Universal Health Care: Can We Afford Anything Less?

Truthout Tuesday 5 July 2011
by: Gerald Friedman, Dollars & Sense

Why only a single-payer system can solve America’s health-care mess.

America’s broken health-care system suffers from what appear to be two separate problems. From the right, a chorus warns of the dangers of rising costs; we on the left focus on the growing number of people going without health care because they lack adequate insurance. This division of labor allows the right to dismiss attempts to extend coverage while crying crocodile tears for the 40 million uninsured. But the division between problem of cost and the problem of coverage is misguided. It is founded on the assumption, common among neoclassical economists, that the current market system is efficient. Instead, however, the current system is inherently inefficient; it is the very source of the rising cost pressures. In fact, the only way we can control health-care costs and avoid fiscal and economic catastrophe is to establish a single-payer system with universal coverage.

The rising cost of health care threatens the U.S. economy. For decades, the cost of health insurance has been rising at over twice the general rate of inflation; the share of American income going to pay for health care has more than doubled since 1970 from 7% to 17%. By driving up costs for employees, retirees, the needy, the young, and the old, rising health-care costs have become a major problem for governments at every level. Health costs are squeezing public spending needed for education and infrastructure. Rising costs threaten all Americans by squeezing the income available for other activities. Indeed, if current trends continued, the entire economy would be absorbed by health care by the 2050’s.

Read article at Truthout

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Chris Hedges: Throw Out the Money Changers

truthout

Monday 18 April 2011
by: Chris Hedges, Truthdig

These are remarks Chris Hedges made in Union Square in New York City last Friday during a protest outside a branch office of the Bank of America.

We stand today before the gates of one of our temples of finance. It is a temple where greed and profit are the highest good, where self-worth is determined by the ability to amass wealth and power at the expense of others, where laws are manipulated, rewritten and broken, where the endless treadmill of consumption defines human progress, where fraud and crimes are the tools of business.

The two most destructive forces of human nature—greed and envy—drive the financiers, the bankers, the corporate mandarins and the leaders of our two major political parties, all of whom profit from this system. They place themselves at the center of creation. They disdain or ignore the cries of those below them. They take from us our rights, our dignity and thwart our capacity for resistance. They seek to make us prisoners in our own land. They view human beings and the natural world as mere commodities to exploit until exhaustion or collapse. Human suffering, wars, climate change, poverty, it is all the price of business. Nothing is sacred. The Lord of Profit is the Lord of Death.

~read more~

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Banker plows through critical mass bikers

 

Suzie-Q’s post about the banksters and A99 led me to  
the world of finance and…

Freedom On Sale

March 15th, 2011 by maxkeiser

MK: Suicidal bankers are buying US dollars and shorting paper Silver. We know who they are and we’re coming for them.

This is a clip taken from a RT video of an interview with Max Kaiser. Why haven’t I heard about this guy before? Maybe because I don’t follow business and finance, but I will now. Max has taken the world of finance and banking to a whole new level. His concept of  KARMAbANQUE is brilliant. One thing that I have gleaned from this is that silver is indeed a precious metal, Being of modest income, I am not a buyer of gold, but I do have some silver around and I guess that it’s time to stash it away where the bank$ters don’t find it.

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Rep. Kucinich Fires Up Madison Workers’ Rights Rally

From: UpTakeVideo Mar 12, 2011

Representative Dennis Kucinich, (D- Ohio) attacks Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker for his trashing of workers’ rights. The Governor signed a bill that eliminated most collective bargaining rights for public employees. This “Speak Up For Workers’ Rights” rally happened after a massive protest at Wisconsin’s state capitol.

Kucinich on Obama: “Where is he?”

From: UpTakeVideo | Mar 13, 2011

Rep. Dennis Kucinich spoke with The UpTake after a forum for worker’s rights in Madison, Wisconsin. Asked about President Obama’s absence in Madison, Kucinich said: “He should be here. Where is he? He made a statement that he’s standing behind the workers – he should be standing in front of them. He’s the President. Lead. Show people you’re dedicated to worker’s rights.” Filmed at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wisconsin on 3/12/11.Interview by Jacob Wheeler for The UpTake

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Media Black Out: Ray McGovern Assaulted for Silent Protest at Hillary Clinton Speech

Hmm, does this look like a non news item? Well, it is for the main stream media. Take a look at this google search for…. Ray McGovern dragged out of Hillary Clinton “Freedom Speech”

Here’s an excellent post on this from BradBlog

By Brad Friedman on 2/17/2011 2:03pm
Ray McGovern, Former Sr. CIA Analyst, ‘Bruised, Bloodied’ While Dragged From Room During Hillary Clinton Speech on ‘Freedom of Expression’
We’ve interviewed former senior CIA analyst Ray McGovern, on the air and off, many times over the years. We’ve come to consider him not just a source, but a friend and a national hero for his tirelessly non-partisan fight for truth and justice.

The man who once briefed Presidents directly, from Ronald Reagan to Bill Clinton, had long ago earned our great respect — from his courageousness in famously confronting then-SecDef Don Rumsfeld in 2006 about lying about Saddam and WMD (watch the classic confrontation on video here) to his calling out CNN on air for their abysmal failures in accurately reporting on WikiLeaks (video here) last December to his arrest weeks later at the White House with other vets and national heroes for “refusal to obey a lawful order” while protesting against the Obama Administration’s wars around the world — all while overcoming some enormous personal health issues at the same time.

More on this from the BradBlog

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Cyber Wars the movie

The corporate government is not satisfied with having the ability, enabled by Homeland Security, to snoop anywhere they seem fit, but now find the need to control the innertubes. or even shut it down .

Who is Mike McConnell?

