Thers!

Thersaturday Night Fever!

sathersday night (no fever)

OT I finished a Diary but its not showing at the Seminal

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/6666

Whats wrong?

How ’bout “fervor?”

let me take a look and see what i can find

Typical wingnuttism. Obsess about the beginning and the end of life, and in between, we can all go fuck ourselves.

Jonah Goldberg would be a horse’s ass, but the horse rejected him.

you need tags dood

One day our nation will be able to have grownup conversations.

Afraid I can’t share that optimism.

There’s a huge price to be paid” for getting healthcare legislation passed without “bipartisan support,” in that the legislation would not “be as good a product.

The GOP hates Healthcare and they want it to fail their input would result in failure. The less obama listens to them the better I feel.
Cripes Lamar What big eyes you, have what big teeth you have. What an obvious bipartisan disguise no wolf dressed in Grandma’s clothes is going to fool us.

Thanks Suz:)

Evening all.

Sorry about the paucity of yuks, but on this one, these people are far more revolting than comical.

In the course of my work, I’ve yet to meet a hospice worker who is less than compassionate and caring. As you say, there may be rotten apples out there, but I haven’t met them either.

Jonah and his ilk can keep whining, but that won’t change the kindness and support that hospice workers bring.

Thanks for the post, Thers!

Someday we’ll get there.

The last few people left alive are likely to have interesting things to say.

I’d like to think that my G-Ma would come back and kick these fuckers right in the nuts.

But then – she was a lady.

So she’d have probably made me do it.

Funny how they were so sensitive about Bush/Hitler comparisons but no problem with Obama/Holocaust references.

I’m with you on Hospice. Not only are they concerned about the dying person, they are wonderful with those will survive, and the caregivers.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that these rightwing blogger clowns are human beings.

How do I ad tags if its posted but not showing on the screen?

Oh, is that what you call what the horse did to him?
(I had a different phrase in mind.)

…these rightwing blogger clowns are human beings.

since it’s Saturday night, I’ll not quibble with definitions….

i kind of wish my mother could come back and express her opinion of these idjits, seeing as how it’s probably lower than her opinion of the last maladministration.

When my dad was in hospice the nurses and assistants were stellar. One of the docs was a real asshole but you can’t win ‘em all.

I can’t imagine a reason to work in hospice care unless you’re compassionate. Few assholes would even look at a job like that.

Thanks man.

Not single one of these fools has even a millionth part of the everyday bravery of a hospice worker.

These people are goddamn heroes.

you have to go back in and edit it and add them try this link

For the Republicans only the the meritorious rich and their fluffers in the media-industrial complex deserve the good things in lfe. Everyone else deserves to suffer.

One of my closest friends worked at a hospice for years.

Eventually, it took too much out of her.

Section 1233 of the House-drafted legislation encourages health care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on ‘the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration’ and other end of life treatments, and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressured to sign end of life directives they would not otherwise sign. This provision may start us down a treacherous path toward government-encouraged euthanasia if enacted into law…

The GOP wants to refight Terri Schiavo? Why Katrina, Bush’s plan to Privatize Social Security and Terri Schiavo are the 3 single events that changed things for us.
I’m sure this will rally the base but you still need 51% not 20% to win an election.

They’d send us right back to feudalism, except that then they couldn’t sell real estate at inflated prices.

You have to strike a constant balance between compassion and detachment to be able to function. It must take a toll on the individual.

I’m sure this will rally the base but you still need 51% not 20% to win an election.

ahhh, but it’s a very solid 20%. Which means – they lose.

Big time.

I’m a relatively happy guy lately.

We have one mission in our lifetimes. We MUST figuratively bury these “people” and the modern-day Repub mentality once and for all. We must do this for the children not yet born. It is not fun-and-games and political posturing. It is about the survival of humankind as we know it.

Seriously.

Some stuff becomes impossible to just leave at work and not take home.

It’ll eat your ass alive – I happen to know this personally (in a different area, of course).

Not possible to win a decisive lasting victory over ignorance. Many battles have to be waged anew by each generation.

