6-12-24

10 years ago, the average family paid $6,000/year for health insurance.

Today, the average family pays $12,000/year for health insurance.

It's estimated, at the current rate of increase, that in 10 years, without reform, the average family will pay $24,000/year for health insurance. 

The poverty line has been defined as $20,000/year.  This hasn't changed in a very long time.  If no health reform is passed, or even worse, if something like the Baucus Bill is passed that does not control costs or provide a public option, and requires every citizen to buy private insurance under penalty of fine, well… do the math.

People who make $30,000 a year or less will have to decide, give all or most of their income to health insurance or face a fine of up to $3,800?  Unfortunately, breaking the law will become the economical choice.  At least until somebody becomes sick.

If you oppose reform, do the math.

The way things are now…

Even Fox News reported this one.  Surprisingly they even reported the fact that their previous insurer raised their rates 40% for the audacity of having a baby.  Then the new insurer denied the baby health coverage.  

17-Pound, 4-Month-Old Baby Denied Health Insurance for Being Too Fat - Children's Health - FOXNews.com

I find it amazing that they can report a story like this, yet continue to defend a system that treats Americans this way.  Would the insurer have reversed their decision had the dad not been a local news anchor?  Not likely.  You can almost hear the "oh shit!" when they realized who they had screwed.  They're expected to not cover their child.  This kind of insanity only occurs in this country, and the right wing continues to call this the best health care system in the world despite mountains of facts to the contrary, and endless stories just like this one.  Nearly everybody has a health insurance horror story.  I have more than one.

I just heard today about a friend of my wife's, who had lost their insurance because the father had become unemployed (a fairly common occurrence these days), and now their baby has a serious condition.  They'll never recover from this.  You have to wonder how they're going to send children to college when they'll most likely be paying for saving their child's life for the rest of their lives. 

That's all it takes to destroy a family here.  Lose a job, get sick. 

The right-wing takeaway: If your child is careless enough to develop a serious condition, let 'em die.  Serves them right for being so thoughtless.

My takeaway: This is like living in a George Orwell novel.  If our elected leaders can't take this seriously and put a stop to it, vote them out. 

I'm making a list of politicians who A) support real reform, B) oppose any reform, and C) are pretending to care about reform but really trying to fuck it up as badly as they can (i.e. Max Baucus).  I will post this if reform fails.  I may post it anyway.  I'm going to use it as my voting guide in the next election.  I hope you do too.

Obama Derangement Syndrome?

I was as shocked as anybody that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.  I didn't know he was nominated.  Now that the surprise has worn off, I'm proud.  The leader of our nation has won the Nobel Peace prize.  That doesn't happen very often. 

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The right is angry.  They think he didn't deserve it.  They think he should give it back.  They think the world will view this as a huge joke. 

I have two questions for them.  Answer these, and we can talk. 

1) Is the Nobel Peace Prize awarded by an American institution or an international one? 

2) Why has no Republican president in recent memory won the Nobel Peace Prize?  I say recent memory, but I'm not sure ANY Republican has won one.

Should Bush have gotten a peace prize?  I don't think they award it for starting pre-emptive wars on false pretenses.  In face, things like that usually lead to war crimes trials. 

Rachel Maddow cited a right-wing viewpoint from the beginning of the decade called Bush Derangement Syndrome.  It goes something like this: we hate Bush therefore he can do nothing right.  I guess that means that being opposed to two ceaseless wars, torture, ignoring the Constitution, undoing the Constitution, warrantless surveillance, and other things along those lines is only because I didn't like Bush.  This is an interesting viewpoint, since I actually liked Bush until I found out about those things.

This viewpoint in interesting, though, because it seems that no matter what Obama does, they hate him for it.  Even on issues that should not have a political slant, they boo his successes and cheer his failures.  I don't think Obama is perfect, in fact I'm keeping a running list of things he's done (or not done) that upset me, but compared to Bush, he's fuckin' Jesus Christ. 

