Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Maxine vs Max, Rahm And The House Blue Dogs

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Maxine works for us; Max works for Big Business

Yesterday we mentioned how duplicitous DLC warlord Max Baucus (MT) had worked out a plan with his GOP brother-in-arms, Chuck Grassley (R-IA), to cut the public option out of the health care reform bill. The Medical-Industrial Complex and Insurance CEOs who invested so heavily in Baucus must feel those millions of dollars were a great investment. The House of Lords is a tragic, purposely anti-democratic anachronism that should never have been created to begin with and should have been abolished long ago. I expect little in the way of push back from the more progressive HELP Committee against Baucus' and Grassley's all out battle to deprive Americans of health care. The bought-off corrupt corporate Democrats like Baucus, Lincoln, Bayh, Pryor, Nelson (plus, of course, Lieberman) have thrown in their lot with an utterly deranged and even more corrupt Republican Party seeking not just to destroy health care but to destroy Barack Obama's presidency.

The only hope-- a slim one-- is in the People's House and this morning California Representative Maxine Waters was interviewed by the excellent Carlos Watson on MSNBC about where we go from here. It's worth listening to Maxine's entire case; she makes a lot of sense. And she goes beyond the health care problem to the conservative vs progressive underlying dilemma and how the most corrupt and sleazy member of the Democratic hierarchy, Rahm Emanuel-- the scumbag who screwed Americans on NAFTA-- has now all but managed to screw Americans on health care. All that money Wall Street gave him sure paid off big time-- and way bigger than if they had asked him to be a Republican. Democratic chickens are coming home to roost now thanks to Emanuel's deal with fake Democrats like Heath Shuler, Brad Ellsworth, John Barrow, Gabby Giffords, Chris Carney, Harry Mitchell, Jason Altmire, Travis Childers, and Joe Donnelly, corrupt Blue Dogs who have conspired with the Republican Party against Obama and against American working families. Defeating Blue Dogs should be a top priority for real Democrats in 2010.



Who's Jeff Merkley talking about here, just Republicans? Or when he (and others) talk about the torpedoing of health care reform in order to torpedo the presidency of Barack Obama, does he have any of the corrupt, reactionary Democrats like Baucus, Bayh, Lincoln, Nelson, and the Blue Dogs in mind too? I wonder. Good speech (1:41) in any case:

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11 Comments:

At 6:48 AM, Blogger Mike McNally said...

For the record, I want to state that my Congressman, Jason Altmire and some other Blue Dogs, have stated reasonable concerns about the need to control costs in healthcare and to make sure that the new system is practical and sustainable. That said, given that government-run healthcare in the V.A. and Medicare is already BETTER and CHEAPER than private insurers, it is absolutely essential that the government-option for ordinary working Americans is part of the final solution.

 
At 7:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mike, the VA would be a good model to look at for HC reform but Medicare is a desaster and the only reason the costs appear to be lower is that they don't account for the cost of anti fraud measures in their metrix. Medicare is the victum of the most fraud of any gov't program and a public option would be in the same position. Their are other reasonable ways for reform that will force the insurance companies to focus their motive on results vs profits. Howie likes to rant about the Blue Dogs because they don't subscribe to his ideology, but in the end they will have saved the Democratic party from another desaster like we had in 1994.

 
At 7:40 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mike, the VA would be a good model to look at for HC reform but Medicare is a disaster and the only reason the costs appear to be lower is that they don't account for the cost of anti fraud measures in their metrics. Medicare is the victim of the most fraud of any gov't program and a public option would be in the same position. There are other reasonable ways for reform that will force the insurance companies to focus their motive on results vs. profits. Howie likes to rant about the Blue Dogs because they don't subscribe to his ideology, but in the end they will have saved the Democratic Party from another disaster like we had in 1994.