The repugs don’t like health care reform cause it is egalitarian. Creepy old white dudes don’t want their hard earned dollars going to pay for sick minority babies. Doesn’t matter that the babies’ parents’ labor helped to sustain the economy. Back when we had an economy. So, there you have in a nut shell. The conservative powers that be have no investment or interest in the people of the United States. We are only here to be stolen from.

I added tags with edit “Reverse Psychology Propaganda ” still nothing

If you look at Boehner’s statement, what they want to do is go back to Karen Quinlan and pretend Terry Schiavo never existed.

I’m not kidding.

It’s also something that you do as a part of a team.

The key is to know when and where to let your own emotions out. The best of them are strong and supportive with the families they are serving, and later among their co-workers or their own support system, they do their own grieving.

No one does hospice work alone — or at least not for long. If you try to do it as an individual, you burn out fast.

dammit Mary – you been listening to Pat Buchanan again?

I share your happiness Snoopy Dance! but I am wondering just what are they thinking?

The Republicans have a real problem. They actually would like to get rid of all us old folks because we cost so much money, but that age group are the ones who vote for them – thankfully not all. So they have to be very careful to kiss up to the elderly while trying to deny them everything they can.

Nah, serfs have it too easy.

shit… i don’t know more than that… contact sem at their contact and ask them what the deal is…. sorry things…

See what is the GOP thinking?

yep. he is my secret hero.

not.

Thanks for trying :)

Sadly, you’re not kidding at all.

These are people who are wedded to an ideology, and have little care for (or even awareness of) the plight of individuals.

I acted as a caregiver for my mom for many years. I didn’t mind, fortunately she was mentally sharp and had a great sense of humor. We shared a lot of good times. Don’t think I could do it for anyone else as a full-time occupation though.

…what are they thinking?

I think you’re giving them too much credit.

Like GWB said, they trust their gut.

What GWB never mentioned was that the “thinking” from the gut was coming from the bottom-most region of the gut.

(If I were to say “assholes” here, would it be redundant?)

Serfs are always up…

Certainly, but the task for each new generation becomes much easier if the previous generations get shit done. Just like women can vote now and we now have a melanin-enhanced President with a Muslim name. Many died to make this a possibility.

That’s why I feel this is the task of our generation. Ignorance, while always there to some degree, has taken over and we must change that while we’re here. Before I die, I want to keep the pendulum moving so far that the two main political parties that duke it out each election are the Socialists (Bernie Sanders types) and the Democrats (Obama types). This dynamic has existed before in America, and for the good of the future’s children, we must make that dynamic return.

It’s showtime!

Dinners with my mom could be kinda hard. I have a storehouse of funny stories — she has a storehouse of hair-raising to depressing stories. The families of hospice workers also have a gig. You know?

We all laugh about it with her, kind of as a joke, but there’s no denying the toll the work takes.

serfs up!!

People do not matter, only power and wealth.

That’s good, nothing worse than serfs bored.

Good for you!

It’s really hard, though. My wife did it for her mom. The hard part was how she could only fall apart when she was at home with me — and not in front of the kids, either.

When we really need it, we need lots of other people. Even wingnuts get this personally, when they need it. Not ideologically, though.

Serfin’ USA

Very true.

USA = serf ‘n’ turf

Of course, a couple of generations ago, serfs and “hanging 10″ meant something entirely different.

When we really need it, we need lots of other people. Even wingnuts get this personally, when they need it. Not ideologically until then, though.

I think I got that right.

So, according to the Republicans this bill would be “Let’s all kill Grandma”.

The problem is that the Republican plans often are “Let’s kill grandma slowly and in the most degrading way possible, while simultaneously bankrupting her kids to pay for the medical care.”

I really don’t see how they can have the moral high ground here.

These lying, cheating and hateful politicians will say and do anything to get to their greedy and selfish ends. I hope the people are understanding it now.

I took care of my father the last month of his life. He was thrilled to read in Obama’s inaugural address, “Your people will remember you by what you build, not for what you destroy,” something very like what my father had been saying for years and years, “always build, never destroy.”

