace of mind.

You see, our predecessors understood that government could not, and should not, solve every problem. They understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. But they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little; that without the leavening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition, and the vulnerable can be exploited. And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter - that at that point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.

What was true then remains true today. I understand how difficult this health care debate has been. I know that many in this country are deeply skeptical that government is looking out for them. I understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road - to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term.

But that's not what the moment calls for. That's not what we came here to do. We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it's hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history's test.

Because that is who we are. That is our calling. That is our character. Thank you, God Bless You, and may God Bless the United States of America.

New Viral Video on Health Care

How To Counter Arguments on HealthCare Reform

Any talk of controlling the deficit or fixing the economy without addressing the current healthcare crisis is futile. Our critics are arguing to keep a broken system, which is not just unsustainable, but is becoming catastrophic. Our costs are practically guaranteed to double over the next decade, which will lead to bankrupt employers and state governments.

This means millions more Americans will go uninsured—which is why premiums go up each year. You are covering the cost of those who can't afford to go to the doctor and end up having to go to the emergency room instead.

Those lucky enough to have insurance will be more vulnerable than ever to arbitrary denials of coverage.

Even right now, no one can argue that the care and cost are uneven, and while we spend more than any other nation on earth on healthcare, we are the only industrialized nation not to provide at least a minimum standard to all our citizens. With all the amount of money we are spending, we rank only 37th in the world for level of care, behind nations such as Cyprus or Columbia.

Bottom line is that we need to fix the problem. We needed to do this decades ago, but we can’t push this off anymore.

As expected, people with agendas to who just want our president to fail, or who profit from this broken system, are feeding outrageous talking points to the wingnut masses to carry out who are either too stupid or too lazy to realize that “Victory” for them means catastrophe for everyone. It's pointless to argue with the wingnut's, but several people who get bombarded with these falsehoods should get them corrected.

Morons, like those who attended the Tampa event in Florida, would not stop screaming that the reform will lead to healthcare for illegals or euthanasia of seniors (our own Ginny-Brown Waite, folks, said that. Don’t blame her, she was paid quite a bit too—see previous post). Even Palin today said they would kill her son. Idiots.

For these rantings, kindly direct them to this website, which puts the kibosh on the stupidity.

However, this category of people is called screaming stupid. These are people who make no attempt to read what the draft actually says unless, as Balam says, it fits their preconceived notions on Obama, the DNP, or evil “librals”.

They will always ignore the explanations given to them not only by professionals trained in interpreting legislation, but also by the people who actually wrote the legislation at issue, preferring instead to buy the interpretation of hyper-partisan nonprofessionals like Sarah, Rush, or glenn. Don’t waste your time.

For those who aren’t screaming stupid, they will argue point by point what is contained in the all-powerful HR 3200. One intelligent dissenter in the previous post contends to have “studied it carefully”--I'll take him at his word that he read all 1,018 pages. Normally, however, they will argue points given to them by their right-wing masters, such as this beauty that has circulated on the internet by the Liberty Counsel. (PAGE 2, Paragraph 3, Stroke 5, says we are all gonna die!!!)

Couple of things,

First, read the bill yourself: here

Second, the bill is a draft. No where near completion.

Third, according to Jennifer Tolbert, an independent health care analyst at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan foundation that studies health care reform, the claims are “flat-out, blatant lies. It's unbelievable to me how they can claim to reference the legislation and then make claims that are blatantly false."

If you get this email or one like it, guide the good fellow to someone who has actually read the bill and talked with the bill’s authors. These folks went through each claim made by the liberty counsel point by point:


Politifact.com

Linda Bergthold

The president also does a good job of addressing the lunacy and the motivations behind them:




People who care about the truth will appreciate it.

Those who still disagree and want a rationale debate, please, by all means, give it to them.

But those who are angry with you and scream that this is the first step of forced abortions under a liberal Hitler, then you need to deal with them at their level. Have them play with THIS for awhile.