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Bill Moyers Interview Wrap up is best solution is to extend Medicare to Age 55
TRUDY LIEBERMAN: We are having the same debate, almost, that we had in '93-'94. And it's something I've written about for the Columbia Journalism Review. It's actually the same debate we've had decades before. And it's the unwillingness to look at what we could learn from other systems. Single payer, multiple payers, as they have in Germany and Japan. Or even in the Netherlands, where there are private payers. What's really happening there?
So, I think there's an unwillingness on the part of politicians-- on the part of advocacy groups, some advocacy groups, to really educate Americans on what the possibilities are. And we at C.J.R. have been saying we really have not had a vibrant discussion about other possibilities.
MARCIA ANGELL: I think we have to start all over on this. I really do. I think we have to go for a single payer system. You could institute that gradually. You could do it state by state. You could do it decade by decade. You could improve Medicare. That is, make it nonprofit. But extend it down to age 55 and age 45 and age 35. It would give the private insurance industry a chance to go into hurricanes, earthquakes or something. To get out of the health business. It could be done gradually. I think that has to be done. And it's the only thing that can be done.
BILL MOYERS: The story goes on and we'll continue to talk about it in the months to come, alright? Marcia Angell, Trudy Lieberman, thanks for being with me on the Journal
See this Bill Moyers interview
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07242009/watch.html
Thom would have liked the lead story in the Seattle Times this past Sunday. Pakistani girls in this country are receiving educational opportunities that most would not be receiving in their native country. Only 18 percent of Pakistani girls have some high school education. This is outrageous, and a prime example of gender discrimination. Pakistani boys, on the other hand, have much greater access to a high school education.
Here is a multiple choice question: What percent of Pakistani boys have some high school education?:
A. 93 percent
B. 77 percent
C. 54 percent
D. 23 percent
If you guessed A, you would be wrong, and it shows just how much gender politics skews reality. If you guessed D, you would be right, and it shows that you have an awareness of how class often trumps gender in countries like Pakistan and India. Just because men may dominate political and economic life in certain countries, the people that do are usually members of the elite class that maintains itself by keeping the majority of people—males as well as females—in an illiterate or under-educated state. In many other parts of the world, boys are given guns instead of an education, to be used as cannon fodder by warlords.
An accompanying story reveals the “open secret” that female soldiers are courageously involved in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, usually when fired on in convoy movements or IED attacks. When I was in the army, all soldiers—male, female, infantry, cooks—were required to be qualified in an M-16 or side arm. It would certainly hurt morale if some soldiers couldn’t or wouldn’t fire their weapons (even in self-defense), because it would endanger everyone’s lives.
According to the latest DOD confirmed fatality list from all causes for military personnel in Iraq, 111 have been female personnel (44 from “non-hostile” causes), 2.4 percent of total fatalities; 14 percent of all U.S. military personnel in Iraq are female. The real issue is not the high fatality rate of female soldiers, but that there are any U.S. soldiers there to die at all.
Last week, Randi Rhodes received a call from Elmer Fudd, who said he wasn’t a regular listener but had been taking in opinions on the healthcare issue from various radio stations, meaning that for every pro-reform opinion he was hearing, 20 or so were opposed. This guy wasn’t much on thinking, having his mind already made up for him by someone else. Rhodes attempted to correct all of the misinformation he kept repeating point-by-point, but he just didn’t “get it.” The “highlight” of the conversation was when he stated his fear that there would be “affirmative action” involved in a public option. Rhodes had to ask him to repeat what he said, just to make sure she heard right.
Rhodes didn’t press Elmer to explain what he meant by “affirmative action,” but it is clear that people with race on the brain think that anything that has something to do with “the government” must mean that minorities will get “preferential treatment” in receiving access to a government-run plan, as if this was some kind of a free program in which only a certain number of people were allowed in—quite an odd notion when the right is complaining that healthcare reform really means “socialized” medicine for everyone. Minorities today (as yesterday and just as likely tomorrow) are underserved by the current healthcare system relative to whites; perhaps Elmer just wants to insure it stays that way.
A few weeks prior to this “discussion,” Rhodes received a call from a woman who said she only patronized doctors who refused to treat Medicare or Medicaid patients. It took awhile to determine what precisely she had against such people, but after some prodding, insinuations in regard to certain “personal habits” and the help of a subsequent caller who pieced the stereotypes together, it was clear that the terms the woman used could only be understood in a racial context.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that racism, has seeped into the healthcare debate, and it isn’t just about “the Mexicans.” Where would Elmer get such an idea? From Limbaugh, or he did he just make it up on his own? If it is the latter, it is further evidence (contrary to what Thom and some people on this page think) that this country either is regressing, or hasn’t travelled as far as we’d like to kid ourselves in thinking.
