Okay People, President Obama Needs YOUR HELP!

Health care reform - possibly the most important legislation to come out of Congress this decade - is going to get torpedoed by a bunch of crazy, right-wing screamers, UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING! I MEAN YOU!

Over the weekend, I wrote about the Obama administration indicating that they're caving to pressure to drop a public option in the health care reform package that is being beaten to death in Congress. A public option is important because it will allow individuals and businesses to buy into a system that is more concerned with health care than making a profit, and let people get comfortable with public health care. It won't be a requirement for anyone, just ONE OPTION.

A friend pointed out that the President is under a lot of pressure to cave, because the town hall crazies are loud and getting a lot of media attention, while all the regular people who supported Obama during the election are nowhere to be found. He's right. If we don't want health care reform to fail, we have to GET LOUD!!!

Here's the plan:

1. E-mail (or via form), phone, fax (scroll down) or write the White House and let them know you want a public option in health care reform.

2. Do the same with both your Senators (choose your state) and your Representative.

3. Share this post on Facebook, Twitter and your other social networky sites (using the Share This link below) or write your own post.

If you don't fully understand health care reform, DO NOT LET THIS STOP YOU! The town hall crazies think Obama wants Nazi death panels and say things like "keep the government away from my Medicare" and that hasn't stopped them from flapping their ignorant lips. Trust me, you WANT the choice to be able to buy into a government plan, even if you never use it. It will force private insurance to lower costs and raise service to compete.

So do it. NOW! Before it's too late.

White House Wimp Out

President Obama has already given up on his campaign promise to reverse Bush administration policy and allow the government to negotiate prices with drug companies. Now it's being reported that they're ready to give up the inclusion of a government insurance option as well. Which leads me to wonder: What exactly is this "health care reform" going to reform?

In a Politico story, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) was quoted as saying:

“Look, the fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option. There never have been. So to continue to chase that rabbit, I think, is just a wasted effort.”

My question is: why aren't there? Aren't the Republicans all about competition? Aren't the Democrats all about using government to help people? So why wouldn't the reform include an option to allow people to buy into government-run health care? It would increase competition and demonstrate whether or not the government can fuck up your health care less than the insurance companies already do. Seems like a win-win to me.

No one is talking about FORCING people to be on a government plan. It would just provide it as an option...thereby increasing choice. So what's the problem? The only problem I can see is that private health insurance companies would worry that a well-run public system would eat into their profits. Wouldn't THAT be a shame?

Once again, the Republicratic party is showing that - when it comes to the interests of business vs. the interests of the people - we really do have only one party in this country. Thanks to all the corporate-owned Ds and Rs, this "reform" isn't going to reform anything... except maybe how quickly taxpayer money ends up in drug and health insurance company coffers.

Why Do Insurance Companies Hate America?

From an AP story on health care reform:

"The House bill includes a provision for the government to sell insurance in competition with private companies, a provision strenuously opposed by industry."

That's really the crux of the problem right there, isn't it? The insurance companies don't want Americans to be able to choose a government-funded option because they know it will prove all the fear-mongers wrong. When Americans have the option of a public system where every dollar put into it actually goes to health care, instead of shareholders' and executives' pockets, while still maintaining a healthy level of choice (certainly at least as good as the current "networks" most of us have to stay within), they'll want it. Then what will the insurance companies do?

Seriously, isn't the American system supposed to be about competition? They're not talking about forcing anyone to take government-funded insurance, just providing it as one option. What's wrong with letting the government in and letting us choose?

Dubya calls for new taxes on working people

Nice work, Dubster. I didn't see the State of the Union last night (I was at my writing group), but I woke up this morning to learn that Bush is an even BIGGER enemy of working people then I thought. He's proposing to TAX working people on the health insurance they receive from their employers, if the employer pays over a certain level. So people whose employers do the right thing and buy them quality health insurance will get a tax penalty. As I said, nice work.

I'm all for creating a tax deduction for people to buy their own health insurance. In fact, I think all healthcare costs should be tax deductible. But you don't pay for that new deduction by penalizing workers for having good, responsible employers! How about just rolling back a small fraction of the billions of dollars of tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires that were instituted earlier in the administration?

But that would mean he would actually be helping working people. And he'd hate to do that.