Political Moms Unite - Where politics, religion, women's issues and anything else we want to talk about intersect..
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
When will Republicans in Congress quit blaming people for their sickness?
So, according to this senator, or I mean doctor from Wyoming, the top 5 percent of the sickest people in this country are obese smokers who don't eat their fruits and vegetables. So, it's my fault if my thyroid decides to quit working, even though I don't smoke, I eat plenty of veggies and I watch my weight. Somehow I've still brought this upon myself. Why are people who aren't able to get insurance held to a higher standard physically than those who do? Is it because the latter can go to a doctor sooner before small problems escalate? They don't want a public option, but they want to legislate my dietary choices? I wonder how that keeps government out of my life. Hmmm..
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12 comments:
and who says Fox News isn't fair and balanced!
I will agree with that. I was surprised this was Fox News. Really.
One or two token journalists do not correct the Fox "News" right wing tilt. With a lineup that includes Bill-O the Clown, Hannity, the lunatic Beck, and toe-sucking fetishist Dick Morris, it's pure tabloid TV, a veritable wingnuts paradise. There are media numbers and surveys to prove it, too.
A recent NBC/WSJ poll shows Fox viewers are overwhelmingly misniformed about healthcare proposals.
"In our poll, 72% of self-identified FOX News viewers believe the healthcare plan will give coverage to illegal immigrants, 79% of them say it will lead to a government takeover, 69% think that it will use taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions, and 75% believe that it will allow the government to make decisions about when to stop providing care for the elderly."
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/08/19/2036015.aspx
They're the TMZ of politics, except without the cute reporters. They seriously digress in that department.
I had a professor at BYU who honestly thought we should let all the premature babies and the elderly die because they cost more then anybody else. Perhaps this is the REAL republican agenda (not reps. like you, Curt, but the politicians).
no, no, no...Of course the poll was an nbc poll void of science! When Fox News polls it's viewers they are legally bound to indicate that it is not a scientific poll. I'm sure NBC has the same legal restrictions?? Also, when was that poll taken? Aug. 19? Because originally the healthcare bill did NOT require verification of Citizenship through the same program (S.A.V.E.) that is required by Medicare and Medicaid. This created a BIG loophole in which illegals WOULD receive benefits under that particular version of the healthcare reform bill and Obama agreed with the Republicans! So now it's in there. ORIGINALLY the Fox News Viewers were CORRECT! (and Pelosi even SAID that any bill should provide benefits for undocumented workers)
Now it's been hashed up and re-written and the democratic leaders are REFUSING to post it online saying it's "too difficult" to do it in time! If it's too difficult for our govt. to post 1,000 pages of TEXT online, it will be too difficult for them to do anything! Perhaps they should send the bill to me and I'll post it online for them...of course I'll charge them 2.3 Million dollars, that will be my bailout.
The truth is NONE of us know what is in that bill (the current version that will be voted on) because NONE of our elected officials have read it yet and NONE of us have read it. So 100% of us are clueless about what the healthcare bill will do.
Obama and the dems can keep LYING about what is in there (or should I tone that down and say "mishandling the truth") in an effort to gain support, but there is one very clear reason to me that they're not willing to make it available to the public for review prior to voting and that's because there are things in there that Americans DON'T WANT, Democrats included!
You all should be outraged that they are FIGHTING tooth and nail to push this new version to vote without any of US reviewing it. I guarantee you there are things in that bill that are different than the original one we all skimmed on the internet. Like fines for not purchasing healthcare and tax increases on the middle class AND the rich.
Were you this mad Curt about all bills, past and current that were being considered by the House that have or haven't been posted online? This includes the last eight or so years as well. Did you protest this much when the Patriot Act went before the House?
What did people do before the Internet? How many Americans read those newly introduced bills then?
And yet look at all the stuff that's been passed over the past century or so with incident.
Just wondering.
I meant with-out incident.
Duh.
Correction: It was an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. It's scientific. By the way, the Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns FOX.
Are you calling Murdoch a liar? I won't disagree, on principle. But even if it were feasible, it's illogical to manufacture a poll against one's own flagship media outlet.
Why don't you ask Glenn Beck to interpret the wall hangings on Murdoch's office and give us his verdict from COO-COO land.
Re: illegal immigrants, a congressional committee said the program cost states $8.3 million to detect only 8 illegal immigrants. That's more than $1 million per illegal nabbed on Medicaid.
Wow, what a cost savings! This is Republican fiscal discipline at its best! Not only have you put us in this huge fiscal hole with profligate spending on wars and tax cuts for the rich, but on immigrants and ACORN money is no object when pandering to the racists and xenophobes in your base.