As an aside, the evening of Elmer’s call his sister Elma in Knoxville, TN weighed in on Coast-to-Coast. The topic of this particular show was the guest’s belief that the Afghan war was part of some internationalist conspiracy, and since Osama Bin Laden was (in his opinion) dead, we had no more reason to be there. An Afghan war veteran who claimed to be in military intel called to oppose both views (or at least a no comment on Bin Laden), but the guest cited as “proof” of his contention concerning Bin Laden the fact that he was not on the FBI’s most wanted list; as a matter-of-fact, he has never been on that list. Anyways, Elma wanted to know something that was entirely off-topic: She was a single white woman, and she wanted to know if she needed a handgun or a shotgun to defend herself against the forces of Obama when he announces martial law, presumably when the swine flu pandemic hits (maybe). The guest suggested a shotgun would be her best option. The question left hanging, of course, is why? And against whom?
What I learned at Camp O This Weekend We Will Get Health Care Reform This Year
Saturday August 15, at Camp 'O' I expressed concern that Organizing for America, for which is now the name of Obama's grassroots organization, that we should put a visual Power Point together at a 5th grade level story book to help the rest of America understand what is going on. Not to insult anyone, however, this is what the average American reads at.
We Are Going to get Health Care Reform this year
1.) The response I received was a psssst and a 'we are going to get health care reform' this year. I asked...well what percentage of Americans are like those we are seeing on tv at the town hall meetings. The same fellow and now more of his colleagues looked at me ....'the percentage is almost negligable'....
I said, so it will be like the protest against Sonya Sotomeyer...when the same sort called her a racist and then at the end, were just made to feel like fools - and watched her be sworn in anyway?
Yes.
Just take over the definition of 'Co-operative'
2.) Another insider I heard speak but not at this event hinted that we were going to get health care reform, its just that we might change what it is called and we will get in no matter what, its just that we might take over the meaning of say the word...'Co-op.'
The deal has already been made
3.) We know that now the drug companies are on 'our side' because the deal has been made, just like Obama's presidency with Wall St in that Wall St backed the President...and so now the drug company.....
That deal of course, the drug companies will run 150 million dollars worth of advertizing to support the President's plan.
Barack had no choice but to deal with the Drug Companies who will agree to invest 150 million dollars into promoting health care reform: Even Thom Hartmann, critical but 100% supporting Barack says Barack has no other real choice:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/13/internal-memo-confirms-bi_n_258...
http://foodfascist.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-i-learned-at-camp-o.html#links
The one thing I'd add, Thom, would be that this Medicare buy-in be the place where our elected representative obtain the tax-payer purchased health care.
If that's the case, I'll bet they fix those holes.
Thom,
Wonderful letter. Please let the President know on the air to stop pissing on his base once and for all and stand firm for something against this slippery slope blue dog Congress. Otherwise he has lost my vote as well.
For months we have been told that the public option is an essential part of Obama's program, and we were given solid reasons for why this must be true. Obama even repeatedly said as much himself in his town halls and press conferences. How can he possibly drop it and maintain any credibility and self-respect? You don't just drop the centerpiece and start saying it wasn't essential. And if you drop it when opposition gets tougher, well then you are showing us who you are.
The public option was the motor of the vehicle that was to be health care reform. We are now told that we don't need the motor as long as we have good brakes and steering. Besides, we have this hamster in a wheel!
I am disgusted. This is so transparent. We the people don't have the money and therefore count very little.
For many weeks Thom has been talking the cynics back from the edge by postulating that President Obama may be seeming to play checkers when in fact he is playing chess. Thom said time will tell. I believe we got the answer this weekend. He is playing neither. He is playing Three Card Monty. This result is not what we phone-banked, door-knocked, and fought for. Rahm and Barack have betrayed the very constituents who they should be most beholden to. Why? The answer is two-fold: 1. We don't have the juice; i.e. money$$$. 2. We don't have the juice; i.e. the organized and determined passion to fight back. Our opponents do. They may be totally wrong, (I believe they are), but they do have "spine". Welcome to Mpls. Thom. I'll see you at the Suburban World Theater tonight!
If you can't afford health insurance here's a great yoga book to help keep you healthy. Flexibility could also come in handy if we need to lobby senators on healthcare reform with sex dancing:-)
http://www.rodmellpress.com/relax.html
Qaurk,
Time for my weekend sneak attack.
Your story about your father’s dental practice reminds me of a woman I used to work with. She was a black woman who was a great grandmother while in her mid to late 40s. Her daughter and granddaughter both had children at 14-15.
After she left our company, she opened up a 99 cent store in a poor part of her community. Whatever you’re thinking of as a 99 cent store is probably way too grand. It was kind of a very small general store.