He was disgusted with churches for their hypocritical posturing. These politicians are the worst of all.

They live by selective observation and partial truths. Things that appear to reinforce their prejudices are noted, all that disproves them is ignored or ridiculed.

The clicking the Seminal’s contact link nothing. Typing seminal@theseminal.com on google nothing I’ll try again sunday.

lol.

Isn’t that what they want to do with the military too. Use emand cast them out

that’s the email to use dood.. its on their send us your tips page

A-yep. Terri Schiavo is what made John Cole of Balloon Juice fame start turning away from the GOP.

I was working along the street on my garden, and several dog walkers, neighbors stopped and chatted: Health care legislation was topic one, and I didn’t even push it — well, until I’d noticed the trend.

People are very, very confused, and they tend to mistrust someone trying to sell them something which the sellers won’t describe in sharp, concrete terms. It reminds them of all the times they’ve been conned. Then, when Obama speaks about cutting Medicare and Medicaid, taking funding form the two programs, the nervousness factor soars.

A person working at the local library said they were bombarded with calls to ready reference after Obama’s press conference from people trying to find sources that actually would tell them what the “public plan” was; they don’t know and they’re getting nervous that they’re not being told. And, again, the Medicare thing. The callers currently on Medicare are now scared Obama is trying to mess up their health care.

I fear the WH is making a mistake in thinking they can be gauzy and vague about something so vital to life and death for so many Americans.

I recall something about people resisting change, especially when it’s not clear what the change is; when change is well presented, then it is accepted much more readily.

Maybe the WH should have been more up front and clear about what it was they wanted Congress to do. Then, if Congress wanted to do things differently, fine; work it out; but at least the president would be seen as having a firm plan. But trying to figure out what’s being cobbled together is like trying to pick up mercury (for those old enough to recall playing with the dangerous stuff!).

Kip Sullivan wrote in early June that the Dems’ problem is they’ve presented their health care reform as a really great thing, but the reality is not going to meet the expectations raised in the electorate.

From “Democrats’ hype about health care reform will hurt them”:

President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders are playing a dangerous game with health care reform. They are raising the public’s expectations sky high before figuring out how to meet those expectations. They are promising to give us the moon – significant cuts in health care costs and universal coverage or something close to it – but even at this late hour they have failed to publish anything resembling a detailed plan to do that. And the hints they have given us about the “reforms” they are likely to endorse indicate they haven’t got a clue how to cut costs.

SNIP

Obama…about the necessity of cost containment: “If we simply insured everyone under the current system we couldn’t afford it. We’d go broke. We’ve gotta drive down costs.” So far so good. Obama is unquestionably correct about this. America’s per capita health care costs are double those of the rest of the industrialized world. Congress will never find the political will to establish a sustainable universal health insurance program unless it finds a way to cut the high cost of health care.

But then Obama went on to imply that we don’t need a single-payer system to cut costs. “There are ways that we can drive down costs,” he said. He cited three ways: greater use of preventive services, (not by making insurance companies pay for them, but by changing the way doctors are paid); electronic medical records; and a public program to compete with private insurers. The first two ideas are straight out of the insurance industry’s hymnal. The third idea, the proposed public program (which its advocates now refer to as “the public option”) will either quickly morph into a single-payer or it will accomplish little or no cost containment.

Obama continually presents all the arguments for single payer, then he makes a leap of illogical thinking and says we can do it by throwing money to the private for-profit insurers. That worked so well with the Big Banksters, eh?

California had an excellent health care program until Governor R.R. came along and screwed up the health care and the education programs . This health care and education mess we find our selves in now was initiated by President R.R. and his V.P. and was worsened by the Presidents that followed him . Only a strong unified sustaining voice by the electorate can remove the anti-American forces surrounding our loyal and patriotic Congress . If Wall Street can continue to divide and conquer the electorate this pain and mesery will continue .

Heh. Yeah.