Exerpt from godlikeproductions.com:

“On Jan. 5, 2007, Pres. George W. Bush announced the nomination of retired Vice Admiral John Michael “Mike” McConnell to be director of national intelligence. McConnell was approached by Cheney himself about accepting the position, according to Newsweek.”

Mike McConnell is now Senior VP for Booz Allen Hamilton, leading the National Security business and part of the Leadership Team. Needless to mention he has connections with the CIA, corporate government, and defence industries.

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Glenn Beck~Garbage In~Garbage Out

Who really owns the media?

G:
Yep, you guesseder Chester, the same corporate crooks that own the US government. Although many Teabaggers whine about a left wing media, it is almost non existent. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, on MSNBC, are an exception, as we all noted when Keith was temporarily suspended. He was, of course, re-instated because he is the biggest draw for them. Olbermann does have to walk the line though, and we won’t be hearing much about the Predator drones, with sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities, that are wreaking havoc in the Middle East, nor much about 911 Truth.

The reporters that are brave enough to tell it like it is, like Mike Malloy, are few and far between and have to fight to get any air coverage at all, while idiots like Glenn Beck are heard in all parts of the country. Malloy’s show is currently self-syndicated. Until March 2009 it was syndicated by the Nova M Radio network. Previously, it was syndicated by Air America Radio, but Air America abruptly dropped the show on August 30, 2006. The Mike Malloy Show is currently carried by 13 broadcast stations, mostly on the West Coast, as well as XM satellite radio and Sirius satellite radio. Its broadcast originates from Atlanta, Georgia, though the minimal in-studio staff allows Malloy to broadcast from other locations when he travels. Malloy is the only radio talk show host in America to have received the A.I.R (Achievement in Radio) Award in both Chicago and New York City [2]. Talkers Magazine included Malloy among the their list of “the 250 Most Important Radio Talk Show Hosts in America” but did not name him as one of the Heavy Hundred.

Hat tip to…freepress.net

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Time to bring out the riot police for Glenn Beck & Freedomworks

This, like, sorry excuse for a human being has an ego bigger than the national deficit. His plans for a teabagger happening by the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC , IMO, should be dealt with in the same way, as the Demonstrators in Saint Paul Minnesota were, by the Bu$h administration. We haven’t forgotten the cordoned off areas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets used to disrupt any and all dissent against the policies that brought us to war. We haven’t forgotten losing our freedom to, what was called, Homeland Security. We had eight years of unprecedented police and military control that prevented demonstrators from being anywhere near what they were demonstrating against and intimidation by police in full riot gear, that often resulted in arrest or injury.

Beck has allied his movement with Dick’s Army, Freedom Works, and they are openly planning on busing people in for the event. People who have no idea of what a demonstration is really about. Teabaggers have no clue about the police state that has been in place during the eight years of the Bu$h regime, and would be totally amazed when confronted by the corporate military complex who Glen Beck really represents.

Essentially, in Bu$h speak, the enemy would be emboldened by such disrespect for the commander in chief and the demonstrators would have to be cordoned off a couple of blocks away from our national monuments. Needless to mention, Black Water helicopters, Humvee’s, and water cannons would have to be in place to cover any eventualities…G%

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Republican counter attack on Alan Grayson

Well there is certainly no doubt that we are looking at a disgruntled republican, and in spite of being somewhat attractive, she is obviously involved with the corporate crooks that would like to unseat Grayson. She won’t have the effect that she and Faux News is dreaming about because Grayson has a lot of support from the common folks. The kind of people, with dirt under their nails, that like real words,real healthcare, and real food.

Angie has been involved in several real estate related businesses. She was President of Langley Consulting, Vice President of Langley Land Company, and affiliated with Langley Mortgage Co. She was also chaired the
South Lake County Republican Club untill she had to resign for non compliance to register as a special interest group.

Here’s some more information from Watchdog.net

Angie Langley, President, Langley Consulting

$935 to Virginia Brown-Waite, Friends Of Ginny Brown-Waite on May 3, 2004
Angie Langley, Consultant, Self

$250 to Mark Foley, Friends Of Mark Foley on August 22, 2006
Committees

$1,300 to Republican Party Of Florida from August 31, 2007 to October 24, 2007
Angie Langley, President, Langley Consulting

$935 to Friends Of Ginny Brown-Waite on May 3, 2004
Angie Langley, Consultant, Self

$250 to Friends Of Mark Foley on August 22, 2006

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The Old Shell Game: Single Payer Health Care off the table

Hmm, so we are supposed to believe that the controversy is about whether we have a public option or not, while the majority of us still want single pay health care, including many doctors and health care workers. The corporate government has decided that we should settle for busine$$ as usual, and in e$$ence will be happy, even with the public option. This is a rigged game folks and we need to call bullsh*te on the so called Democratic congress.

Public plan debate could pit Democrat vs. Democrat

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP) – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON — Democrats sought to give government the right to sell insurance in competition with private industry Tuesday as the Senate Finance Committee opened a second week of debate over massive health care legislation.

“We need this option because the insurance companies have failed to meet their obligation” to the public, said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., accusing firms of putting profits over their customers.

He said that without his proposal, consumers would face substantial premium increases once health care legislation takes effect.

Republicans countered that private companies would eventually be forced out of business, and argued that millions would be forced to get their insurance from the government.

“Washington is not the answer,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Rockfeller’s proposal, and a second one drafted by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., faced uncertain prospects as the committee debated legislation that generally fell along lines outlined by President Barack Obama.

While Democrats hold a majority on the committee, the legislation advanced by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., omitted the so-called public option. Moderate Democrats on and off the committee oppose it, and Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, the Republican seen as most likely to support the bill, has also spoken against it.

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