Will Work For Food?

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Historic Health Care Bill Passes The House

This is an historic moment, despite the complexity of the legislation and the confusion about it and the emotions stirred by it...and yes, I'm calmer now since my last post !

But I didn't find it possible to sift the information and opinions I've come across in the past two days into anything slick and succinct without feeling like that would be unfair. This is a time for intelligent deliberation, not more one-liner sound bites and misleading partial quotes.

What I was able to put together is here: http://donaldburr.com/healthcare.pdf

and thank you Donald Burr for putting it up on your server for free! (Starving Economists love it when we have things done for us for free...)

Health care has been such a third rail for so long, and our nation's problems with delivering it affordably have been the root of so much suffering which often appears unnecessary, that it is unsurprising so many passions have been stirred. Including my own. Thank you to those who have been bearing with me.

We shall muddle through...

Friday, November 6, 2009

Kucinich Amendment Drop Kick

And here is the crushing blow.

Trying not to use the b*-word.

No, not "bitch."

Betrayal.

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Look, those of you who are viscerally opposed to having anything like Medicare for yourselves, ok. Your state would not have been forced to adopt such a system. But this quote of Senator Kucinich from the above article is still an important point to ponder, my friends:

"...As long as there are for-profit health insurance companies, there will be no effective way to protect consumers against ever escalating premiums, co pays and deductibles, unless the insurance companies know that people at a state level will always have a choice to reject the insurance companies and establish a single-payer not-for-profit system.

"That is why the Kucinich Amendment must be put back in the health care bill, not just to protect the rights of states to pursue single payer, but to protect the rights of consumers to be free of the economic death grip of the insurance companies."


Think about it.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

"State's Rights!" -- oh, no, wait a minute...

Remembering Reagan's speech where he indicated his support for state's rights...a position he stuck with despite charges of racism...I tend to associate the Republican Party with state's rights advocacy in the current political era. Certainly many Republicans have strongly articulated a similar position to Reagan's on the subject.

But when it comes to corruption, that is, the outrageous level of influence a moneyed and powerful industry such as the health insurance industry has on our elected officials, it seems anything goes. I'm not seeing a powerful Republican repudiation of Nancy Pelosi's sudden betrayal of all who have been working to see, at the very least, the chance of individual states to enact efficient, cost-effective, and fair health care systems, despite the toxic mess the federal bills are threatening to become.

There is time to speak out against the removal of this right for the states, but the deadline is 2 pm Pacific time tomorrow! So please see this action alert for information on what to do.

It's hard to get a good night's sleep these days, knowing that as you rest, some politician somewhere is contemplating doing something really horrific. Maybe they need to sleep more.


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An undergrad economics degree was all I could afford. Alas and alack, it did not guarantee me regular meals.

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Except where individually noted, photos for this blog were taken by xbeepx .