dave74, August 4 at 9:45 pm (twice),

I expect just like with the Recovery Act you have been listening to Conservative REPUBLICAN false and misleading subjective rhetoric and have worked yourself up into a tizzy, of misleading and false subjective propaganda to scare seniors, because you have only made subjective statements; nothing objective what so ever:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/08/03/there-they-go-again-two-senators-continue-false-and-misleading-attacks-recovery-act?utm_source=080410&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=daily

Medicare advantage cuts are coming very soon thanks to Obama Care. Many seniors who have fixed incomes will now face rate hikes and could possibly not afford to keep the medicare advantage plans. I hope the GOP can reverse some of this damage so it will not effect to much of medicare.

Medicare advantage cuts are coming very soon thanks to Obama Care. Many seniors who have fixed incomes will now face the rate hikes and could possibly not afford to keep the medicare advantage plans.

John Stewart proves Glenn Beck is a “commie”:

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/stewart-beck-socialist-libraries/

John Stewart proves Glenn Beck is a “commie”:

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion/39-health-care/1076-time-to-enact-health-care-with-51-votes

I really wish President Obama would quit trying to think that the Republicans give as much as a whistle whether or not the populace has health care.

Robert Reich says Democrats need to enact health care with 51 votes:

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion/39-health-care/1076-time-to-enact-health-care-with-51-votes

Both are fine in either position. The fact that in our present corrupt system they wouldn’t have a chance even if the majority wanted them to be elected.

What do you mean Dennis Kucinich, how about Bernie Sanders?

Bernie Sanders for President and Dennis Kucinich as Vice President. 

It is strange to me that President Obama never himself puts the public option for the populace on the table, he just always says that no one would vote for it and never puts it out and calls for a vote.

I bet Bernie Sanders would get it voted on as often as necessary to get universal health care for all the people in the United States comparable to France, England and Canada.

I agree these would be the way too go and I am sure if we had Pres. Kucinnich they would be happening or at least he would be fighting tooth & nail to get them through. Unlike Obama whose priorities are with Wall St. and the Military Industrial Complex.

The Senate’s Reconcilable Differences
by: Sen. Bernie Sanders | In These Times Monday 15 February 2010 http://www.truthout.org/the-senate’s-reconcilable-differences57038

In America today we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income in the industrialized world. With the top 1 percent earning more income than the bottom 50 percent, we have the highest rate of childhood poverty among major countries. About a quarter of our children are dependent on food stamps. Today, as the middle class continues its decline, one in nine families can’t make the minimum payment on their credit cards, and 120,000 Americans are declaring bankruptcy every month.

Sadly, this economic pain didn’t begin when the financial sector nearly collapsed over a year ago. It has been going on for a decade. As the Washington Post reported in January, “The past decade was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times ... It was, according to a wide range of data, a lost decade for American workers ... There has been zero net job creation since December 1999 ... Middle-income households made less in 2008, when adjusted for inflation, than they did in 1999—and the number is sure to have declined further during a difficult 2009.”

We need to fundamentally change the way Wall Street does business so that it invests in the job-creating productive economy instead of engaging in the casino-style risk-taking that led to the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. Financial institutions that are “too-big-to-fail” need to be broken up so they no longer pose a threat to the entire economy. And we need to establish a national usury law to stop banks from ripping off the middle class by charging outrageous interest rates and exorbitant fees on credit cards.

We need to create millions of good jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure through major investments in roads, bridges, dams, culverts, schools and sewers.

We need to transform our energy system and break our dependency on foreign oil by investing in energy efficiency and such renewable energy technologies as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. Making these investments will lead not only to the creation of decent-paying green jobs, save money on energy bills, and cut greenhouse gas emissions, but also will improve our geo-political position and keep us out of wars fought for oil.

We need to fundamentally rewrite our trade policy in order to rebuild our industrial base. Today, the U.S. employs fewer manufacturing workers than in April 1941, eight months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. This has got to change. No nation can maintain a strong economy if it is dependent upon other countries for the products it consumes.

We need to join the rest of the industrialized world and make healthcare a right of citizenship for every man, woman and child in this country through a Medicare-for-all single-payer program. It is unacceptable that more than 46 million Americans are uninsured and 45,000 die each year because they don’t get to a doctor in time.

