Daily Topics - Tuesday February 9th 2010
By Louise
Quote: "Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." -- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hour One - Why do the tea partiers want to turn America over to the big corporate predators? Joseph Farah www.worldnetdaily.com
Hour Two - Have we reached the point where we're trading sex for health care? Terri Carlson Divorced mom, can't get h/ins due to pre-existing conditions www.willmarryforhealthinsurance.com
Hour Three - Is capitalism more important than democracy? Stephen Moore online.wsj.com
Plus...Do you really want a Taco Bell manager piloting your airplane? Miles O'Brien Frontline Correspondent - Frontline's “Flying Cheap” airing tonight on PBS at 9pm ET www.pbs.org/frontline/flyingcheap
Comments
#2
@Harry Ashburn, I did have a sigmoid flex before I was sixty years old.
@Charles, some comments may leave some people speechless.
Jobs lost are forever lost!
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Jobs-Continue-to-Vanish-Wh-by-shamus-co...
#3
@Richard, I think I could make an argument that willful ignorance (and I do believe that tea baggers are willfully ignorant) is evil... hmmm I don't like the word evil, lets say destructive. Their ignorance will cause others to suffer, one way or another. Their ignorance is perpetuated by their unwillingness to delve into the substance of any subject that may demonstrate what they hold true is false. They are dishonest with themselves. Sure it may be acceptable to say "well they don't know better." I can only say, "Well, why don't they know better, why do they refuse to consider the consequences of their actions." I can only conclude that they don't want to find out that they've been duped, so they rather just continue in their thinking that they are right, because they couldn't possibly be wrong.
As I said, I don't like the word evil, because it too powerful and mystic, its outside the realm of nature. I would also substitute the word constructive to good for the same reason. So in my argument, destructive equates to evil, and these people are DESTRUCTIVE.
Your comment just sparked a thought in me and I wanted to build on it (or be a bit constructive so to speak ;-) )
#4
Marrying for insurance has been happening along the US-Canada border for years.
#5
Thom, Obama cannot continue to turn his cheek and get mugged by the scum of the earth, aka the GOP.
#6
Gerald, thanks for correcting my spelling.
#7
Single payer may be closer than we think.....Over half of ALL medical costs are paid by medicare and medicade the government....as the baby boomers, (me), hit 65....pvt insurance fades and we get Medicare!!!! Cost control, culture change must be the focus....Once "We The People" really understand that we already have a single payer system that is costing WAY more than it should, change happens.
#8
@KMH: Well, the desert and the "dead land" was caused mainly by the Goodnights and Slaughters and other cattle barons via the cattle drives; plus raising cotton, which depletes the soil in a few years without massive application of chemicals. The "big smelly livestock" is just the local high school football team practice. I was born and bred in Austin, but these days I spend most of my time a hundred miles east; in the woods halfway between Dallas and Houston. East of Austin, Texas is completely different than Hollywood depictions. No deserts; mostly beautiful forest.
Normally, I wouldn/t encourage more people to move here, but we really need more progressives. Bring your own bliss!
#9
Listening to the woman who would marry for health insurance offers the listener an honest comment. I can respect her for her honesty and I wish her good luck.
Marrying someone with four children is questionable.
Her only hope is a caring America that will pass health reform but I do not see it happening.
Thom, please encourage the woman who will marry for health insurance to write a book on the men and women who have emailed her with their health problems.
#10
The corporate shill media has yet to pick up on the fact that the death of Congressman Jack Murtha was the result of medical malpractice. His surgeon perforated his bowel during a gall bladder operation the 77 year old Congressman died of the resulting infection. So should the surviving family of a United States Congressman be limited to $250,000 in damages when the cost of this mistake to the family, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the nation is immeasurable.
#11
"Drinking Liberally" is great --- good job mentioning it Thom!
Also there are plenty of "Sustainable" groups, e.g. Sustainable Ballard etc. A moveement centered around actually getting small things done can be very satisfying and therefore persist longer than one-shot electoral efforts.
#12
@Charles, I did not notice any misspelled words.
I misspell words because I pick and peck and sometimes my pick and peck typing does not keep pace with my thoughts.
#13
I had a friend forward me some youtube links that feature a guy, I think his name is Bob Brasso, who dresses up as Thomas Paine and speaks on various political subjects ranging from Sean Hannity to the stimulus package. Before this my experience with Thomas Paine had been cursory. I can say the videos I watched moved me immensely. I recommend everyone take a look at some of these amazing common sense ideas. Just go to youtube and type in Thomas Paine, tons of videos are available.
#14
OK Zero G. I have read a good portion of Parry's article that you linked to.
I don't see how my point is counter to his though. I pointed out that these tricks do eventually come back to bite the progressives in the a$$. I wasn't in disagreement to what you were pointing out at all. I just went on to point out (as did Parry) that eventually the people begin to tune out media sources or buy into the conservative rhetoric. Sure not as eloquently, but I was just shooting from the hip.