 
At 9:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you kidding me? The VA is horrible, care is rationed, and I as a doctor have to fight with every nurse, tech and incompetent auxiliary staff just to order what is right for the patient. It's a nine to three job with weekends off... the best thing about most of these places is that they are near real hospitals and can transfer out patients in need of real urgent care (once had a patient come to the VA hospital ER and the physician called 911 to get him over to a real hospital -- there will be no 911 to call when you are under obama's health plan)

 
At 10:17 AM, Anonymous johnpauljones said...

Over and over we hear that we must keep America safe. Billions are spent on military junk to do so. How about keeping our citizens healthy? How can anyone feel safe and secure if they can't get health care.

Everything is set up to make money and therefor things are not set up to provide the best product or service but really only to make the most profit. Charge the highest price possible and provide the cheapest product possible is the result.

Anyone should be able to see our health care system is the most expensive in the world but provides a totally inadequate product.

Never has the bribe taking been more obvious. The Blue dogs are nothing but corporate whores. Sucking the corporate cock to get contributions for the next election. These worthless bastards have health care and generous pensions so why should they care about 90% of us who are not so well off. Pharmacy and insurance are the big winners because they bribe these folks.

Through the inter net (not the main stream media who are corporate whores themselves) we are exposing them. We must hope that eventually the general public will fully understand the treachery of these people and throw them out of office. This will not be easy.

The supreme political court is also representing the corporations and not we the people. They are subverting the constitution and are more activist than any of the so called liberal courts. Past activists were concerned with extending human rights. This court only sees institutional and corporate rights. The inhuman part of society. The part that oppresses, the part that inhibits freedom, the part that wants only justice for the institutions not the people.

As these justices bow down to their church masters the priests and nuns, and therefor they think society should all bow down to our institutions. This is a total misinterpretation of our constitution. None of these people are qualified to sit in judgment on anyone, their life experience being pathetic. Taught to memorize and wordsmith and con each other. These people are peers to no one but other fakers. Sitting in piety not compassion.

 
At 2:51 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

The problem with our health care system is that the Federal government is too involved in it.

I remember when doctors and treatment were affordable. Doctor's built their own clinics and provided their own staff. Hell, I remember when the local doctor had a office in the back of the drug store. Much of this was before Medicare and Medicaid.

Just try to built a hospital and see were the competition is. Try to become a doctor.

As far as the VA is concerned, have you not seen the reports of unclean and insanitary conditions in many of their hospitals - the hepatitis from use of unclean colonoscopies?

If you think the VA is such a good model, join the military. No, you just want to belly-ache about why what you have isn't good enough.

You are demanding a utopia that can only result in rationing of care.

You progressive and greedy people need to open your minds.

 
At 5:32 PM, Anonymous Balakirev said...

Very funny satire, Jan! I especially liked the stuff about the VA. As if you and everybody doesn't know the VA isn't just the DC hospital complex whose terrible administration was appointed by Bush; that the VA is a nationwide "Socialist" medical system that helps millions of vets each year, throughout the US! One might almost think you were just mindlessly droning Repub talking points, if they didn't know what superlative humor your post had.

 
At 8:56 PM, Blogger Brittanicus said...

As our rights are infringed upon by our own government, Americans and those here legally will never benefit from a decent health care plan, owing to the abomination called ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. By an Act in United States Congress passed in 1986, Hospital and ambulance services must provide care to anyone needing emergency treatment in spite of citizenship, legal status or capacity to pay. The predicament being that 20 million plus illegal immigrant families are using this law, for even minor ailments such as the common cold. Why should foreign nationals sign up for health care or anything, when they can get Taxpayers to pay for it all..?
But this is not just an American dilemma, as it has been forcibly imposed on subjects of the European Union. This is causing a major derailment in the EU, because both legal and illegal entrants are stealing away the single payer medical care providers, to the citizens who have paid into the system from the time they first started work.