When the Republicans controlled the Senate and George W. Bush was in the White House, they were able to pass two major tax breaks for the wealthy with only 58 votes in 2001 and only 51 votes in 2003 through a process called reconciliation. Simply put, reconciliation allows the Senate to pass legislation with a simple 51-vote majority instead of a 60-vote super majority.

It’s time for the Democrats to use these same reconciliation rules—which the Republicans used to benefit the wealthy—to rebuild the middle class.?

Bernie Sanders is the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He has served in Congress - formerly in the House of Representatives - for over 16 years. Read more at his Web sites:  http://sanders.senate.gov/  and http://www.bernie.org/

<b>All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.

By MarthaA, February 22 at 10:32 pm #

You say you’re not concerned with what the Republican do, but the Krugman
article you posted is entirely about that topic, which would indicate you do care.

Regardless, most of the populace you are a part of does not support the
democratic healthcare plan which is why it failed, and which is why Obama’s latest
effort will likely fail as well.  We’re well aware of the reconciliation option, but this
carries some major pitfalls and I suspect that the Republicans would be more than
happy to see the Dems use reconciliation because the public would very likely see
it as an attempt by the dems to thwart its will and would probably make them pay
for it in the mid terms.  Either way dems lose on this issue.

As a member of the populace, I’m not at all concerned about what Republican do, but I am concerned about what President Obama and the Democrats are doing.  Here is a health care article on President Obama’s revamping the Health Care Overhaul:

http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/50-health-care/1065-obama-unveils-revamped-health-care-overhaul

“In a nod to Republicans, Obama has included several new provisions to tackle waste, fraud and abuse.”  But, “Republican lawmakers have explicitly ruled out a sweeping bill like the one Obama is advocating.”  So, “White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said the administration was preparing to move forward without GOP lawmakers, if necessary.

Democratic leaders have been developing a legislative strategy in which the House would vote on the Senate bill and then both chambers would separately pass a series of changes, likely along the lines of the ones proposed by the president.

That package could be advanced through a process known as budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate, rather than the 60-vote.”

As a member of the populace, I’m not at all concerned about what Republicans do, because Republicans do not represent the populace,  but I am concerned about what President Obama and the Democrats are doing.  Here is a health care article on President Obama’s revamping the Health Care Overhaul:

http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/50-health-care/1065-obama-unveils-revamped-health-care-overhaul

“In a nod to Republicans, Obama has included several new provisions to tackle waste, fraud and abuse.”  But, “Republican lawmakers have explicitly ruled out a sweeping bill like the one Obama is advocating.”  So, “White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said the administration was preparing to move forward without GOP lawmakers, if necessary.

Democratic leaders have been developing a legislative strategy in which the House would vote on the Senate bill and then both chambers would separately pass a series of changes, likely along the lines of the ones proposed by the president.

That package could be advanced through a process known as budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority in the Senate, rather than the 60-vote.”

By MarthaA, February 22 at 6:09 pm #

“At this point, then, Republicans insist that the deficit must be eliminated, but
they’re not willing either to raise taxes or to support cuts in any major
government programs.”

I think Republicans would respond that the best way to reduce the deficit is not
to raise taxes, but to improve the economy which will in turn increase tax
revenue.  One way to improve the economy is to lower taxes to spur personal
spending.  Indeed, a third of Obama’s stimulus plan consists of tax cuts so
Dems must agree with this in principle (or do they think that only works in a
recession?).  They have (and still do) supported partial privatization of SS which
could could theoretically cut costs without without cutting benefits.  And while
they take guff from Krugman for not being willing to cut spending in any major
government programs, I don’t hear Krugman volunteering any programs for
the cutting block.  Can anyone else suggest any?  And no the military doesn’t
qualify because both parties support our most expensive current engagements.

The Bankruptcy Boys by Paul Krugman

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/opinion/22krugman.html?ref=global-home  (Excerpts)

“O.K., the beast is starving. Now what? That’s the question confronting Republicans. But they’re refusing to answer, or even to engage in any serious discussion about what to do.”

