The New Health Care Bill Is ARMAGEDDON! - Really??

Well at least that's what leading Republicans are saying anyway. Yes I said, leading Republicans!

Not just the Lunatic Tea Party Fringe,
but mainstreamers like our
House Minority Leader John Boehner.

Who seriously declared, with a straight face no less,  that...

"It's ARAMAGEDDON!
This New Health Care Bill
Will Ruin Our Country!"

(Note the serious look of concern on his face.  One can obviously tell he  really cares.)  

Then there's The Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele who attempts to explain to a skeptical Shepard Smith on Fox News that - "Yes, this Really is Armageddon!"  (Please note, when you're the chairman of the party, the one man who is actually authorized to speak on behalf of the Republican Party, and your right wing inflammatory rhetoric, becomes so bizarre that even Fox News has to challenge it.  Well then, you know you've gone too far.)  Click play and check out the video.  It's only about a minute long - it's worth it - it's fun!



All of this over a rather minor health care bill.  A bill whose key provisions won't even take effect until 2014.  Yet that didn't stop, the Wall Street Journal from publishing an Opinion Piece that declares it to be a disaster from "Day One". An opinion page that has apparently gone viral around the net. 

This is of course the same exact WSJ opinion page that just one year ago. In March of 2009 boasted screaming headlines like "Obama Liberalism Is Killing the Dow". Well, need I tell you that the Dow Jones industrial average has gone up about 65% since then.

It's actually up 70% if you go back to the lows in the last year of the Bush administration. Have the WSJ editorial writers, given the Obama administration any credit for that? No, of course not! But you can damn well bet when the Dow falls back down again (as it inevitably will). Obama, if he's still in office, will take the blame!

It's important to remember that this is not the Wall Street Journal of old. The staid and reliable, albeit business conservative publication, respected throughout the world and that most of us grew up with.

Ever since the paper was purchased by Rupert Murdoch in 2007. Its opinion pages have become just another tool in his foreign-owned (he's Australian, you know), right-wing political propaganda machine. Which of course includes Fox News, numerous tabloid trash publications like the New York Post, and the many right-wing radio stations he either owns or partially owns throughout the English-Speaking World.

Now don't get me wrong, as I've blogged about in the past, this is not at all, the health care reform I was hoping for.  I am no big fan of this bill.  Although, I can't even imagine what the Republicans might be saying, if the Democrats would've had the votes and the courage to actually pass real health care reform. 

Heck, the initial features of this bill, don't even provide some of the basic coverage that John McCain himself was campaigning for during the 2008 presidential election.  The truth is, Republican President Richard Nixon back in the 1970s, proposed and failed to pass a far more progressive health care bill than this even pretends to be.   And yet no Republicans called it Armageddon, they just (most of them anyway) voted against it.

The real problems with this bill is not what it does.  But what it doesn't do.  It provides No Public Option. No Medicare Expansion or Buy-In.  No Tort Reform and No Prescription Drug Price Controls.  All of which were negotiated out by special interest groups.  And all of which are necessary,  if we ever hope to get health care costs under control.

While this bill does provide some immediate relief for young people (26 and under), the truth is, this new health care bill does absolutely nothing for me and my current situation. The only benefits in this legislation that might be of some potential help to me won't kick in until 2014. And I turn 65 that year and will be eligible for Medicare anyway.

Besides, who knows what changes this bill might undergo between now and then. None of this, after all is written in stone and is obviously subject to the whims of future members of Congress.

What I do know is that this bill, with all of its flaws (most of which were created by special interest oppositions) is at the very least - a start.  And  it's hardly  "The Armageddon"  that Republicans and Big Business are making it out to be.  This type of Inflammatory Speech, Republican Hype and Sensationalism is  just Pure Political Theater.  Designed and Created to try and get out the Republican vote in 2010.

Just Thinking

Please feel free to comment below, ( just click on the word "Comments" if the panel is not open). Or you can e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted. 

And don't forget to check out my new blog   Agnostic Thinking  found at the following address...   

http://www.AgnosticThinking.BlogSpot.Com/  Dedicated just to Agnostic/Atheism, Rational Thinking, Gay Subculture And Related Topics.

