Its all really quite simple. Put the welfare of PEOPLE first and make corporate America work for those interests instead of allowing them to cleverly usurp them for the benefit of a few greedy shareholders and megalomaniacal CEO’s.

Corporations don’t vote so how have they managed to sequester the power and political patronage that they have had over the years? Something to do with the party campaign funding process? Its HEALTH and EDUCATION and SOCIAL SECURITY and EMPLOYMENT, stupid!

Kudos to Carol and Arlene.  Now get the word out to everyone you know to vote for Kucinich.

I don’t read TruthDig to be subjected to puff pieces for Senator Clinton. SHE IS BUSH LITE—the sooner people realize that, the sooner we’ll get the progressive legislation the middle class of this country need.

Clinton will not extricate us from Iraq. Her health plan is a joke that will cost the government nothing. What’s going on here? TruthDig must be getting money (advertising revenue?) from her campaign.

Ok, repeat after me, “Medicare for All!”  Say it over and over.  Let our candidates hear it and if enough people say it, maybe they will stop coming up with half assed proposals that don’t piss off their health insurance contributors and don’t do enough to address all of the problems our health system has.

Corporate America got exactly what it desired with this debate, avoiding the comments of the one Democrat who truly speaks for the vast majority of the American people, the middle and working class—Dennis Kucinich.

RE: #102468 by Louise on 9/24

Louise,

After I had made my previous comment and read yours, it occurred to me when you said: “Republicans are NOT conservative.  They are simply dishonest!”  That’s absolutely right, and the few remaining “honest” republicans are conservative, the so called “middle of the road” portion of congress isn’t really that, but more traditional REPUBLICAN.  So much so that now someone who’s considered liberal, isn’t even that “left” but more mainstream democratic, slanting toward the right.  We don’t have a radical left at all.  Which is why Kucinich who is often depicted as far left is, in my mind, only progressive or middle of the road slanting left.

I think it was that stint in congress of the radical right which skewed the perspective of everyone and now the slightest affront to THE RADICAL RIGHT ideology, is depicted as FAR LEFT, when realistically it is not.

#102396 by sensible on 9/24 at 2:17 pm

” ... were Hillary to suggest a single-payer program, the Republicans would be running full-tilt against “socialized medicine” (as Mitt Romney did before she even announced her plan), warning that taxes would rise and predicting that health care would be rationed and second-rate. (As if it isn’t now for everyone but the rich.) In a divided Congress, single payer wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“So Hillary goes down a middle road: via health insurance. And then everyone complains that insurance companies will profit—and sure, they will.”

***

Of course you are right, because congress is populated by “middle of the road’ers.” And America is populated by shlucks who never spend five minutes contemplating the possibility that there could be a better way ... until THEY get sick. And I’ll skip the buts and the qualifiers, because there’s a bigger point here!

I don’t want a president who picks the middle of the road to avoid a fight!

Take a look at past history.

Trouble makers, and middle of the road’ers.
Bullies, and look the other way’ers.
Liars, and head in the sand’ers.

The republicans use the word “tax” like a club, and they get away with it. In spite of the fact that THEY have given our children and grand-children the biggest tax increase in history!

Who will pay the bill for all their record setting debt, and their unnecessary wars?

Republicans are NOT conservative.They are simply dishonest!

Oh I am so sick of it!

I DO NOT WANT A PRESIDENT WHO PICKS THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD TO KEEP THAT PACK OF RATS HAPPY!

I want a president who is willing to fight for what’s right, even if it means they have to stop calling those wretched republicans, “my good friends on the other side of the aisle.”

I don’t want a president who picks the middle of the road to avoid a fight!

At some point in time, courage requires you stand up to the bully!

I want a president with REAL courage!

KUCINICH!

Every state that REQUIRES auto insurance has higher rates than those who don’t for the same coverage.  Thanks to the vicious state leaders in those states who decided to underwrite the insurance companies instead of stand for their constituents. Almost immediately the insurance companies lowered coverage and increased premiums.  The result for those who can’t afford this is fines and or criminal prosecution dependant upon the situation.  Well, that will fill up those privatized prisons, won’t it.  It’ll be “gravy” robbing harmless citizens of their dollars and if they can’t pay, off to incarceration more “gravy” for private corporations.  Of course, these same corporations are the ones paying the low wages which deny their employees access to any insurances AT ALL of any kind.