“For readers who don’t know what I’m talking about: ever since Reagan, the G.O.P. has been run by people who want a much smaller government. In the famous words of the activist Grover Norquist, conservatives want to get the government “down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”

“The conservative answer, which evolved in the late 1970s, would be dubbed “starving the beast” during the Reagan years. The idea — propounded by many members of the conservative intelligentsia, from Alan Greenspan to Irving Kristol — was basically that sympathetic politicians should engage in a game of bait and switch. Rather than proposing unpopular spending cuts, Republicans would push through popular tax cuts, with the deliberate intention of worsening the government’s fiscal position. Spending cuts could then be sold as a necessity rather than a choice, the only way to eliminate an unsustainable budget deficit.”

“And the deficit came. True, more than half of this year’s budget deficit is the result of the Great Recession, which has both depressed revenues and required a temporary surge in spending to contain the damage.”

“So the beast is starving, as planned. It should be time, then, for conservatives to explain which parts of the beast they want to cut. And President Obama has, in effect, invited them to do just that, by calling for a bipartisan deficit commission. ”

“Why are Republicans reluctant to sit down and talk? Because they would then be forced to put up or shut up. Since they’re adamantly opposed to reducing the deficit with tax increases, they would have to explain what spending they want to cut. And guess what? After three decades of preparing the ground for this moment, they’re still not willing to do that.”

“In fact, conservatives have backed away from spending cuts they themselves proposed in the past. In the 1990s, for example, Republicans in Congress tried to force through sharp cuts in Medicare. But now they have made opposition to any effort to spend Medicare funds more wisely the core of their campaign against health care reform (death panels!). And presidential hopefuls say things like this, from Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota: “I don’t think anybody’s gonna go back now and say, Let’s abolish, or reduce, Medicare and Medicaid.”

“At this point, then, Republicans insist that the deficit must be eliminated, but they’re not willing either to raise taxes or to support cuts in any major government programs. And they’re not willing to participate in serious bipartisan discussions, either, because that might force them to explain their plan — and there isn’t any plan, except to regain power.”

“But there is a kind of logic to the current Republican position: in effect, the party is doubling down on starve-the-beast. Depriving the government of revenue, it turns out, wasn’t enough to push politicians into dismantling the welfare state. So now the de facto strategy is to oppose any responsible action until we are in the midst of a fiscal catastrophe. You read it here first.” —Paul Krugman, New York Times February 21, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/opinion/22krugman.html?ref=global-home

To me without life nothing else will happen. So for me the idea of Universal Health care isn’t only a right but necessary if we are to have a more developed and compassionate society. Without it people are burdened by the added stress always in their minds that they are at risk every day. Not just from physical ailments but the grinding down of their bodies by the constant fear of economic destruction when they will need to go to the hospital. If you are in psychological stress for long periods it damages the body. Most of the time we are too busy to notice but it is still there all the time.

It wouldn’t be nearly as bad if we all were paid a living wage indexed to inflation. And that the corporate health care system were under regulation. Then it might work. One thing I see from the GOP is that they want us to be islands, alone up against their synthetic groups called corporations. A sure fire way to lose every time. The reason why they hate unions is that unity is strength in collective bargaining that matched, to a point, the corporation’s own organization. A form of balance. They hate that because to them the “little guy” worker is inferior and should remain so. Even while they claim to be for the individual. They are in that area but if you want to pay for sex, drugs, or rock’n roll—-nugatory. That is a crime and they will keep it so no matter what harm it ultimately does.

The GOP has a mixed message because some of what they talk about contradicts other parts they say they are for. They are for individual choice with big exceptions that negate it. They say they are for you and me but they always side with business. The larger and richer the better. If you are a little business they say they support you but turn to the big corps every time.

Look at what they do then measure against what they say will tell it all. The problem is that they own 90%+ of the media so you must work and do some digging to find it. They know most people have other things to keep them busy to do that. They are winning because of it. Yes it is a conspiracy! But even if they aren’t all in cahootz, they are thinking and doing in a parallel fashion that amounts to the same thing in larger schema of things.

Universal Public Health Care should be a right.

The problem with the present corporate capitalism is that it is allowed to succeed even when it fails. When you live in a pay to live economy the ideas of altruism and communal support are anathema. We see it all the time, it is an atomist, selfish is good psychology writ for an entire society. Cost is important not to heal or keep from (greater)harm but for the bottom line which is profit. Not just any kind of profit but large measure profit to the uppermost elites who see profit as a means to their end, and to ours if we should live so long.