A decent controlled governmental health care benefit, can—NEVER--be established, when a startling report disclosed the details of a cloaked meeting between nationwide businesses and open-borders groups working under the radical cover of the IMMIGRATIONWORKSUSA a lobbying group. The secret Capitol Hill National Summit" took place last month and revealed the sinister intention behind the lobbying entities efforts.
Tamar Jacoby, who runs ImmigrationWorksUSA, kicked off the conference by stating the true aspiration of the coalition. The basic target is to promote THE FREE FLOW OF LABOR INTO THE USA, with—AS ALWAYS-- the taxpayer being the beneficiary for corporate welfare. They want expedited cheap labor, where no American worker—NEED APPLY!

WE MUST ACT NOW, OR IT WILL BE TOO LATE! These special interest lobbyists are well furnished with money from corporate America. We must empower mandated E-Verify as part of the Save Act, where everybody is screened in the workplace. Call your lawmaker TODAY! at 202-224-3121 I Want a health care system--even government run. BUT IT"S SURE TO FAIL, IF TAXES ARE BEING EXTORTED TO PAY FOR FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS?

Millions of phone calls from angry Americans are jamming the Washington Switchboards. It is making these pandering politicians to corporate welfare, very anxious. Support for the bi-partisan E-VERIFY PART OF THE SAVE Act, which will expand E-Verify and protect American Workers! We must focus on the monolithic problem in terminating illegal immigrants-and the jobs that attract illegal aliens. WE WILL ALWAYS BE PAYING FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS, UNLESS WE DO SOMETHING NOW? Many GOP members are against a Path to citizenship for lawbreakers, so we mostly need the phones ringing in the ears of Democrats, who see the millions of illegal aliens as a positive voting block. WE MUST STOP IT NOW OF SUFFER FROM IRREVERSIBLE POPULATION GROWTH.

DEMAND NO AMNESTY! NO FAMILY UNIFICATION KNOWN AS CHAIN MIGRATION! BUILD THE ORIGINAL FENCE! NO MORE HEALTH CARE OR ANY OTHER KIND OF BENEFITS FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. CLOSE THE BORDER AND STATION THE NATIONAL GUARD. $2.5 TRILLION DOLLARS, JUST IN RETIREMENT BENEFITS? Learn uncorrupted facts at NUMBERSUSA.

 
At 11:34 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Balakirev, so you think it is funny?

The latest figures released by the Department of Veterans Affairs indicate that at least four patients treated at VA Clinics in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia have tested positive for HIV after being exposed to non-sterile equipment. Another 20 veterans have tested positive for Hepatitis C and thousands of other patients treated at the clinics

Do a little research:
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/topics/va-hepatitis-outbreak/

 
At 11:44 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Anonymous said...
Brittanicus: In my opinion we should deport your sorry ass instead. For if the truth were known, I would bet you do far less for humanity and have contributed very little compared with most of our friends from south of the border.

Isn't that thoughtful. I would be anonymous too. Why don't you try to educate Britanicus instead?

Why didn't you inform him/her of Jason Riley's book "Let Them In, The Case for Open Borders"

 
At 6:42 AM, Blogger Mike McNally said...

To the anonymous doctor,

Of course, we all sympathize with how hard the life of a doctor is these days, and what a trial your life must be to have to deal with those incompetent nurses and technical assistants. Numerous reports however, indicate that V.A. overall care is among the best, and better than most private insurers. What's more, as with Medicare, veterans are free to decline the V.A. care and pay for their own, supposedly better insurance. Not surprisingly, most do not, most seniors do not decline Medicare, and despite outrageous claims by the Rush Limbaugh's of the world, almost no one in countries with national healthcare like Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland ... is clamoring to go to our system. They can vote it out every year, but they never do. But if you don't like it, why don't you go to Mexico or Argentina or some other similar place where they still treat doctors right and they still know how to separate the rich from the rest of the people. Must be great to be rich in Mexico - sorry it's so hard for you here in the USA.

 

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