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Ok Tommy, we’re listening…but anyone with any ideas, go for it.
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Fear, Not Truth Dominates the Health Care Debate
July 30, 2009 By
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The politics of fear roars on. Republican Rep. Verginia Foxx on the House floor…
The Republican [health] plan would “make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government.”
And here’s conservative Betsy McCaughey, chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Death…
“Congress would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner.”
Politifact gave this one a ‘Pants on Fire’ rating. The House bill actually says…
“such consultation shall include the following: An explanation by the practitioner of advance care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to; an explanation by the practitioner of advance directives, including living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses; an explanation by the practitioner of the role and responsibilities of a health care proxy.”
Medicare will cover one session every five years, the legislation states. If a patient becomes very ill in the interim, Medicare will cover additional sessions.
Jon Keyserling, general counsel and vice president of public policy for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, which supports the provision, said the bill doesn’t encourage seniors to end their lives, it just allows some important counseling for decisions that take time and consideration.
“These are very serious conversations,” he said. “It needs to be an informative conversation from the medical side and it needs to be thought about carefully by the patient and their families.”
Leave it to Republicans to take an intelligent and compassionate provision and twist it to the extent of claiming that the government wants “seniors in a position of being put to death.” Fear over truth triumphs once more.
My mom would not have liked these people.
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On Health Care, Tinmen and A Place Called Oz…
July 30, 2009 By
If you can watch the following video and not feel both moved and angered then you might want to take a walk with Dorothy and the Tinman in search of a missing heart.
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STAN BROCK BRINGS HEALTH CARE TO AMERICANS WITH REMOTE AREA MEDICAL PROGRAM from R2 Studios on Vimeo.
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So while Republicans in Congress play politics and look for new ways to delay health care reform in hopes of taking down a president and while conservative Democrats in Congress look for new ways of watering down the health bill in hopes of getting re-elected in their respective red states, some guy is driving 200 miles and sleeping in a parking lot with his wife and child so he can see a dentist. His crime is not that he’s jobless or a drug addict or without health insurance. He is none of these. It’s that he’s part of a broken health care system.
Saddest part of all is to know that Stan Brock and his Remote Area Medical Program now spend 60% of their time giving basic medical care in the richest country on the planet. And if anyone thinks that that’s not a crying shame, then they may want to take that walk with Tinman to the land of Oz.
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GOP – “We’ve become a rural party and a Southern party”
July 30, 2009 By
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Good little discussion on the current state of the republican part with former GOP Congressman Tom Davis on Hardball. Davis says…
Politics has been defined by culture over the last few cycles, and we’ve become a rural party and a Southern party. We’ve been losing inner suburbs and the like. A lot of this was the policies of the Bush administration.
The high education areas Obama carried – 78 of the 100 counties with the highest education. McCain carried 88 of the 100 counties with the lowest education. As we move to cultural politics, that’s been the shift.
The more one looks at the stats and the reality out there, the easier it is to understand why so many Republicans see their future not as a party of ideas appealing to the masses but instead see their success defined by the failures of the Democrat party. It’s not about being a party for the people with policies which will better their lives. It’s about being a party which has a single goal…get back into power at any cost. And it is this singular focus which allows them to say and do the the things we’ve been witness to these many months. Lies, misinformation and fear-mongering are all standard policy for the party of NO.
Demographics are shifting and none of them are favorable to Republicans. While the party will certainly have minor victories along the way, the long term picture is not pretty for conservatives. Should they choose to not listen to the Tom Davis’ of the party and attempt to take the party further to the right, they are doomed for a long time to come.
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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
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QotD – Dowd on Palin
July 29, 2009 By
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NYT’s Maureen Dowd explains her latest Sarah Palin column.
“I love Sarah Palin. I mean, I love her more than anyone. As a journalist she is the best story ever.”
“You’ve got this former beauty queen and sportscaster who’s in the role of Dick Cheney… She is the first person to ever fuse politics with reality tv.”
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