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Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Sept 17, 2009 19:16:34 GMT -5
Keith Olberman just read a piece of Teddy Kennedy's memoir about being in the hospital when his son had cancer, and seeing how people with fewer financial resources were hit by their child's illness... wow.
Julia, putting a human face on the problem in a big way
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Sept 17, 2009 20:55:20 GMT -5
Keith Olberman just read a piece of Teddy Kennedy's memoir about being in the hospital when his son had cancer, and seeing how people with fewer financial resources were hit by their child's illness... wow. Julia, putting a human face on the problem in a big way Oh yeah. Rachel Maddow did a piece on the missile defense shield thingy, which President Obama has, as she put it, replaced something useless with something that might actually work. I don't remember her exact words, but that was the gist. Anyway, she ran clips from The West Wing episode on the subject. Bartlet explaining to Leo why he (Leo) was Charlie Brown, and the Pentagon was Lucy. "Were you born fifty-five?" "I think the words you're looking for are Oh, Good Grief." I love Rachel Maddow, long may she pundit.
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Post by leftylady on Sept 30, 2009 17:58:05 GMT -5
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Post by Sue on Oct 1, 2009 6:50:28 GMT -5
Woo=hoo. Go you librarnians!
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Oct 8, 2009 9:05:05 GMT -5
Last night, Olbermann devoted his entire show to a Special Comment on health care reform. Video here.It was long, he is longwinded, yes, but incredibly moving, speaking from first-hand knowledge of going through the health-care system with his dad, and of the people he met. Emily and I were nearly in tears by the end.
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Post by Karen on Oct 8, 2009 9:15:47 GMT -5
Last night, Olbermann devoted his entire show to a Special Comment on health care reform. Video here.It was long, he is longwinded, yes, but incredibly moving, speaking from first-hand knowledge of going through the health-care system with his dad, and of the people he met. Emily and I were nearly in tears by the end. I'll have to watch this later at home. I know our health care system has a lot of faults, and I'm all for some kind of insurance, but this statement - I don't know. Maybe it's just the way I'm built - I didn't like it, although I guess I understand the need for doing it: Beginning in 2013, Americans would be required to get health insurance, through an employer or a government program or by buying it themselves. Failure to obey the requirement would result in penalties of up to $750 per family.
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Post by Sue on Oct 8, 2009 11:32:48 GMT -5
Last night, Olbermann devoted his entire show to a Special Comment on health care reform. Video here.It was long, he is longwinded, yes, but incredibly moving, speaking from first-hand knowledge of going through the health-care system with his dad, and of the people he met. Emily and I were nearly in tears by the end. I'll have to watch this later at home. I know our health care system has a lot of faults, and I'm all for some kind of insurance, but this statement - I don't know. Maybe it's just the way I'm built - I didn't like it, although I guess I understand the need for doing it: Beginning in 2013, Americans would be required to get health insurance, through an employer or a government program or by buying it themselves. Failure to obey the requirement would result in penalties of up to $750 per family.[Disclaimer: Karen, after going off on my mini-rant I wanted to make sure that you knew this wasn't directed at you personally. I see that you explicitly say that you understand the need. Apparently it pushed a button on me and I got preachy.] It's the same reasoning as for requiring car insurance -- you may not care if you can't repair your car or pay for your medical bills -- or the repairs or bills of the person you hit; but it's entirely unfair to the person you hit for their policy to have to pick up the repair costs. Likewise, you may be darned sure that you (not you personally, obviously--it's just easier than saying "person A") aren't going to get sick or in an accident so why should you "waste" that money. But then some small percentage does get hurt (from a broken arm to full body burns or premature babies with life-long disabilities or big-time cancer or some crazy-ass 1 in 500,000 lung disease) and MY insurance goes up 10 or 20% to cover everybody else. I could say that I don't drive so I shouldn't have to pay the part of taxes that go into road maintainance annually. And somebody else doesn't fly so he wants to keep the .5% of his taxes that are headed to the federal aviation budget. OR, "I'm a conciousness objector and I seriously OBJECT to my taxes funding wars." Or, I have my own retirement covered so I don't want to pay into SS and Medicare -- the examples are endless. But as part of a society that needs roads and airports and a standing army AND hospitals and medical research I fully support the idea that everyone should be invested to some degree in the support of healthcare. Even if "you" don't "need" it at the moment. In fact, I'm astounded that this is even up for debate. * If governments cover roads and libraries and schools, etc it seems obvious to me that it should have some roll in helping to provide some level of basic care for the members of its society who are unable to do so for themselves. If we were willing (ha!) to have to someone who chose not to buy insurance come into an emergency room and say "sorry bud, you didn't buy in and now you have to suffer the consequences, go bleed somewhere else" then so be it. But obviously (like caring life-long for the motorcyclist who didn't wear a helmut) that's not going to happen. If society is going to see that everyone is treated in a time of need, then all members of the society should contribute, at least at some minimal level, to meeting that need. Wow! Guess I'm flying my "socialist" flag in a stiff breeze today. * And, let's be honest: in every other first world country it's not even questioned. Shouldn't that make us stop and think about what is the logical (and, to my mind, moral) solution?