#15
@ Gerald Socha
"I misspell words because I pick and peck and sometimes my pick and peck typing does not keep pace with my thoughts."
Lucky you!. I have the opposite problem.
#16
When listening to the topic of marrying for insurance, I am again frustrated by the situation is my own life. I have good insurance coverage (relatively speaking), but am still dealing with medical debt because my partner is uninsured and has Crohn's disease. So while I don't have to marry for insurance for myself, I would give anything to be able to marry her so she could be put on my policy. Meanwhile we just sit here at the intersection where health reform and marriage equality rights slam into each and wait to see if anyone will ever actually do anything to fix either of these messes.
#17
I believe when people say they want smaller govt.; what they mean is they want to pay less for it. They do not want fewer firemen,teachers, etc. The privatization of public function has lead to massive deficits at all levels of govt. Take the profit out of these public services and then you can lower the tax burden on the working class. Big Business loves Big Government, what other customer can print money!
#18
@Gerald I hear Dragon Naturally Speaking has gotten quite good. I had insufficient memory on my old computer though and have yet to try it on my new computer. Can you believe I have a Tetrabyte of strorage and a quad core AMD processor! It rocks. Life is no longer the frustration it was. Not even tea baggers bother me any more. :)
BTW- Good on Teresa for adding to safe ways to protest, goofy theatre, when protesting is fun...more people do it!
#19
Define a progressive democrat. Democrats with an education in the Environmental Sciences.
#20
The DNC logo may have been on the check cut to Ben Nelson BUT it was the DLCers that gave the money to Nelson and he is their man in the Senate.
#21
When talking to Steve Moore please remind him the the "REDISTRIBUTION of WEALTH" has already occured!
#22
I thought this was a good parody of a daytime TV talk show called Wake Up World with the topic concerning cheap ways to get health care like looking at your span email for cheap drugs as an example.
Freegonomics - X-Mas Spectacular 12.08.09
Hope & Davis talk to River Foster and T. Reilly Hoegarten about their new book.
Tags: Lizz Winstead, Baron Vaughan, Sean Crespo, Tom Gilroy, Healthcare, Economics
#23
We call our nation a Christian nation. I sense a terrential puke commencing.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Growing-Hunger-in-America-by-Stephen-Le...
#24
@KMH
Ever since last week I have been defining a progressive Democrat as a Farging Retard. I wear it with pride. :-)
#25
I am represented by Mike Turner (R) here in Dayton. He uses Facebook to dessiminate his half-truths, propoganda and attacks on the Obama administration. He occasionally has something positive to add. By becoming a fan, constituents can comment on his posts. These are mostly of the "doin' a heckuva job" fare. There are a few of us that take exception to Mr. Turner's posts and comment accordingly. Often a lively debate ensues.
Yesterday, Mr. Turner removed me as a fan from his page, scrubbing my comments in the process. I expect him to be dismissive of opposing opinion, but it is concerning that he would suppress debate.
#26
“Free Trade” is either free or trade.
#27
We created 40 million jobs in the US? Was that when we classified McDonalds as a legitimate job?
#28
What a let down to marry someone for insurance -- and then have him/her lose his/her insurances too....
The guest's solution was a pitiable STOP-GAP measure.
It's a NO-WIN situation as long as we allow Corporate Insurance Tyrants to run the healthcare system!
#29
I forgot to include the link to Wake Up World parody TV show
http://www.shootthemessengernyc.com/index.php?/wakeupworld/freegonomics_...
#30
Japan has many bullet trains that go 220 mph- we have clunkers if we have any. And this guy thinks we do better under Free Trade because HE and his fat cat buddies are doing better. The rest of us are on our way to slavery.
#31
@Julian Kernes: re:cheap way to get health care: 30 years ago, MAD magazine did a story on do-it-yourself home surgery. I think it now may be a growth industry (pardon the possible pun; i.e.cancer surgery ).
#32
Perhaps the new word of the day is cashcism/cascism........
as fascism only reminds many folks of Hitler and
we need a new word to describe the bed that corporations and the conservatives are laying in to-get-her.....
#33
What, I have to read his book rather than know my own personal experience, indcluding never being politically active until my friends said stop beating yourself up or trying to please the boss better- he aint biting, all my boss wants is more dough for him and constant devotion to that end.
#34
Yeah, I think a democracy in Saudi Arabia would be better than their current system Mr. Moore (noticed he stopped mid thought on that argument though)
#35
You said it Nels!!! I so agree!
I am not impressed by these hiring numbers because none of the numbers give us any clarity about what those jobs ARE! We get no breakdown of HOW MANY of these "new" jobs give the employees health insurance, or provide a LIVING WAGE!
Sheesh. Obama & Team trying to make this sound good without any clarity is like them just perpetrating a hoax.
