Daily Topics - Monday July 2nd, 2012
By shawnt56
Catch The Thom Hartmann Program LIVE at our new time, 3-6pm Eastern!
Hour One: Why is Ireland scrapping their voting machines? / Plus, Thom talks Trade reform - Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Hour Two: Obamacare is NOT taxmageddon - Carrie Lukas, Independent Women's Forum / Plus, Dr. Deepak Chopra works with Vets with PTSD
Hour Three: The Republican plan to kill Obamacare...
Comments
#2
Overlooked cost savings in Obamacare
I keep hearing people question how the ACA is going to bring down costs, but the answers are not very clear, besides the usual point that with more people covered, everyone will pay less.
The fact is that the most important cost saving provision is already in place. Since 2011, a requirement that insurance companies have to spend 80-85% of each premium dollar on actual health care rather than advertising, salaries and other overhead.
That will trigger a domino effect whereby the insurance companies will need to pressure the pharmaceutical companies and medical device suppliers to bring their own costs down.
Another very positive way to reduce costs and improve care will be to pay doctors a flat, albeit generous, salary. (They are, after all, paying off huge medical school tuitions.) No more paying for procedure after unnecessary procedure to pad their income. It will actually allow the doctors to return to the job of healing their patients in the most effective ways. There would probably be bonus systems set up to reward good outcomes.
#3
where to start....I want to see an amendment that limits corporate speech, but since an amendment requires 3/4 of states to sign on it will never happen without support of republicans. To do this we cannot solely focus on corporate power (that's why I think Move To Amend is doomed to failure.) Instead, we have to frame this as ALL BIG MONEY OUT OF POLITICS--corporations, unions, tort lawyers, millionaires. This needs to be pitched equally to the left and the right.
What does anyone think? do you know of any organizations taking this approach?
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Images of Thom
From Cracking the Code:
"Thom Hartmann ought to be bronzed. His new book sets off from the same high plane as the last and offers explicit tools and how-to advice that will allow you to see, hear, and feel propaganda when it's directed at you and use the same techniques to refute it. His book would make a deaf-mute a better communicator. I want him on my reading table every day, and if you try one of his books, so will you."
From Cracking the Code:
"No one communicates more thoughtfully or effectively on the radio airwaves than Thom Hartmann. He gets inside the arguments and helps people to think them through—to understand how to respond when they’re talking about public issues with coworkers, neighbors, and friends. This book explores some of the key perspectives behind his approach, teaching us not just how to find the facts, but to talk about what they mean in a way that people will hear."
From Cracking the Code:
"In Cracking the Code, Thom Hartmann, America’s most popular, informed, and articulate progressive talk show host and political analyst, tells us what makes humans vulnerable to unscrupulous propagandists and what we can do about it. It is essential reading for all Americans who are fed up with right-wing extremists manipulating our minds and politics to promote agendas contrary to our core values and interests."
Was it just me or did Carrie just use talking points to debate with Thom? I personally think she sounded like a petulant child