As long as the corporate culture and its cutthroat ways are continued to be legitimate we will continue to have these problems in a “social darwinist” kind of way. One where the most ruthless and heartless are the winners. And should they fail they can still be bailed out by the very people who fail in their world. Once both of these are stopped and shown to be deleterious to society at large and should not be rewarded we can begin to correct some of the growing and sustained problems of our time. But not before.

Once we let the Pirate Capitalism sink or swim on its own merit, with not cushion to fall on, it will quickly stop as being non-profitable. Once we again establish a means of judging corporate action will be regain the handle of this runaway bullet train leading us to destruction and neo-feudalism.

We are running out of time as those who wish even more wealth and power from and over us continue their plot and it looks like nothing is going to stop them from getting their empire. One without restraint, where we must be good corporate/church citizens. And if not? You can guess.

Old Ed, February 20 at 6:33 pm,

Capitalism is an ideology organized out of chaos and like every other ideology, it was not organized out of the void of non-existence by the God of Capitalism.

As an ideology that is organized out of chaos, the functions of its organization have cause and effect and the overall functions of its organized structure have cause and effect.

It is not sufficient to look at the cause and effect of Capitalism without regard to its organization, purpose, and activity selectively, because Capitalism is a Ponzi Scheme and as seen from the point of view at the top of the Ponzi Pyramid, Capitalism is a cause and effect that provides wealth, status, and capital to maintain control of the pyramid.

Capitalism’s cause and effect beneath those at the top of the Ponzi Pyramid to the base of the pyramid provides labor, poverty, prison,and communal resources in support of the Pyramid Scheme that increases in a downward progression from the upper portion of the pryamid to the base of the pyramid.

Capitalism’s value as an economic system must be seen and understood with regard to cause, effect, and all points in between, so that Capitalism serves everyone in the entire pyramid, rather than just the capitalists and corporate middle class toadies that serve the capitalists at the top of the Ponzi Pyramid of Capitalism.

The cyclical collapse of Capitalism and its rebirth at communal expense is a process that has been going on for hundreds of years; the solution to this problem is not in the moment to whine about the collapse and what has to be done in the moment to solve the problem, so that the whole dumb show can start all over again on a fresh cycle.

The solution to the cyclical collapse of Capitalism, that is dependent upon welfare for the wealthy that is a “moral hazard” at the expense of the communal resources of the populace, is the permanent regulation of Capitalism that is framed and applied with cause and effect clearly indicated; with the beginning, the end, and all points in between regulated to make the Process of Capitalism responsible for its own behavior, and the benefit of Capitalism, which is a Ponzi Pyramid Scheme, of benefit to all that are a part of the pyramid, not just the few Ponzi schemers at the top of the pyramid.

The solution is to get out of the moment, to acknowledge and regulate the beginning, the end and all points in between of the process and benefit of Capitalism, and to thereby stop the cyclical collapse of Capitalism that, like a Phoenix, always rises on the wings of communal resources for private benefit.

hey Old Ed— 

Your philosophy makes you a suitable candidate for living in a a third world nation.  In those places, only the rich get services.  The advanced nations of the world all have universal care.  Do you know why?  It is cheaper and more efficient to cover everyone than to not cover everyone.  The basic economic truth is that we are all connected.

Conservatives are like scorpions.  They want to punish others but end up stinging themselves.  That is why this right-wing nation we have is floundering.

Old Ed, February 19 at 8:29 pm,

What you say is a frame that sets the more fortunate in contention with the less fortunate.  The communal resources in aggregate provide the infrastructure that enables the more fortunate to have an advantage.  Should the more fortunate give back to the less fortunate for the advantages of infrastructure, labor and resources that they receive from the use of communal infrastructure, labor and resources in pursuit of private profit, or should they be taxed for their private use of infrastructure, labor and resources?

How should private enterprise pay for the use of communal infrastructure, labor and resources?

Where do you get $68 trillion from? That is 6 times more than the worth of the country and is a fantastical ridiculous number used to frighten. It reminds me of the CDS (Credit Default Swaps) that are made up of over $ 100 trillion is false money, not backed by anything. Something all the Republicans I have heard don’t talk about. Such toxic assets are just made up money with a false number given to otherwise worthless exotic instruments to fool the gullible.

Medicare needs to be expanded to be what Cuba has for the populace of their country.