The problem is that the Republican plans often are “Let’s kill grandma slowly and in the most degrading way possible, while simultaneously bankrupting her kids to pay for the medical care.”

oh man, there’s always somebody harping on the details…

j/k.

Welcome – don’t know that we’ve met.

My mother had just started hospice care for my dad and then he passed away the following day. My family was very impressed with the professionalism of the workers and appreciated how they wen about the arrangements. We asked that any donations go to hospice.

My mother was able to look after him for a long time because he could still get around with his walker till about a week and a half before he passed away. However she could not be far away unless other family members helped her out which they did often.

our loyal and patriotic Congress

I sincerely hope that was sarcasm. As Mark Twain once observed, they are our only native criminal class.

They do and it’s the worst thing going on right now, I think. These troops are coming home just shattered and some are already living on the streets.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHA!!!!!!

Rock and ROLL!

The idea of social Darwinism is still a big hit in Republican circles but then, so is phrenology.

bumpy headed bastards.

So it’s just a coincidence that wingnuts have really lumpy scalps?

Does anyone remember the Texas Futile Care law that allows hospitals to take people off life support *if they can’t pay*? Signed by Bush?
Where was the outrage?

Although a succession of head bumps would explain much.

As usual, IOKIYAR.

Thanks for sharing the memory.

It is OK if they are poor people, especially if they are brown.

Yes, but more important, have you seen Obama’s birth certificate? Huh?

my dad has Alzheimer’s – getting worse pretty quickly.

He’s fine at home for now.

But several years ago – before this even started, he made me promise to pull the plug if things ever got to a certain point, and he was no longer “living”.

I have no idea how I’m gonna deal with that.

Dood, to know that you must have gotten closer than I care to think…

And Ouija Boards. It is what they use for all their prognosticating.

They’re really doing poor folks a favor. Without health care they can get all the riches they’ve stored in Hebbin sooner.

((((((jayt))))))

By doing exactly what he asked – with dignity and love. We oldsters think about things like that and I have a Living Will so that the decision sorta makes itself.

It’s not hard to tell when Republican strategists all shave their heads.

It is really rough watching them go down like that. My grandmother had Alzheimer’s as well. Fortunately, she went pretty quickly after it got really bad. Unfortunately, “she“, the strong and vibrant person I had known all my life, was gone long before that.

So it’s just a coincidence that wingnuts have really lumpy scalps?

total coincidence.

along with the bad breath, phony tans, perpetual drunkenness and debauchery, hypocrisy, and the kind of creepiness that makes kindergartners run, hide, and cry.

Oddly, the Ouija Boards spell just as poorly as the wingnuts.

Besides they can turn them into pet food for their lap dogs.

Even more oddly, they are much more coherent than Rethugs.

We had several DNR directives posted just in case anyone would try to do anything that my father did not want. It was all very peaceful in the end. No drama.

Give love. That is the best and nothing else matters.

The press?

Spelling is the first thing you forget in the Great Beyond.

That’s where that came from? When I saw it in Tom Maguire’s comment section I thought it was about rationing. However this commenter was not clarice or PeterUK so can be assumed to be not very bright.

Unfortunately, “she“, the strong and vibrant person I had known all my life, was gone long before that.

you know, there’s a lot to be said for that. I think, that in our own way, we’ve all at least begun to realize that dad’s no longer with us.

maybe that’s an incredibly selfish thing to say, I dunno….

Among others.

Thanks for the link to the Media Matters article. The Dems are lame again as usual. They should know that the opposition will scare monger and lie with no conscience.

By coinkidink, I was looking up the life expectancy numbers for the elderly. Below are life expectancies at age 65 for women. It is a little better for men at age 65, where the US is average, rather than downright lousy. The Netherlands will be ahead of the US as soon as they can get older women to quit smoking. These numbers are from OECD and are comparable.

So, who wants to kill your grandma? Huh? Who’s gunning for her? If the Democrats do not come strong to beat down these lies, they will disgust me even more than usual.