The Health-Care Summit at Blair House

Well I just spent the entire day watching, absorbing and contemplating the health care Summit in Washington DC.  My morning started with coffee and NPR as usual.  Then onto CNN's pre-summit coverage.  I proceeded to watch the summit itself on C-SPAN-3  (fewer interruptions).  I used the lunch break to check e-mails, call my friend Billy in San Francisco about a link he sent me and then call my Mom in New Jersey to see how she was managing with yet another snowstorm.  Other than that, this entire day was dedicated to the health care Summit.  An issue I have a real vested interest in.

So at this point, as you might imagine, my head is spinning.  Yes, there was lots of "Political Theater" as predicted.  Both sides attempted to act civilly for the benefit of the TV Cameras as they emphasized the same old "Talking Points".  Simple "Catchphrases" that market research indicates might resonate with the American people. "Keep it simple for the Masses.  They're not too bright, you know."  Seemed to be the message of the day.   As a former oratory and debate student.  I find this new scientific methodology appalling.

The simple fact is, neither side is seriously considering Real Health Care Reform.  You know, something like, Single-Payer Universal Healthcare, i.e. MediCare for all.  Granted, one might argue that the Democrats are offering more than the Republicans.  But the truth is, Neither Is Offering Any Real, Concrete, Significant Change! 

Yes it's true, the Democratic plan does have some badly needed worthwhile provisions, but unfortunately, most of those don't even kick in till 2013 or 14.  Hell, By Then I Might Be Dead!  I know, perhaps I'm being just a bit melodramatic - but the truth is, sometimes, that's the way I feel.  There are after all, some procedures and treatments I desperately need, but without health care insurance simply don't have affordable access to.

Now of course the real reason that universal health-care isn't even being considered by either party, is cost.

Which brings us back to what I've been saying all along.  With the money we've been wasting on the Useless Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan,  Cost would not be an issue. 

As I've pointed out in previous blog posts, and as President Eisenhower once predicted.  "Unlimited Funding of Our Military Industrial Complex Will Bankrupt The Nation."  

Those Wars, along with our Numerous Permanent Military Bases And Installations Around the World are Not Only Draining the Treasury but Doing More Harm Than Good by Actually Creating More Terrorists.
 - Just Thinking.



Here's some more photos of the summit, courtesy of CBS News...

Please feel free to comment below or e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.  

We Need a Public Option And Real Health Care Reform Now!

After the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts, the idea of passing a health care bill through budget reconciliation - a process that only requires 51 votes in the Senate - has been gaining momentum. Sen. Michael Bennet from Colorado is circulating a letter to Majority Leader Reid, calling for this strategy and asking other Senators to sign.

I'd like to urge all my Blog readers to contact their Senators and ask them to sign too. I support a public option, which is what President Obama originally campaigned on. And, one of the reasons I voted for him.

And we need health care reform NOW , not sometime in 2013 or 14.

If that can't be done, then we need Medicare Expansion Immediately.

Citizens 55 and older should be given the opportunity to Buy-in to Medicare. As originally proposed by Senator Lieberman, before the Insurance Companies bought him off and he changed his mind.

Join the campaign to urge the Senate to use reconciliation to pass a public option with 51 votes.

I just called my Senators, Bill Nelson (D) and George LeMieux (R), about signing on to the Bennet letter.

Click on the link below to join the campaign to save the public option by using reconciliation in the Senate.

             http://act.credoaction.com/call/oneoffs/results_21.html     







Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

Five year old Kyler Is Dying of Cancer Because His Insurance Company Refuses to Pay For Treatment!

So often during the health care debate, you'd hear some people say.  "I want my doctor making my health care decisions, not the government!" It was almost as if they really believed their doctor was in charge. 

When the sad truth is that Doctors in the American Health Care System are mere "Advisors" and the Insurance Companies are Now and Always have been the "Decider's".

Take the case of  five-year-old  Kyler Van Nocker...

When Kyler was only 2 1/2 years old.  He was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, which is a very rare form of childhood cancer that targets the nervous system and creates tumors throughout the body.  Kyler was successfully treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and it seemed as though the young boy had his childhood back.  Unfortunately however, the cancer returned in September of 2008.