#36
@ Nels
"We created 40 million jobs in the US? Was that when we classified McDonalds as a legitimate job?"
Wonder how many of those jobs were soldiers and mercenaries, and how few were nurses and teachers.
#37
I am currently not employed. If I take a job that pays much less than my previous occupation, I will not be able to provide for my family. If I take a second job to supplement the first, what is the net job creation?
I submit it is zero.
#38
@Charles, don't forget if you take a second job, you don't get overtime for working 80 hrs a week by working 40 at each. I feel for those who take a second job to make ends meet, there getting screwed more and more, and they better smile while their getting reamed because there's always someone else who'll take that job.
#39
@Charles - perhaps your next step is to create a FB group "Ex-friends of Mike Turner (R)"
You're probably not alone. And as long as you're not unreasonably abusive, I don't see why it might not be a useful and amusing group!
(P.S. is Turner showing cowardice?)
#40
Remember when George W Bush talked with a lady who was working 3 minimum-wage jobs to make ends meet, and his comment was, "Only in America!"
Except he meant it as something positive.
Anyway, that lady created 3 jobs whoo-hooo!
#41
I get a newspaper Public Citizen News. One comment out of a short article by Barbara Holzer about 'Money-Driven Medicine' says "It examines how big medicine and insurance corporations conspire to take over the health care industry and turn it into a bloated, overpriced, high-tech trap with an excellent return on investment."
#42
Note to Congressmen and women who want to privatize Social Security and Medicare... do so at your own peril !! My life depends on it.
#43
One last thought in regards to Mr. Moore. If you're a "Free Trader" you a "Traitor".
#44
@Nels: The good versus evil statement was in regard to THOM stating that Tea-Baggers being ‘Low Information Voters’ > > > AND < < < (his word) also being ‘Good People’. I was trying to be fair to THOM.
In fact, I maintain the opposite and that Edmund Burke was correct: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing.” AND Tea-Baggers are actively working towards evil. There is zero evidence that any of the Tea-Baggers are good. I am not saying that a couple of them may be kind to animals . . . but evil does as evil is.
It is a Christian promoted idea that intentions are what matters . . . Only that walk also maintains that the road to South Dakota is paved with ‘good’ intentions.
Being a faithless Jew, it is my people’s tradition that actions that matter and I have zero problem with correctly labeling Tea-baggers as evil as they do evil things and act in evil ways.
#45
rewinn, just image if the women Bush "admired" had one job that paid her enough, then that would leave 2 other jobs open to 2 other people looking for work.
If they only paid a living wage.
#46
NOW
I think we should urge Obama (and our representatives who may have the president's ear) to invoke the Sherman anti-trust act NOW. The first corporations to break up would be the media (why is it that the "tea baggers" are the only movement to get national coverage?)
The use of this act would help to immediately mitigate the recent lousy Supreme Court decision.
#47
I feel for the single working mom, 3 jobs. Works the late shift at Wal-Mart, nets $27 for her 4 hours, spends almost all of it on the way home for a large box of cereal, gallon of milk, box of Pampers and box of tampons.
#48
Rahm "Retard-Basher" Emanuel should leave his position NOW.
Rahm Emanuel is a government employee and MUST be held to a tougher standard.
Rahm-mouth steps out of line when he slurs/slaps/demeans ANY segment of the citizenry he is SUPPOSED to be SERVING.
It is PAST time for the resignation of Rahm Emanuel.
Get out of government, Rahm. Because you just don't get it. You just don't understand and respect the PUBLIC TRUST.
»
#49
@Shyla: Read the actually written words of Thomas Paine . . . Bob Brasso usually says the diametric opposite of Paine’s hallowed words when he is even in the ball park.
#50
To the argument that raising the minimum wage to a decent level results in lost jobs, I say, let's work through the math.
We're gonna use some numbers which you may or may not agree with, but it doesn't matter. Change the numbers to anything you want; it works the same unless you use really strange numbers (like $0/hour or $100/hour).
ASSUME: an increase in minimum wage means employers will cut back somewhat on the amount of minimum wage hours employed. (The actual cut is typically small since the labor cost of most goods is only a fraction of the total cost of goods produced.)
PARAMETERIZE:
An economy with one million hours of minimum wage work at $5/hour.
An 10% increase in minimum wage means a 5% cut in minimum wage hours worked.
STARTING CONDITION:
The pool of minimum wage workers get $5 million and work 1 million hours.
RUN THE MODEL:
* Minimum wage goes up 10% to $5.50/her
* Employers cut hours employed 5%, to 950,000 hrs
* The pool of minimum wage workers get $5 225 000 and work 950,000 hours.
CONCLUSION:
The workers have more money
The workers have a little more free time to spend with their families
NOTE ALSO: since the workers are paid higher wages, it is more economical for the employer to use technology to improve their productivity.
Everyone wins!
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