Under this so called “health insurance for everyone plan” Hillary touts, What scale will be used to say “you can afford this insurance at this price”?  I see that’s been left generic.  It’s ridiculous to advance ANY plan that utilizes private insurance companies. What happens for those people who can’t afford what Hillary’s plan deems they can.  Won’t they be in the same boat as they are right now.  When insurance is REQUIRED it only serves to underwrite the corps. who offer that service.  Since Hillary’s plan REQUIRES everyone to participate, what will happen to those who can’t comply?  Will they be fined, denied service…what?

Kucinich’s single-payer plan is the only plan which actually levels the playing field and offers those who are without insurance and those in jeopardy of losing their insurance, security.

ALL THE OTHER PLANS, SECURE PROFITS FOR PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, ARE MORE EXPENSIVE AND WILL DENY CARE FOR SOME. (Obama’s and Edwards’ plans also secure profits for the insurance industry)

For those who think their insurance is secure, think again, first they rob me, when there’s nothing left, they’ll come for you.  They have a long track record of this “business objective”, don’t be mislead.

The current system will collapse eventually because of the high rate of health care inflation.  Health care costs take a bigger and bigger percentage of gross domestic product.  The system is unaffordable.

(pressed the Submit button too soon, I apologize.)

Right now, my 46 year old brother-in-law has just lost his job delivering furniture because cataracts have robbed him of his eyesight.  His employers told him he can have his job back as soon as he has cataract surgery - a surgery can not afford.  He had no insurance with that company he worked for for 10 years.  They did not offer any.  At minimum wage, he couldn’t buy any.  He has worked since he was 15 years old, never asking for any help.  As has his wife, my sister-in-law, who has recently been declared medically disabled due to inherited diabetes.  She returned to her doctor and begged to be released to work.  Her doctor refused, for sound medical reasons.

Anywhere else in the Western world, affordability would not be an issue. Anywhere else in the Western world, medical care is considered a human right.  But because this country, the only country in the Western world, does not have a publicly funded national health care system, he is at the mercy of a private marketplace, profit motivated insurance quagmire.

Points to consider with a publicly funded national health care system, such as what my late husband and I experienced when we lived in the UK:

besides no out of pocket expense, the unemployed receive the same health care benefits as we who are employed;

for several years, sure, those taxes out of our salaries seem like a waste of hard earned money because we are never sick, do not take any medicines, do not need to see a doctor except for travel vaccines, but when we need medical care, such as my husband’s sudden injury which would have bankrupted us had it occurred here in the USA, we were very glad to have the NHS TRUST covering our medical needs - the taxes we paid out of our salaries did not come one iota close to the cost of his acute medical care;

health care coverage is cradle to grave, with many health benefits unheard of in the USA, such as home visits to new mothers and babies by health care professionals, extensive parental leave, to name just two;

we had choice in our doctors, choosing our GPs (general practioners), and I was very pleased with whom we chose;

when we needed to see our GPs, at first only for travel vaccinations and for my husband after his injury some years later, the wait from phone call to appointment was never more than two days, often not more than one day;

the attitude of doctors differs significantly there from the attitude of American doctors with regard to making a profit from providing medical care to sick people. Because my late husband worked in a hospital at a medical school, a number of our friends were physicians and we got to know them from all aspects. There is no expectation of wealth and privelege among UK physicians for treating sick people. There is also no ability to refuse to treat sick people, nor desire to refuse to treat sick people, as is the case with American MDs who refuse to treat sick Americans insured by Medicare or Medicaid because their greed for money and profit outweighs their desire to treat the sick and injured in need;

people go into the medical field to become physicians, under a publicly funded health care system, for the right reasons - to treat the sick, to research and cure diseases. Not to make loads of money, nor to have status, as is the case in our American style private market place, profit motivated, greed based health care delivery system.