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Post by Karen on Oct 8, 2009 14:13:46 GMT -5
I'll have to watch this later at home. I know our health care system has a lot of faults, and I'm all for some kind of insurance, but this statement - I don't know. Maybe it's just the way I'm built - I didn't like it, although I guess I understand the need for doing it: Beginning in 2013, Americans would be required to get health insurance, through an employer or a government program or by buying it themselves. Failure to obey the requirement would result in penalties of up to $750 per family.[Disclaimer: Karen, after going off on my mini-rant I wanted to make sure that you knew this wasn't directed at you personally. I see that you explicitly say that you understand the need. Apparently it pushed a button on me and I got preachy.] It's the same reasoning as for requiring car insurance -- you may not care if you can't repair your car or pay for your medical bills -- or the repairs or bills of the person you hit; but it's entirely unfair to the person you hit for their policy to have to pick up the repair costs. Likewise, you may be darned sure that you (not you personally, obviously--it's just easier than saying "person A") aren't going to get sick or in an accident so why should you "waste" that money. But then some small percentage does get hurt (from a broken arm to full body burns or premature babies with life-long disabilities or big-time cancer or some crazy-ass 1 in 500,000 lung disease) and MY insurance goes up 10 or 20% to cover everybody else. I could say that I don't drive so I shouldn't have to pay the part of taxes that go into road maintainance annually. And somebody else doesn't fly so he wants to keep the .5% of his taxes that are headed to the federal aviation budget. OR, "I'm a conciousness objector and I seriously OBJECT to my taxes funding wars." Or, I have my own retirement covered so I don't want to pay into SS and Medicare -- the examples are endless. But as part of a society that needs roads and airports and a standing army AND hospitals and medical research I fully support the idea that everyone should be invested to some degree in the support of healthcare. Even if "you" don't "need" it at the moment. In fact, I'm astounded that this is even up for debate. * If governments cover roads and libraries and schools, etc it seems obvious to me that it should have some roll in helping to provide some level of basic care for the members of its society who are unable to do so for themselves. If we were willing (ha!) to have to someone who chose not to buy insurance come into an emergency room and say "sorry bud, you didn't buy in and now you have to suffer the consequences, go bleed somewhere else" then so be it. But obviously (like caring life-long for the motorcyclist who didn't wear a helmut) that's not going to happen. If society is going to see that everyone is treated in a time of need, then all members of the society should contribute, at least at some minimal level, to meeting that need. Wow! Guess I'm flying my "socialist" flag in a stiff breeze today. * And, let's be honest: in every other first world country it's not even questioned. Shouldn't that make us stop and think about what is the logical (and, to my mind, moral) solution? Yeah, I agree with all you say - it's all very logical and makes sense. I was mainly reacting to the - 'failure to obey' big brother tone of the statement. Just hits a nerve deep in my soul. (I am sure I have authority issues.) All that being said, I still pay my taxes, insurance and fall in line for everything else mandated by law. Like a good doobee. Hoping that the people in charge will take care of business and that being a good citizen I will be rewarded with living comfortably in an awesome country. So far, in my case, that's been the case. I think the system that will be put in place to police the government health insurance program will probably cost us at least as much as what they'll be able to pull in from the fines - from people who don't have the money to pay those fines. Better to add a 1% federal tax to sales tax to actually insure that everyone will pay their fair share - and while they are at it, use that system for paying for national maintenance (roadwork, infrastructure, parks etc.) and shitcan the Federal income tax machine. We need to do something, no doubt about that. So, I'll be pulling for those wiser than me to come up with something that works and doesn't pull us too so much further into government dependency. Ron Paul on managed health careBasically, we need to get rid of the drug company lobbies and 'managed' health care - because what we are doing with the health care reform is putting a bandaid on the problem - when the system itself is rotten.