Kyler's Doctor along with a team of medical experts prescribed MIBG Therapy.  A treatment that has been used very successfully in Europe.  Doctors said the boy needed this treatment if they were going to save his life.

In direct contradiction of the advice of medical professionals however, the HealthAmerica Insurance Company, a division of Coventry Health Care*  denied the treatment, calling it  "experimental"  and  "not medically necessary."  -  Which of course in layman's terms means  -  it's too expensive.  

The company is obviously engaging in the time honored industry practice of  "Delay and Deny".  A tactic frequently used with expensive cancer treatments in the hopes that,  in the meantime -  The Patient Will Just Die!

This is a perfect example of why our  "For-Profit"  Health Care System is Terminally Flawed.

As a self-employed small business owner, most of my adult life, I definitely believe in Capitalism and Free Enterprise, but not when it comes to Health Care.  Profit motives should have no place in the human health care system.

As a society,  Our Humanity causes us to spare no expense when it comes to treating beached marine life, wounded animals or endangered species.  But somehow we manage to look the other way when  Men, Women and even Children fall through the cracks of our profit driven health care system.

 Now I ask you, How Sad is That?


*The Dow Jones Newswires reports today that Coventry Health Care's fourth-quarter earnings rose 24%, beating profit expectations, as overall membership rose while medical costs fell.

"Coventry's medical-loss ratio, or the percentage of premium revenue used to pay patient bills, declined [to] 83.2% from 83.8% a year earlier and 84.4% in the prior quarter," notes Dow.

This has helped boost Coventry Health Care's profits to $109.1 million, or 74 cents a share, up from $88.2 million, or 60 cents, a year earlier. Revenue increased 15% to $3.43 billion as premium revenue rose 17%.

According to CNBC, Company Chairman and CEO Alan F. Weiss stands to make $23 million in salary, compensation and bonuses.

How nice that little five-year-old Kyler Van Nocker was able to help with that.  Kyler's mom and dad and the entire Van Nocker family must be proud.  -   Just Thinking


 Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire! - The Top Lies of 2009!

The following is a blog post I started to write in late December of 2009.  Since I failed to finish it at that time.  It's been sitting in my "Draft File" until now.  When I finally completed it.

As an American, I believe in the Constitution, and I believe in freedom of speech.  I also believe we're all entitled to our own opinion, but I don't believe that were entitled to our own set of facts.  Truth after all is Truth And Lies Are Lies!   We should always endeavor to remember that a half truth - is a whole lie.  With that thought in mind, let's look at some of the biggest lies and fabricated deceptions of 2009.

"The Birther Movement"  This is the ridiculous notion that Barack Obama is not really a citizen.  It's ludicrous I know, and yet the rumor still persists.  I just got an e-mail about it the other day.  This of course is spurred on by conservative talk-show hosts, right-wing Republicans.  And of course Sister Sarah  (Palin).  This despite the fact that even our conservative Supreme Court has declared his birth certificate to be valid.

"The System Worked!"  said Cabinet Secretary and head of the Department of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, with reference to the failed Christmas Day bombing event. -Yes it's true, even Democrats try this, but at least she knew enough to retract the statement hours later. 

"Health Care is Socialism"  No - Health Care is a basic Human Right!  (or it least it should be in an ethical society)  Bailing out Wall Street bankers while they collect million-dollar bonuses.  Now that's Socialism!  Unless of course you believe that socialism is only for the rich and capitalism is only for the poor and uninsured.

"DEATH  PANELS" " Sarah Palin claims on her Facebook page that  "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil."

-- No Sarah, such a Lie is downright evil and you should be ashamed of yourself !  -- Needless to say, none of the health care bills before Congress ever contained anything even remotely similar to a Death Panel.  It takes a Devious and Evil mind to conjure that one up, but Sarah was apparently up to the task.  - Just Thinking...

Note:  The  "Pants on Fire"  graphic is from the St. Petersburg Times,  PolitiFact.Com  website.

Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

A Brief Apology

As many of you have reminded me via e-mail, I have been neglecting my blog recently and for that I really do apologize. I greatly appreciate the few readers I have and I can assure you, It is not my intention to take you for granted. 

Truth is, I've been rather Disgusted, Depressed, and perhaps even a bit Overwhelmed by the realization that yet another Administration is likely to come and go without delivering us Real Health-Care Reform. 

An issue that is near and dear to me, since due to pre-existing conditions.  I have been without Health Insurance for several years now. A reality that sometimes, literally -- Paralyzes Me With Fear! 

Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

The Audacity of Deception!

Unlike many right-wing Republicans, I as a Progressive Democrat will not hesitate to point out the flaws and deceptions of my own Democratic President.  I was shocked to learn that president Obama in an interview with the Washington Post today declared and I quote,  "I didn't campaign on the public option" - This I'm sorry to say is a boldface lie.

As most major media, including the Washington Post and the New York Times have already pointed out, President Obama not only campaigned for the public option, but he debated for it as well.  It was on his campaign website and even in his professionally produced campaign advertising.

It's also worth noting that while he campaigned for a public option he also debated and campaigned against a public mandate.  Let's go to the videotape...

 

There can obviously be no disputing that the president did in fact campaign for the public option. Instead of admitting that however, and acknowledging that the Senate health care bill is flawed and not even remotely similar to what was promised.  The President has chosen the typical political ploy of attempting to rewrite history.  Needless to say I'm very dismayed and disappointed.

The truth is that the health care bill about to pass the Senate does not contain a public option, and therefore does nothing to provide cost-cutting competition to the big insurance companies. It does however provide a mandate that we all buy private insurance whether we like it or not.  This plan therefore is effectively giving the insurance industry over 30 million new customers. If that's not a gift to big insurance,  I don't know what is.  - Just Thinking...





Please feel free to comment below or e-mail me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

The Senate Is about to Pass Health Care! Should We Be Saying Merry Christmas or Bah Humbug?

Due to some last minute changes in the Senate health care bill, most Progressive Democrats, including Howard Dean, (see my previous post " Howard Dean Says Kill the Bill! " )  have reversed their position and decided to reluctantly support the new Senate health care legislation.  I must admit however, I'm still a bit skeptical and as MoveOn.org reports there are still many unresolved issues. 

The Senate bill would:


#1—Deny Americans the choice of a public option. In contrast, the House bill contains a national public option, the key to real competition, greater choice, and lower costs.

#2—Leave insurance unaffordable for some lower income and working people. Both bills require virtually all Americans to buy insurance. But even with the subsidies provided, some families could have to pay up to 20% of their income on health care expenses.

#3—Impose dangerous restrictions on women's reproductive health care. Unfortunately, both bills do this and the House provision is worse. Both versions would be a dangerous step and neither should be in the final bill.

#4—Tax American workers' health coverage to pay for reform. The Senate would pay for part of reform by taxing the hard-won benefits packages of some working Americans. The House, on the other hand, pays for reform with a small surcharge on only the wealthiest Americans—a far better approach I think.

#5—Allow insurance companies to remain exempt from anti-trust laws. Under current law, insurance companies are actually exempt from laws designed to prevent monopolies and price-gouging. The House bill would fix this, but the Senate bill leaves it in place.

Of course, these aren't the only problems with the bill. Most glaringly, both the Senate and House bill would leave millions uninsured,  a far cry from the vision of universal coverage so many of us have fought for.

Additionally, this latest version of the bill does nothing to rectify the "Health Factor" (a.k.a. previous existing conditions) issue as well as some of the other problems I've addressed previously. When the bill goes to committee, hopefully the House and Senate leadership, as well as the White House will get the message and rectify these key outstanding issues immediately.  But I'm not counting on it. As I said before, I'm unfortunately, still very skeptical of this bill.

As far as Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is concerned,  making  "Backroom Deals"  is not the kind of  "Change " I was hoping for.  Nor is it the kind of   "Change"  I can believe in.

                                    And as far as Senator Joe Lieberman is concerned...

Democrats should have called his bluff and let him filibuster!