Country life-expectancy (years from age 65)
Japan 23.4
France 22.3
Switzerland 22.1
Spain 22
Italy 21.6
Australia 21.5
Canada 21.4
Finland 21.2
Norway 20.9
Sweden 20.8
Austria 20.6
Belgium 20.6
Iceland 20.6
New Zealand 20.6
Germany 20.5
Luxembourg 20.3
United States 20.3
Ireland 20.2
Portugal 20.2
Korea 20.1
Netherlands 20.1
Greece 19.6
UK 19.5
Denmark 19.2
Poland 18.8
Czech Rep 18.3
Mexico 18.2
Hungary 17.2
Slovak Rep 17.1
Turkey 15.1

in edit: these are for year 2006 (2005 for UK)

I am full of joy and rapture having this Adam Nagourney to look forward to for tomorrow. /s

dood!

Hebbin? Can you get credit cards in Hebbin? Do they have Ikea in Hebbin? Who cleans the batdrooms in Hebbin? Do you have roommates in Hebbin? Can you bring your pets? Can we all go at the same time? Can you blog neeked in Hebbin? If not, I refuse to go.

Who could forget this?

hard to argue to a Delbert pick, huh?

me too

I’m going to call it a night. Tune in tomorrow when I connect a Ouija board to my UBS port and post the badly-spelled political insights of Vlad the Impaler.

Peace out, y’all!

I’ll stay and keep ya company.:o)

Nite. I should head out too. Sweet dreams y’all.

I mam sleepy. Niters.

looking forward to that edp – g’nite

In general, when it comes time to approach the Pearly Gates for Q & A time, I figure I’m gonna be the one with the most questions….

g’nite ratfood and thers

geez, everyone bailing early tonight?

No shit, sherlock. I believe in accountability on all sides and dimensions.

Hey girl, you doin ok?

geez, everyone bailing early tonight?

I just started coffee.

(standard disclaimer – this could get ugly)

We can always get those in the Washington Post now that Bloody Billy is there. Take care and sleep well.

Trouble is, the Dems are outgunned by billionaires like Pete Peterson. That’s where we come in!

That list of stats you have — send it to your local paper. See if they’ll run it.

we like your kind of ugly.

Night rf & Thers.

me too – nahant said he would make me some expresso later. jayt it could be just me and you in the wee hours

Long time lurker…new to the lake as a poster. Glad to be here though.

I just started coffee.

(standard disclaimer – this could get ugly)

Less so when administered orally. “g”

I prefer the IV drip for late nighters. Saves trips to the kitchen. 8-)

I just want to know if there’s coffee. I’ve kept an ambulance waiting while I refilled my coffee cup for the trip to the hospital, and man were they bitchy about that.

hi and welcome spotts

at least you didn’t smoke while having that cup

Tonight I am going to curl up with four books given to me by TP. TP is a liberal missionary who gives away free lit. I am a believer. Thank you Jeebus and I am sure TP is going to Hebbin.

hmmm – I better start noodlin’ around the YouToobs….

I understand. Caffeine comes first. FIRST damn it.

… I am sure TP is going to Hebbin.

could you ask if I might be allowed to send along a few preliminary questions?

…man were they bitchy about that.

some people’s priorities are just way screwed up.

Personally, the only reward I want when I shuffle off this mortal coil is a nice long nap.

John Prine and Emmylou:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..re=related

…with some deep thoughts.

True, I thought that might be going too far.

great song dood

the only reward I want when I shuffle off this mortal coil is a nice long nap.

personally, it’s kind of important, when seeking the perfect nap, to make sure that one has control of the thermostat.

espresso, not expresso… unless nahanter makes it

then could be anything

evening y’all

;~P

hey dr bong.. he really said a cappacino but i can’t spell that either

I am out of here as well. Take care all.

c – a – p – p – a – c – i – n – o

Hello, Doc.

Night, Doc.

lol, yes they are.

g’nite dr (pause) dick

shit.. i spelled it right?

rut-roh – coffee’s kicking in.

imo, one off the greatest rock-n-roll songs ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-AYAv0IoWI

(the neighbors are gonna be pissed)

close… google says “cappuccino”

Tunes

:)

Coffee, bah. I’ll take tea, Earl Grey, hot.