Clearly, the private marketplace has had its chance in American healthcare delivery and has proven itself to be an abject failure. Just as our interstate highways are publicly funded, just as our police departments are publicly funded, just as our fire departments are publicly funded, just as our court system is publicly funded (judges, bailiffs, court buildings, prosecutors, court reporters - all paid by public funds), just as our nation’s defense is publicly funded, so should be our medical care.

ec kostruabala

“No one is entitled to be given a house, car, food or health care, etc. If we want these things, we have to earn them.”

If you had the courage of your convictions, you would have included the military, police, fire, court system, border patrol, schools, roads, dams, and much else.

I see a lot of gripes, suspicion and Hillary-hating here. I don’t see much substantive appraisal of her plan.

Ideally,  medical care should be a government service as it is in so many other places. But were Hillary to suggest a single-payer program, the Republicans would be running full-tilt against “socialized medicine” (as Mitt Romney did before she even announced her plan), warning that taxes would rise and predicting that health care would be rationed and second-rate. (As if it isn’t now for everyone but the rich.)  In a divided Congress, single payer wouldn’t stand a chance.

So Hillary goes down a middle road: via health insurance. And then everyone complains that insurance companies will profit—and sure, they will. But you won’t convince me that Hillary is about HMO profits rather than getting people medical care. This isn’t a Halliburton/oil company situation. Hillary has clearly calculated that expanded health insurance is the most pragmatic way to provide more medical care. The Clintons aren’t about purity—they’re about getting things done.

All the sniping and jawboning isn’t an alternative. But if it makes you feel better…

I would much rather see a publicly funded national health care system, rather than a health care system that supports any private, profit motivated insurance company, which Hillary Clinton’s plan does when it allows such private, profit motivated insurance companies to continue to exist. 

A National Health Care System, publicly funded, is the way to proceed, for this would remove the profit motive from the health care delivery system. Focus, instead, would then be where it should be - patient care and preventative medicine.

Unlike many Americans who hear of a publicly funded health care system and, never having lived with one, fear and label it as “socialized medicine,” I have personal experience of a national health care system. For several years my late husband and I lived and worked in London; I in social work with the homeless and mentally ill; my husband as a molecular biologist at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine.

During these years, our medical care came from the National Health Insurance System (NHS TRUST) of the United Kingdom, for which we paid taxes out of our salaries.

We never paid any money out of pocket for doctor’s visits.

We never paid any money out of pocket for immunizations.

We never paid any money out of pocket for vaccinations for our travels.

And when my husband sustained an injury requiring ambulance service, ICU care, and extensive hospitalization, we never received an ambulance nor medical bill, nor hospital bill.

After my husband’s injury, he required medication to keep him alive. Any 30 day prescription cost only 4 pounds 50 pence at that time (about 9 dollars current exchange rate)

When one is injured, or ill, one needs all one’s strength to deal with one’s injury or illness. Not stress in figuring out how to pay for treatment. Or worse - not getting treated because one can not pay for it.

Here in the USA, health care is a savage disgrace to our nation due to the profit motive built into health care.  What has this profit motivated American health care marketplace gotten us, and why should Americans continue to support these profiteers, as we will be supporting them under Hillary Clinton’s Health Care plan by buying insurance from any insurance company that makes a profit?

America ranks less on markers for health care, such as infant mortality, longevity, and disease prevention, to name just a few, than any other Western country. Yet among all the Western countries, America alone spends more of our GNP on medical care than any of these other countries. Countries which not only outdo us in medically caring for their citizenry, but do so with publicly funded national health insurance systems to boot.

ec kostrubala

The healthcare mess is a big headache for Republicans because the problem keeps getting worse.  If people get a choice, they will choose a government plan because of its lower cost.

Private plans have big overhead costs and the need for profits.  The only way they can compete is with government subsidies.  That is what is going on now with the private supplemental plans to Medicare.

Ok, well, hmmm…

If your happy with your health care, you can keep it.
How many are happy with their health care?
Show of hands please.

Those what don’t have any health problems, but feel secure in the knowledge they have insurance if they ever need it, timidly put their hands up. Those who need health care, but can’t get it ... well they seem to be missing from the group. And those who have chronic and debilitating health care needs suffer, and suffer more under the current system!

Here’s a news flash for Senator Hillary.
Even the health care providers are fed up with the system!
The system is broke!
Dysfunctional!
Too costly and often as not ... missing in action!