I don't understand the hate that leads someone to cheer America's loss regarding the Olympics.  This is from the same party that said "Country First".  I don't understand the hate that leads someone to be angry that their president earned the Nobel Peace Prize.  This is also from the same party that said "Country First".  Apparently "Country First" really means Republicans First. 

Well, that's not entirely fair, apparently John McCain had nice things to say.  I may not agree with his viewpoints, but at least he's capable of showing tact. 

America… WHAT THE FUCK!?!?!?!?

Message to Max Baucus: FUCK OFF AND DIE!

 

Max Baucus has introduced legislation that is basically a handout to the private insurance companies.  This legislation cannot pass.  It will bankrupt millions and make billions for the insurance companies in the process.  In other words, the rich getting richer off the misfortune of the poor. 

Fuck off Max.  You may be a Democrat, but you're a fucking corporate stooge.  You might as well be George "I represent the top 1% of the rich in this country and the rest of you losers can fuck yourselves" Bush.  Jay Rockefeller is trying to get anything even remotely resembling something good for the people in this bill, and you stump him at every turn.  I hope they're paying you well, fucker.  If there's a Hell, I hope you like it warm.

The Insurance Industry Profit Protection and Enhancement Act

Wendell Potter is a former vice-president of Cigna.  One day he had an attack of conscience and chose to expose the insurance industry's practices.

 

---Update:

I had to share this too.  It came, from all places, from a commenter on Sarah Palin's facebook page.

The New Face of Conservatism in America

These were seen at a recent "Tea Party".  The stated goal from the 9/12 website (Glenn Beck's little project):

Reconcile that with the reality of hate and intolerance:

 

Comparing Obama to Hitler.  Seriously?  Hitler?  Please, oh please somebody try to justify that one to me.  I'm just itching to have a go at somebody with that low of an IQ.

Comparing Obama to Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, and Castro.  Ignorance knows no bounds. 

I'm pretty sure threatening the President's life is a felony.  Slogans like this are supposed to unite the country?

Heil White Supremacist Moron!

This one doesn't deserve a comment.  The bearer is a waste of oxygen.

If Fred Phelps showed up to the funeral of one of her loved ones, Maybe she would have an idea how distasteful that sign is.  Then again, probably not. 

These people make me sick.  The only thing missing here are white hoods and a burning cross.

Glenn Beck, go fuck yourself.  Would you please find another country in which to peddle your hate, lies, and fear-mongering?  We're all stocked up here.

These people's hate speech is, unfortunately, protected by the Constitution, the same document they seem to believe Obama is subverting.  It protects the morons too.  Where were they when Bush started chopping out the parts of the Constitution he didn't like?  Did they march then?  They have no clue that if things had continued the way they had under Bush for a few more years, they likely would no longer even have THAT right.  One has to wonder if they've even read it.

This is the face of modern "conservatives" in America.  If you're a conservative, take a long look.  If you feel disgusted, congratulations, you're still human.  Please rethink your convictions and stop listening to idiots.

If you don't feel disgusted by this, get help. And please never vote again.

The Religious Right

I'm a bit confused by something, and I would appreciate it if somebody could help me out here.  First, a caveat.  I'm not a Christian, but having once been in a Christianity-based cult, I know a little bit about the Christian bible. 

I would like to know how the Religious Right reconcile their views on Health Care Reform and Social programs with the following passage, taken verbatim and completely in context, from the Christian bible. 

Matthew 25:31-46 (New International Version)

The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The cult didn't pay much attention to Matthew 25, but I did.  I would like to know how the Jesus depicted here and in many other parts of the bible reconciles with the "Why should I give up what I have for somebody else?" views we've been hearing?

Then, a final footnote.  The Health Care bill is carefully crafted to not take away from you what you may already have, but only to offer a choice to those that currently have none.  In other words, the poor.  How does somebody oppose this and call themselves a "Christian"?  Is fighting science and oppressing homosexuals somehow more important than this?  That's not what I read in my bible*.

Discuss.

* Common catch phrase from the cult