Hi Spotts1701.

Put that Earl Grey away. I gots the cure fer what ails ya…

‘ere!

;~P

we’ve had some great tea threads at nite…

exhale ya forgot to exhale again (giving stern look)/s

why officer, I’m sure that my client has no idea what you’re talking about.

(and at least he didn’t forget to inhale, so which is the greater crime?)

did ya ever hear Johnette Napalitano explain the song Tomorrow, Wendy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..8;index=32

land shark

why officer, I’m sure that my client has no idea what you’re talking about.

yep.

Whew!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc4eYOhNnU8

Just signing on Suzanne! Did not have time to read the whole thread, though. Everyone ok?

I cannot spell Sometimes I have to think of a new word to use. It expands my vocabulary.

Candygram…

everyone is ok ce. i’m so far behind reading the lake. was no internet for 2 days while driving down for the meetup

I cannot spell Sometimes

S-o-m-e-t-i-m-e-s.

sorry. heh.

hehehehehehe (humming theme from jaws)

bora bora mango rooibos steeping – happy to share.

jayt made funny

hee-hee

hey sunny

Wonderful! I love the summer theme.

you know how that lawyers are… bet we get billed by the laugh

whoa.

thank you.

I have some Earl Grey right here for you.

I provide psychological services in nursing homes; have done so exclusively for 13 years. Most of my income is Medicare, and because I provide mental health services, I am reimbursed at 50% of the Medicare allowable as opposed to 80% of the allowable a physician would be reimbursed. I love what I do, make a decent living (about $75,000 yearly), am a single parent to children ages 11-16, and last year 14% of my gross income went to federal taxes and 18% went to a high deductible BC/BS health care plan. Prior to her untimely death almost five years ago, my wife cared for my grandmother in our home. We saw her through her 99th and 100th birthdays living in our home. So, I know something about these issues from more than one perspective.

First and foremost, we already have rationed care. If you don’t have health insurance, than outside of emergency care, good luck.

Second, hospice has become a cash cow. Now, I know a lot of caring folk who work for hospice, but hospice today is not what hospice was ten years ago. Think about it; why are there so many of them? Because they have been allowed to become for profit corporations, indeed HMOs, and they make a lot of money by providing minimal service compared to what they did ten years ago.

Third, yes, some grandmas need to be allowed to die.

Euthanasia? Not at all.

Are we talking about the demented grandma who still enjoys a good joke even if she won’t remember it in five minutes? Not at all. She passes the Hershey bar test; if she can enjoy the moment in the here and now and is still enthused about life, she deserves all the medical and psychological support we can give her.

What about the grandma, where nobody is home? Doesn’t recognize anyone, doesn’t enjoy the joke in the moment, doesn’t converse in any meaningful way, there just is now one at home anymore. Going to keep giving her Aricept because the advertisement says it is the only medication clinically proven the help even in the later stages of Alzheimer’s? (What rubbish.) Euthanasia? No. Discontinuing her medications artificially keeping her alive? Yes. Continuing the medications keeping her comfortable, of course.

Then there is the grandma who is ready to go. She has lived her life, is tired, not depressed, and is ready to transition to the other side. Cognizant and aware, can make an informed decision, and just wants to be comfortable as she makes that transition.

Folks, these are not difficult to differentiate. Of course if there is a question, one goes with the life preserving alternative.

Food for thought.

Section 1233 of the House-drafted legislation encourages health care providers to provide their Medicare patients with counseling on ‘the use of artificially administered nutrition and hydration’ and other end of life treatments, and may place seniors in situations where they feel pressured to sign end of life directives they would not otherwise sign.

Yep. Better to “not tell the terminally ill that they might die”, either. After all, they might ask about their rights to have no life extending interventions, the bastards. Funny how the GOP thinks “informed consent” is “pressure”? Of course, keeping the elderly (or brain dead individuals) perpetually on an IV drip plays well to both their base, but also to the hospitals that will get their geld from the taxpayer or the families of the victim, no matter what. I never heard of Catholic hospitals or Evangelical charities offering to pick up the tab of life-extension care for all people in a vegetative state.

