I don’t know why….but I think the slimeballs are the perfect messengers. Sort of like, If you liked Iraq, you’ll really want to listen to these guys and their plan.

And what does responsibility mean? If a kid in a car accident has pot in his system is he not covered?

These rich ass Rethugs sure like to form front groups to launder the money they spend trying to sabotage anything that doesn’t build a bridge to the 12th century.

I’m just livid about this issue. I heard on NPR today that Obama met with big insurance companies, big Pharma, and the AMA to get their input. Where are the voices of the people who HAVEN’T brought us our current, screwed-up system?

“Choice”? Are they saying that it’s important that insurance cover abortions?

/irony

No, the Republican idea of choice is that CEO’s have the freedom to choose what they do with us.

Thanks BT.

Also from the cited article:

“Scott’s ouster as head of the Columbia/HCA health-care company amid a
fraud investigation in the 1990s. The firm eventually pleaded guilty
to charges that it overbilled state and federal health plans, paying a
record $1.7 billion in fines.”

The moment Columbia/HCA pled guilty and paid that fine they became the
biggest health care thieves in Earth’s history.

When Dan Eggin and the WaPoo give him a platform on health care, what
outcome do they really seek? What do the Rethugs and the “health” insurance crooks seek?

I understand that SEIU was there, as well.

HuffPo reported on it this morning -

Saw this commercial this weekend and immediately thought that, in addition to the stories on their site about the horrors of government run health plans in other countries, I’ll bet they balance that out with positive stories!

The whole commercial stank.

This is not principled resistance to health care reform. It is naked resistance to loss of wealth by a financial opportunist who knows a good thing may be passing. It is part of the wall of shout that hopes to derail reform, or at least keep it on a side track long enough that its proponents can first buy up the land along the new rail line before it’s laid.

Ought not Obama to make clear he’s building a consensus first, and intends to act on it after the 2010 elections, when he expects to have real 60+ votes in the Senate and a stronger majority in the House? Is triangulating in a vain hope of avoiding unavoidable GOP and Blue Dog resistance to credible health care reform really enough? If so, it is hardly a profile in courage or in “pragmatic” policy-making.

It’s also a trial balloon for all manner of astroturf modes, methinks.

Thanks for the extra info and pointed observations Dr. Kirk.

I am sure he understand the big picture, but those guys are gonna have to take a haircut and someone has to talk to them and listen to their BS.

It’s pretty hard to tell these industries that their biz model is caput.

Ain’t it?

It must be making him a lot of money to consider spending so much of it to prevent the rest of us from getting care. Perhaps lobbying needs to be rigidly controlled and regulated so everyone else including the people, know who is lobbying what, and that they can’t pay anyone anything to assist their cause. For what they do now is bribe.

Anyone who has not been asleep understands how simple and efficient single payer is and they know about Canada, UK, France, Germany etc.

The issue is how to dismantle the cancer that has it’s roots through THIS medical system and stand up single payer. A lot of conventional wisdom seems to do it incrementally by first paying off the insurance companies where in every pays them for coverage (w or w/o) gov assistance.

Then maybe they might leave…. yea right.

We own the banks I wonder if all the members of CRC Public Relations realize that both as business and personally that all their credit can dry up?
I’m talking business loans, credit cards, home loans, student loans why because they are not a good credit risk.
I after all would not expect them to get any money from the government in the future.

Has anyone run the numbers the Obama plan’s savings vs what National healthcare saves us?

Its your responsibility to have a job that gets you complete coverage. Its your responsibility to have a lawyer ready to sue if you are not covered.

1.7 billion in fines how much jail time did he do? I’ve seen judges threaten people with jail for unpaid traffic tickets and a third court appearance to tell the judge they could not pay the first tickets.
For 1.7 billion I would expect jail time to be mandatory.

We need to attack the Swift boaters I think Corporate Welfare is a good place to start.
We need to show how much they charge America to insure some people and how much less France, Japan etc charge to insure everyone , plus they live longer than US!
Living longer is the ultimate proof that their healthcare is better.

We need to show what healthcare costs add to the price of American cars and how much cheaper those costs would be if American car companies only had to pay what Japanese car makers pay.
Then we need to link that number to the current cost of the automaker bailout. We need to say that the high price of American Healthcare helped kill our car companies by making their cars more expensive.

“Harry and Louise” ads

Imagine how much money would the average American have saved on healthcare over the years if Hilary care was enacted back when Bill was President.
Now imagine how much more money would have been saved if instead of Hilary care we had National Healthcare!
Obama plays compromise, plays good cop nice cop we play bad Lefty cop who gets results!
We persuade the swift boaters to go along with Obama because we will take things even further!

I wonder how many Jon McCain voters are dead who might have lived to vote for him if only we had national healthcare?
McCain’s strength was after all older white male voters.
The private healthcare industry hoisted on their own petard?

I want the Michael Moore film “Sicko ” shown on National tv before we have this debate.
We claim to have a free media but do we have the freedom to show something on tv that the healthcare industry advertisers won’t like?
If the advertisers don’t like like it do we have freedom is the question in a Capitalistic Democracy.

That’s an idea…we could get it out to the right wing pro-lifers that Scott’s “Conservatives for Patients Rights” is actually for choice…a stealth campaign using code-words.

America want’s health care reform? Will not likely happen until the ruling elites are swept from power once and for all. It’s a corrupt political system that is incapable of real reform.

$1.7 billion extracted from medical services that may have been unavailable as a result of his embezzlement. I wonder how many people didn’t receive necessary treatments as a consequence? How many unnecessary deaths results? How many easily treated illnesses blossomed into severe or chronic conditions? This is disproportionately theft from children, pregnant and new mothers, the elderly and the poor. Why is this guy even allowed anywhere near lobbying our Representatives, much less receiving government contracts, anymore? Why is he allowed to create or donate these independant political influence groups? So he can do it again?

Why is he allowed to create or donate these independant political influence groups? So he can do it again?

Yes. On behalf of health care czar Orzsag’s old employer, Robert Rubin’s creation, and Obama’s guiding light: the Hamilton Project. Defenders of America’s insurance and finance billionaires.

The rest of us are merely extras.

None of us would want the job of sitting in a room with those folks because you’d have to sit through all the whining, crying, sobbing, temper tantrum throwing and attempted bribery. But, Obama does live in a nice house…

We’ll see.