I visited her at her store a couple of times and two things stick out in my mind. One is that each time I visited; there had been recent acts of violence in the neighborhood for her and her customers to discuss. The other was people coming in and buying a few things and putting it on their tab, to be paid off when their welfare or social security checks came in. She had a drawer that held pieces of paper with the tabs of various customers. The thing that really struck me was seeing several people come in and buy one cigarette at a time for 25 cents, I believe.
I also remember an older immigrant woman I lived near telling stories of her widowed mother’s small store in a small town in Eastern Europe and how peasants would come into the store with a freshly laid egg or two to trade for something they needed.
As to your comment about the lack of education in critical thinking, I agree, although I don’t remember being taught that in school. Maybe I was just daydreaming. But here’s my point (which I’m really proud of, just because I (uncharacteristically) came up with a short succinct (oh the redundancy) way to state it.
You can teach people the tools and techniques of critical thinking, but they’re going to apply them when and where it suits them. If they don’t use them frequently, like anything else, they’ll forget some of the techniques they’ve been taught.
Truth?
To paraphrase RON-dog Re-AGAIN, there is only one set a facts.
Truth has been sacrificed for Colbert’s truthiness.
Angry lih-bruls are F U G L Y.
College graduates plenty of well educated idiots.
Today is the anniversary of FDR signing the Social Security Act in 1935.
test
http://www.healthcareforamericanow.org/
Good site for updates on healthcare legislation progress, etc.
Here is David Axels' 'viral' email that further gives weight to the desired principles needed for health care reform: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Return-of-the-Viral-Email/
I think Obama is allowing the media to cover the idiots to expose them, their masters and the media.
Obama is truly the Sherriff of Rockingham!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/The-Return-of-the-Viral-Email/
HEre is wish list from President Obama http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/health_care/
Bachmann-Palin Overdrive tour is cancelled!
You can still catch their greatest solo hits on YouTube such as:
I Don't Read Newspapers
Let's Make Things Up
I Put the Hoot in Smailey
They Wanna Pull the Trigger on Trig
Alaskan Koan
Can You Guess What I'm Saying
Living In The Land of Make Believe
THX Quakr- great article
See how poorly CNN is covering the health care reform issue. Rather than inform the public about why reformists say it needs to be reformed, they condemn Sheila Jackson by capturing some film where she is on a cell phone getting information The ‘quality’ of reporting at CNN http://www.iheartradio.com/pages/whitehousebrief.html?an=CNN-s-Rick-Sanc...
"You Do Not Have Health Insurance"
This should be copied and handed out at town meetings:
http://baselinescenario.com/2009/08/05/you-do-not-have-health-insurance/...
The article starts:
"Right now, it appears that the biggest barrier to health care reform is people who think that it will hurt them. According to a New York Times poll, “69 percent of respondents in the poll said they were concerned that the quality of their own care would decline if the government created a program that covers everyone.” Since most Americans currently have health insurance, they see reform as a poverty program – something that helps poor people and hurts them. If that’s what you think, then this post is for you.
You do not have health insurance. Let me repeat that. You do not have health insurance. (Unless you are over 65, in which case you do have health insurance."
Ask the caller who the government is =- a bunch of green martians? This is the difference between the parties- honestly.
B Roll,
You just got a call and have to leave? You sound like a coroner (a job I definitely could not perform.) My dad used to get calls, only in the middle of the night. (He was a dentist in the highest poverty area in WI. He often was paid in vegetables, record albums and other "barterables.") About 3:00 one morning he got a call from someone complaining of a toothache. After asking a number of specific questions, he asked how long the tooth was bothering this man, who replied, "Off and on for the last 9 years!" Oh well...
I made the comment regarding critical thinking going out with the Reagan administration because, throughout my secondary school years, my teachers told us that they couldn't teach us everything there was to know. What they COULD teach us was how to find the information and how to think critically.
This kind of instruction continued at least through the mid-70s, when I was finished with college.
Maybe my education was a fluke, but I don't think so. My husband, who grew up in Michigan and Minnesota received similar instruction.
Oh yes, regarding I.Q. My son is "off the graph" --- extremely high --- in some areas of I.Q. (and overall extremely gifted), as measured by a psychologist. However, it is my understanding that there are many ways to measure (and definitions of) I.Q., from what I saw and heard, depending upon what criteria are tested for.
EVIDENCE OF DEAD PIGEON
A video on YouTube has come to my attention as hard EVIDENCE that pigeons can be assassinated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZimSVYWmVac
During a game of cricket between Yorkshire and Lancashire, a pigeon was spotted flying over the field. At the exact same moment, the cricket ball was being thrown from outfield, and timed so perfectly as to strike the unlucky fowl from the sky.
In the cricket video, a player is clearly spotted picking up the DEAD pigeon.
Some might say that this was a coincidence. But who can prove to me that this was not a planned act of assassination! What do cricket players know about the pigeons?
Income Inequality Is At An All-Time High: STUDY
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/14/income-inequality-is-at-a_n_259...