Here’s another news flash for the good senator.
Putting a band-aid called “more of the same, only for everyone” on the mangled and broken system will not heal it!

In fact, it will most likely lead to an infection which might actually kill it!

I wish the good senator, and all those other wannabe’s would educate themselves.

I don’t think any one of them truly has a clue how bad it really is, or can even begin to identify the spider web of interconnected problems, confusion, paperwork, mismanagement, frustration and well, indifference. Certainly they don’t seem to be able to break down and identify anything except “insurance.”
They function on the “me and mine.”

The health insurance they have is just hunky dory, so their solution to the problem is, “give them what I have. But puleeese do not look beyond My experience, or My needs, or My perception. Might open a can of worms I don’t want to see!”

Of course, should I see a real plan of action, identifying the thousands of problems, and proposing a series of steps that might actually lead to solutions, well that would be a different story. But the absence of outlining those problems in Senator Hillary’s plan leaves me thinking ... opportunist ... opportunist ...

OK, in fairness, making insurance available to all is a good thing, right?

Given the Insurance industries track record, I see that approach as rewarding their bad behavior.
Further I see that as, more paperwork adding to the confusion that focuses on the dollar and drops the patient through the crack along the way.

This plan does not address the shortage of doctors, where they are needed. The shortage of hospitals and staff, where they are needed. The need for a single physician to identify and follow a patients needs, treatment, medication, and progress. The overburden of costly and time-consuming paperwork. This plan will probably increase that burden.

This plan does not address the fact that anyone who wants to practice medicine has to sign on to eternal debt to get that degree. This plan does not address the duplication, confusion and exhaustion that trying to follow the sticky webs through the maze of insurance, and specialists, and pharmacists, and care centers to arrive [hopefully] back to the needs of ... who?
Oh, the patient!

But hey ... in the final analysis, it really doesn’t matter does it?
Because the sick will die and may not vote anyway.
But the wealthy who like the status quo certainly will.
[Besides they donate big bucks!]

Hillary is a formidable candidate primarily because the other “front-runners” are even more full of crap then she is, as hard and distasteful as that is to imagine. In voting for the lesser of the evils, Hillary shines brightly as being possibly less evil. She would start to look good if she were running against Stalin or Hitler. But she doesn’t even look good running against George W. Bush because she and George are like two peas in a pod.

But none of this mumbo-jumbo matters. It’s all a glitzy façade. Because the Bush administration, with diligent help from Democrats like Hillary, has already bankrupted our country for the foreseeable future. Money that could have gone to health care and infrastructure rebuilding has been skimmed off and pilfered and pissed away in a concerted effort to make our nation the most hated and most impoverished in its history.

No money ensures no 21st century health-care system.

Frankly, I don’t trust Hillary - or any mega-buck politician for that matter - as far as I can throw her/them. It’s the ‘catch thing’, that little unnoticed at the time ‘catch’ that only rears its ugly gargantuan head after the damn bill is in force.

Big Pharma got MedPlanD passed.  The catch, end of government caps on med prices.

Big Insurance is objecting not to Hillary’s proposed plan.  Be afraid, very afraid that there’s a big pay-off to the health insurance robber barons - hidden somewhere is the inevitable ‘catch.’

Hillary Is an idiot….

A vote for her would be a vote for, homosexuality, and murder….Besides, she is married to Slick Willy don’t you know!

I can’t explain why, but I just do not trust her to act on my behalf or for the public welfare at large? She has an agenda to obtain power and I’m not convinced that she is any different than the rest of the elitist in Washington DC.

More of the same is far from the changes I hope for.

Whenever a politician tells me they are giving me a “choice” I run for the hills.

By only adding more regulation to an already broken and distorted system is only going to make matters worse.  Its stacking more layers on a house of cards and throwing more money into vast sinkhole of corporate pockets.  And now with most of these plans we will be required to enter into this BS.

Kucinich once again has the only sensible plan. I am glad he is in there showing the alternatives.  Too bad we will once again give our power over by electing someone who will keep swindling us, but will do it with a smile and an assurance that it is in our best interest. 

This obsessive focus on elections as the only way to   create change is disabling, and increasingly makes little difference.