Republicans in the House: 80% male, 100% white, 200% hypocrites.
I had no idea illegal immigrants were the source of every problem in this country.
A good friend of my family happened to come over here illegally from Mexico with his family when he was seven.
He's now a good, productive - and contributing - member of society in the US. Pays taxes and everything making well over 100 grand a year.
The terror!
The infamous Patriot Act was brought up. When the 2006 Renewal vote came before the Senate, both President Obama (then senator) and Vice President Biden voted in FAVOR. So it wasn't only the racist hypocritical Republicans who rammed that through.
Lula, you brought up a good point about how many of us insisted on reading legislation in the past. Honestly, it wasn't until the bank bailouts (which was under Bush) did I ever actually read a bill or call my representative in opposition. But one promise (followed by executive orders) of President Obama was being "transparent" and "participatory". He wanted to raise the standard from the politics of the past. So this is what we expect. Yet, when the participation comes in the form of opposition it is labeled as ignorant, mob-mentality, and even racist.
The point of the governments inefficiency in regards to illegal immigration was brought up. I agree! That is absolutely ridiculous! And I believe this only strengthen's my biggest complaint against govt proposed health care, is they are the worst in managing money! How many times have you heard "we underestimated the cost or response" (i.e Cash for Clunkers which doubled, Detroit's homeless relief 50,000 estimated applied with only 3,500 granted).
I am anxious to read the actual text of the Baucus bill, instead of blurbs put out there by it's proponents (or opponents). I'm also anxious to see if they actually post it on the internet, or give those voting on it enough time to read through it (unlike the stimulus package, bank bailouts, etc). If it is that amazing, give enough time to prove your point!
President Obama was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and deservedly so. I hope all Americans, regardless of our differences, can be proud of our President for lifting America from no. 7 most admired nation in the world, to no. 1.
Re: Patriot Act, which came up again for renewal, senators get a closed-door national security briefing on its need. One would have to be very cynical to second-guess motivations on such a vote.
Re: reading bills. Anyone willing to read 1,000 + pages of legislation is to be applauded. It’s the corporate shills like Betsy McGaughey carrying a folder with the health bills like a prop and lying about what’s in them (to seniors in particular), who is reprehensible. It took Jon Stewart grabbing the page off her hand and reading it aloud, and NY Congressman Anthony Weiner, to clean out her clock. They’re a couple of my heroes in this debate.
Lula, you’re absolutely right on this. That’s how it’s always been done and … OMG, the republic has survived!
Cash for Clunkers – So it had to be extended b/c it was a victim of its own success? It gave the auto industry and dealerships a much-needed boost and got laid-off auto workers back on the job. I wish there were more programs like it.
Detroit – Is the complaint that the stimulus package was too small? It’s unfair to blame the feds when state and local government mess up. The feds ensure funds are properly spent, but they’re not micromanaging.
We can all agree that $8.3 million to find 8 illegal immigrants in outrageous waste. You may not be aware that it came from a Government Accounting Office report commissioned by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Here’s what the report said:
“For every $100 spent by federal taxpayers to administer the documentation requirements, the federal government saved only 14 cents … for every $100 the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services expends to investigate waste, fraud, and abuse, the federal government recovers nearly $1,300.”
Welcome to good government working for the taxpayer. If not for Republican demagoguery, the crafters of this provision would have authorized the HHS director to administer it. As noted, HHS saved the taxpayers $1,300 for every $100 spent on waste, fraud, and abuse. What is the practice of illegal immigrants breaking the law by posing as U.S. citizens to get healthcare if not waste, fraud, and abuse? Doh.
It’s difficult trying to explain good public policy in sound bites to people whose sole purpose is to distort and demagogue the issue to death in Congress or on FOX News. So Baucus caved.
But there’s a silver lining. As soon as comprehensive immigration reform is passed next year, this healthcare provision becomes moot. If there’s a status change like guest workers, Congress will need to amend the health provisions relating to illegal immigrants to take this new status short of citizenship into account. So it’s a straw man argument.
Final comments: I wouldn’t call the Baucus bill “amazing.” It’s insurance reform. Not healthcare reform. Liberal Democrats will be working to improve it by including a public option, right up to passage of the final merged House-Senate bill. Healthcare reform will pass this year. The fight will be slapping the insurance companies down to get a good final product. For the United States to be the only advanced democracy in the world not to offer universal, affordable quality healthcare to its citizens, is a tragedy bordering on criminality.
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