 - Just Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at eddieoreilly@hotmail.com and your comment will be posted.

Howard Dean Says Kill the Bill!

Giving Seniors 55 to 64 the option of  "Buying In"  (at their own expense, of course)  to the already very popular and successful Medicare program was an excellent idea. This was obviously not the Universal Health-Care Public Option I had hoped for, but it was a start.  Now, absent both the public option and the Medicare buy-in, this new health care bill is useless.  In fact, it's a ripoff!  As Howard Dean and others have stated, this is nothing but a Christmas Present to Big Insurance Companies!

With the possible exception of the late Ted Kennedy, there are few leading Democrats that have been stronger proponents of health care reform than Howard Dean. A Licensed Medical Doctor and former Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former Governor Dean is a highly motivated Health-Care Reformer and is certainly well qualified to address this issue. If he says kill the bill, there must be a reason why.

Many Democrats, including the President still want the bill to pass however, the feeling is that something is better than nothing. But is it really? This new bill claims to eliminate (by 2012) the pre-existing conditions clause currently used by insurance companies. But closer scrutiny reveals It's merely a change in rhetoric.

While it's true that insurance companies will now be forced to accept all applicants they will still be able to raise rates and charge significantly more to people that have what will now be called "Health Factors". You know "Factors" such as high blood pressure or a history of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and so on. Sounds like a "Pre-Existing Conditions Clause" to me.

In addition, they can even charge more for other "Factors" such as age and to people who are overweight, smoke, drink alcohol or engage in so-called "Poor Lifestyle Choices".

The bill further claims to extend and ensure Medicare for years to come by cutting the program of some $313 billion in funding.  Talk about your convoluted logic and political doublespeak.

Oh - and get this, if you are among the uninsured, like it or not, you will be forced to buy one of these policies or face a financial penalty (i.e. you'll be fined). Effectively guaranteeing private insurance companies at least 30 MILLION new customers.

Now requiring full participation in a competitively priced, public health plan is understandable. But forcing us to buy overpriced private insurance is indeed a real gift to the big insurance companies.

I'm sorry to say, but in its current form, I have to agree with Howard Dean on this one. It's time To Kill the Bill!

 - Just Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at  eddieoreilly@hotmail.com  and your comment will be posted.

Senator Joseph Lieberman Is a Schmuck!

Everyone knows it would be impossible to have real health care reform without a public option. I'm disgusted at this point with President Obama's lack of leadership and the Democrats in general for failing to be more aggressive on this issue. I personally campaigned tirelessly for Obama and other Democratic candidates in 2008. My priorities were to end the Bush Wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan and concentrate those resources on domestic issues here at home. My number one motivation and priority was health care reform with a public option.

Now, 11 months into his presidency.  Obama still has 135,000 troops in Iraq and has announced a new expansion of the war in Afghanistan.

As far as the health care  "Public Option" is concerned, well needless to say that got thrown under the bus real quick. Other than some polite lip service early on, My New President hardly made the "Public Option" one of his priorities.

Democrats tried to placate us, by expanding Medicare. Seniors 55 to 64 would be given the option of "Buying In" (at their own expense, of course) to the already very popular and successful Medicare program. This was obviously not the public option we had been promised, but it was a start I thought. Besides, so the theory went, this would get Senator Joe Lieberman on board, since everybody knows he has been supporting the expansion of Medicare for years. As he states in this video.  Just three short months ago...



Well guess what?  Surprise, Surprise!  Joe Lieberman states on  "Face the Nation"  Sunday morning that he can no longer support the expansion of Medicare Provision and if it's included in the bill he will join Republicans and filibuster against it.

You see Joe Lieberman has never really supported Health Care Reform.  The truth is he's firmly in bed, financially and otherwise, with Big Insurance and Big Pharma.  He has continually done their bidding by undermining true health care reform every chance he gets.

Senator Joseph Lieberman should be stripped of his chairmanship and no longer seated with the Democratic Caucus.  He's a Traitor and yes indeed,  He's a Schmuck!

 - Just Thinking...

Please feel free to comment below or email me direct at  eddieoreilly@hotmail.com  and your comment will be posted.