In fact, the GOP seems to think that telling anyone anything about their health care options is terrible (particularly women, children and the elderly).

Don’t know if you’ll see this, but you’re in good company, jayt. My mother is stricken. She’s taken a turn for the worse.

@jawbone at 70–

Obama has been deliberatly vague, in my view, and the reason for that became clear after he finally released the names of those attending meetings at the WH: insurance/pharm execs.

From a letter sent to CREW:

CREW, the org that filed suit via Freedom of Information Act, received a letter with very vague details of who spoke with the President:

–Bill Tauzin, Mar. 5, May 19, June 2, June 24

–Karen Ignagni, Mar. 5, 6, 11, and June 30

–Richard Umbdenstock, Feb. 4, Feb. 23, Mar. 5, 25, 30, April 6, May 22

–J. James Rohack, March 25, June 22, June 24

–William Wheldon, May 12

–Jeff Kindler, March 5, May 6, June 2

–Stephen Hemsley, May 15 and 22

–Angela Braly, Feb. 13

–George Halvorson, March 27 and June 5

–Jay Gellert, Feb. 10, March 11 and 20

–Thomas Priselac, April 3

–Richard Clark March 24

–Wayne T. Smith, June 4

–Rick Smith, May 19 and June 2

The letter also notes these folks attending a May 11th meeting:

Tauzin, Ignagni, Umbdenstock, Rohack, Kindler, Halvorson, Gellert, Priselac, David Nexon, Rick Smith.

~~~~~~

Billy Tauzin immediately leaped out at me–he was the Big Pharma hack that pushed through favorable legislation that benefitted Big Pharma, and then left his Congressional post to accept employment with them.

Karen Ignagni is a healthcare industry LOBBYIST. ’nuff said.

Richard Umbdenstock is a LOBBYIST for the American Hospital Association.

James Rohack is president of the AMA, which has fought tooth and nail against single payer.

William Wheldon

Jeff Kindleris CEO of Pfizer

Stephen Hemsley is CEO of United Health Group. As seen in this article, he was implicated in shady stock practices. Hmmmm…

Angela Braly is CEO of Wellpoint Healthcare. I can’t get a good read on her, but it is noted that she was responsible for a Medicare processing unit.

George Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Permanante. This blog has some enlightening comments.

Jay Gellert, CEO of HealthNet. Note the irony in this paragraph:

Health Net is among the nation’s largest publicly traded managed health care companies and is currently ranked #165 on the 2009 Fortune 500 list of corporations. Health Net’s mission is to help people be healthy, secure and comfortable.

Thomas Priselac is CEO of Cedars-Sinai Health System. This site highlights him as a speaker. Note that it’s in conjunction with Forbes and the subtitle: Value, Opportunity, and Economic Growth.

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Notes about the attendees are mine.

I told my son yesterday that when I reach 80 (if I make it that far), I’m going to pull a “Thelma and Louise” and drive over a cliff at the Grand Canyon.

He laughed…but I was serious.

I’ll go in my own style, when I choose to go, in a beautiful and spiritual place.

Sorry, linkies didn’t translate:

Karen Ignagni

Richard Umbdenstock

Jeff Kindler

Stephen Hemsley

George Halvorson

Jay Gellert

Thomas Priselac

Richard Clark

Wayne Smith

Rick Smith (not sure if this is the right guy–an educated guess)

I have only one child, and I’ve told her no life-extending treatments if there is no chance of recovery. I have a brother in Washington who says he voted in favor of their assisted-suicide amendment last year.
The republicans are just using this in an attempt to defeat healthcare reform. I have always been in favor of letting the patient decide whether he/she wants treatment or not. Everyone should have a patient power of attorney on file. Deciding whether to pursue further treatment in certain cases has always been part of medical care, but it takes a republican to pretend that it hasn’t.