Mr. Conason reminds of the dangers of his form of symbolism over true substance.

Medicare faces $68 Trillion in unfunded liabilities in it’s near future.  All those who talk about expanding this dangerous form of self-induced bankruptcy never like to talk about that aspect.

It’s time to fix this horribly designed system.  Not expand it.

Bozh talking. This PC of mine has gone nuts. My login disappears daily. I have to ask for a new password everyday.

Conason does not tie in the right to life with the right to obtain medical treatment.
In some instances, people die because they have no money to pay for medical procedures.

In an idyllic society all people wld get a more or less equal slice of the pie. An idyllic society, which i think we had once, probably ending ca 15k yrs,wld also strenghten the nation.

It wld reduce angst, stress, crime, ill behavior, fears as well. However, an idyllic societal structure, wld do away with present iniquitous structure.

Modern ‘nobilty’ as well as the ancient, being root of all evil that befalls us on interpersonal and int’l levels, will probably do all it can to prevent it.

Actually with planet getting poorer, one can expect even greater oppression of the paesanos than ever before. Also spricht mein Satan!tnx

The Republicans have never cared about Medicare [not one Republican voted for Medicare], but thorough populace ignorance,  Republican jingoism has fooled many of the populace into thinking Republicans will protect Medicare, when actually Republicans are trying to destroy Medicare and have been trying to destroy Medicare all these years.  Now, blind to history,  there are many foolish populace marching as REPUBLICANS to protect Medicare, as conservative “Tea Party Republicans” ignorantly against democracy for the populace.  If the “Tea Party Movement” was of the Democratic Party,  it would be believable, but it is only a Conservative Right-Wing Movement led by the Conservative Right-Wing FOX “Propaganda” Network, Glen Beck, ResistNet.com and Grassfire.org, all Right-Wing Conservative EXTREMISTS Hell bent on deceiving the ignorant populace with their faux concern for Medicare and the populace, and lo and behold if the ignorant populace keep thinking they are being protected by Republicans, Medicare will be gone and the populace will be in slavery.

As a partisan Democrat, Mr. Conason, it would serve your party not to bring up Medicare at all if you can’t couch it as “waste” or “reform”. I know older americans who have had their Medicare rates go up or their policies discontinued—it has been going on under the radar, but it is happening regardless. The Democrats would prefer to keep this buried, but the Republicans see political opportunity ripe for the picking—especially since this floated program of cuts is targeting seniors who are the most reliable voters. Obama’s deficit commission is just more of Democratic party’s efforts to ensure shared responsibility for more planned slashing of “entitlements”—Social Security and Medicare. At a time when people are losing their houses, jobs, opportunities, and trillions of taxpayer funds are being transferred to Wall Street or funding unpopular wars of choice, any attempts to cut into the safety net as unsustainable waste and responsible cost-cutting, masqueraded as “reform” will serve to be well-deserved political suicide. We all know when it comes to “reform” for us there are never any loopholes for us.
  Those tea party people may be poorly informed—but it is little wonder when the Republicans defend Medicare when the Democrats can’t defend themselves when they frame cuts as “reform”.

“The second flaw is that Medicare—that costly, budget-busting entitlement—
continues to exceed private-sector providers in efficiency by well over 10
percent.”

...unless you factor in medicare fraud, which robs the program of an estimated
$60 Billion annually.  Much of that 10 percent is the result of anti-fraud measures
instituted by private insurers - something medicare devotes scant resources to.

What about the Dems mixed message on Medicare? They refuse to consider expanding it. A proposal surfaced allowing Americans age 55 and older to buy into Medicare. Polls showed that idea was very popular, but then the idea died.

We can’t slay the Dragon, but we can weaken it. Propose lowering the Medicare age to 60, to cover many Americans who can’t get coverage, and to encourage early retirements to open jobs for the young.

To pay for it, impose the 2.45% Medicare tax on capital gains. This income is taxed at just 15%, and no SS or Medicare tax is owed, so the rich evade Medicare taxes today. Point out that the super wealthy, like the Walmart heirs, can earn billions of dollars in their lifetime yet pay nothing to Medicare.

This would cover 22 million more Americans in an efficient single payer system, weaken the insurers, and prove that further expansions of Medicare (lowering the age to 55) is possible. Too bad we elected a right wing President, who just proposed more military spending than Bush.