I don't mind Obama opposition in general, and concerns about exploding the deficits are more than reasonable concerns. Heck, make a coherent argument against anything I support, and I'll listen and consider it. My problem with many — if not most — of the Tea Party protesters is that — well, how shall I say it — they're idiots. They … Read More
45% of Doctors Will Consider Quitting If Healthcare Is Overhauled?
That's what the Investor's Business Daily wants you to believe from their poll. That really struck me, especially since a more comprehensive non-partisan poll by the New England Journal of Medicine came out showing that "62.9 percent of physicians nationwide support proposals to expand health care coverage that include both public and private insurance options" I tried to look deeper into this, … Read More
The Party of Children
First it was "Liar, liar" (embodied in Joe Wilson); now it's "he started it" ("he" = Obama). My favorite: After the vote was taken, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) declared on the House floor that Obama had insulted Congress, by saying that his opponents were lying about his health care proposals. "He comes in here talking about a lie … He … Read More
RIP: “Norma Rae”
Crystal Lee Sutton, formerly Crystal Lee Jordan, was fired from her job folding towels at the J.P. Stevens textile plant in her hometown of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. for trying to organize a union in the early 1970s. Her last action at the plant — writing the word "UNION" on a piece of cardboard and standing on her work table, leading … Read More
Government Run Health Care? We’re Closer Than You Think
Slate.com: The latest report from the Census Bureau on income, poverty, and health insurance is full of interesting data. (For example, median household family income in 2008, at $50,303, was below where it was in 1998. Heckuva job, Bushie, Greenie, and the whole economic team!) Perhaps the most surprising census data are the significant evidence that, even absent a reform … Read More
A Better Way
Republicans think that one way to improve health care is to engage in tort reform, i.e., somehow limit the number of malpractice cases brought to court, or limit the damages that winning plaintiffs can receive. Because (Republicans claim) of all these lawsuits, malpractice insurance for doctors and hospitals is high, which creates higher health care costs. It's an idea, so … Read More
The National Review Editors Were In Favor Of Rational Thinking Before They Were Against It
August 17, 2009 National Review editorial: To conclude from these possibilities to the accusation that President Obama’s favored legislation will lead to “death panels” deciding whose life has sufficient value to be saved — let alone that Obama desires this outcome — is to leap across a logical canyon. It may well be that in a society as litigious as … Read More
Morning Reax
Washington Post’s Tom Shales says Obama “came across like Jimmy Stewart in ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’: a bright-eyed young idealist up against entrenched power, old ideas and obstructionism. It was also a chance for Obama to go on national television and look presidential again, asserting himself in ways that helped make up for the past few months of perceived … Read More
House Republicans Behaving Badly
Joe Wilson's cat call ("You lie!"), for which he apologized, was the most egregious display of childishness last night by the House GOP. But it wasn't the only sad display: But while the majority of both parties' lawmakers behaved as adults, the insolence by House Republicans stole the show. There was derisive laughter on that side of the chamber when … Read More
Obama’s Speech: The Flash Poll Results
CNN: Two out of three Americans who watched President Barack Obama's health care reform speech Wednesday night favor his health care plans — a 14-point gain among speech-watchers, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll of people who tuned into Obama's address Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress. Sixty-seven percent of people questioned in the survey say … Read More
The Full Text of the Kennedy-to-Obama Letter
Dear Mr. President, I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth. On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in … Read More
Short First Impressions
I thought Obama did nicely. He shot down the lies. He addressed all the BS about death panels, government coming between you and your doctor, illegal immigrants getting health insurance, etc. Not that rabid opponents will change their mind; they're entrenched in stupidity and or fearmongering. Key passage: Some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose … Read More
Great Moments in Ghostwriting
Forget the substance, there's no way in hell that Sarah Palin wrote this op-ed.
The Public Option in 150 Seconds
Not really been attuned to the health care debate? That's fine. You're busy. Fortunately, you can increase your knowledge about the central sticking point — the public option – in 150 seconds, just by watching this dwarf former Secretary of Labor, former boyfriend of Hilary Rodham, author, father of the Family and Medical Leave Act, Rhodes scholar and NPR commentator Robert Reich explain what … Read More