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Post by Sue on Oct 8, 2009 22:21:12 GMT -5
[ Yeah, I agree with all you say - it's all very logical and makes sense. I was mainly reacting to the - 'failure to obey' big brother tone of the statement. Just hits a nerve deep in my soul. (I am sure I have authority issues.) All that being said, I still pay my taxes, insurance and fall in line for everything else mandated by law. Like a good doobee. Hoping that the people in charge will take care of business and that being a good citizen I will be rewarded with living comfortably in an awesome country. So far, in my case, that's been the case. I think the system that will be put in place to police the government health insurance program will probably cost us at least as much as what they'll be able to pull in from the fines - from people who don't have the money to pay those fines. Better to add a 1% federal tax to sales tax to actually insure that everyone will pay their fair share - and while they are at it, use that system for paying for national maintenance (roadwork, infrastructure, parks etc.) and shitcan the Federal income tax machine. We need to do something, no doubt about that. So, I'll be pulling for those wiser than me to come up with something that works and doesn't pull us too so much further into government dependency. Ron Paul on managed health careBasically, we need to get rid of the drug company lobbies and 'managed' health care - because what we are doing with the health care reform is putting a bandaid on the problem - when the system itself is rotten. All excellent points. I really wasn't very thoughtful in my first response. I mean, it was all true if you start with the presupposition that that is how it will be paid for. BUT, no reason to necessarily start with that presupposition. There may, indeed, be better ways to pay for it.
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Oct 9, 2009 8:06:15 GMT -5
Obama wins Nobel Peace PrizeI don't quite know how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's quite the honor. On the other hand, it's awfully early in his presidency. One thing's for sure, there are right-wing heads exploding all over the internets. Tonight's punditry will be loads of fun to watch. Anne, was really hoping it'd be Pete Seeger
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Post by Anne, Old S'cubie Cat on Oct 9, 2009 9:05:18 GMT -5
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Post by Sue on Oct 9, 2009 9:26:24 GMT -5
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Post by Karen on Oct 9, 2009 10:14:45 GMT -5
I am all for state's rule. Fed legislation can be too cumbersome but if wielded a broad stroke so that it can be legislated at state level, then it makes it more workable and palatable. If we let the states have power, then there can be competition to keep the insurance costs down. I like it.
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Post by Sue on Oct 9, 2009 10:30:14 GMT -5
Obama wins Nobel Peace PrizeI don't quite know how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's quite the honor. On the other hand, it's awfully early in his presidency. One thing's for sure, there are right-wing heads exploding all over the internets. Tonight's punditry will be loads of fun to watch. Anne, was really hoping it'd be Pete Seeger Yes, hard to know what to say. [Although the air and print and twitter waves are full of people talking ....] From Andy Borowitz, who does comedy posts at Huffington: OSLO, NORWAY (The Borowitz Report) - As the world responded with a mixture of surprise and amazement to the announcement of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel insiders revealed that the President's "beer summit" at the White House put him over the top.
"The committee was definitely split down the middle right up until the end," said Agot Valle, a Norwegian politician and member of the five-person Nobel committee. "Some of them were still quite upset about that nasty business with the Somali pirates."
But, according to Ms. Valle, "someone brought up the beer summit, and we all agreed that that was awesome."
Ms. Valle said she hoped that Mr. Obama's victory would be seen not only as a victory for him, but "as a tribute to the healing power of beer."
Ms. Valle acknowledged that the President's win was widely considered an upset, with most pundits having expected the prize to go to Mad Men or 30 Rock. More here.
Read more at: www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/nobel-insiders-beer-summi_b_315108.htmlCan/would you turn it down?The one clear reaction I have is that he must donate the 1.4 million to some worthy peace or perhaps refugee related charity. As for what he has accomplished. Apparently he has been preaching against nuclear proliferation for years (not just as of the campaign) but I did see one suggestion that it may be his "quick and decisive action in averting an international depression" that was given credit. Sort of mind-boggling that being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize seems to be a lose/lose situation. Why on a Friday people, really -- I guess I'll have to wait until Monday for the Stewart/Colbert reactions.
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Post by Julia, wrought iron-y on Oct 9, 2009 12:30:35 GMT -5
Obama wins Nobel Peace PrizeI don't quite know how I feel about this. On the one hand, it's quite the honor. On the other hand, it's awfully early in his presidency. One thing's for sure, there are right-wing heads exploding all over the internets. Tonight's punditry will be loads of fun to watch. Anne, was really hoping it'd be Pete Seeger Left and right- some of the ugliest rhetoric, at Metafilter, at Making Light and on my flist has been from the progressive end of the spectrum. I think there's a virus for ugly extreme reactions to everything going around, or it's a late stage manifestatio of the same viral stupidity that makes drivers think turn signals are optional and lane markers mere suggestions. Julia, honestly, does it cost money to think first
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