So you've been fighting again. You been squaring off into armed camps.
Cliques, sub-cliques, and sub-sub cliques have sprouted like uncontrolled weeds.
The left side of the page waxes eloquent and all-knowing about every mystery under the sun. The right side degenerates into a daily mud wrestle, and the chasm between the two sides of Daily Kos grows wider by the day.
Stop for a moment, and consider another reality. Ponder, if you will, the lives of good, hard working and frightened Americans who (please forgive me), don't know about, give a rat's ass, or care to read what anyone has to say on Daily Kos.
Can you blame anyone for thinking we're rapidly losing our once razer sharp cutting edge clarity? You don't just wave a wand and stay great, you've got to work at it day-in, and day-out. Daily Kos--all of it--is falling woefully short in this department. And yes, I know, no one has asked me to weigh-in on such an inconvenient subject.
Back to reality. These are the people who are hurting. These are the citizens we better start convincing to vote for the Democratic nominee whomever that person turns out to be.
Here's a snapshot of the way many people live in America.
If you think you're going to retire, think again.
New estimate: Retirees need $225K for medical bills
A couple retiring this year will need about $225,000 in savings to cover medical costs in retirement, according to a study released Wednesday by Fidelity Investments.
The figure, calculated for a couple age 65, is up 4.7 percent from the $215,000 estimate for 2007, the Boston-based financial services company said.
http://www.newsweek.com/...
As if that weren't bad enough, America's seniors are finding brand name drug prices spiraling to new levels of unaffordability. Thank God for generics.
But as you read this, remember AARP was a principle cheerleader and supporter of Medicare D. AARP is in truth, an insurance company and sold out America's seniors.
Drugs for Elderly More Costly, Study Finds
Drugmakers increased prices by an average of 7.4 percent last year for the brand-name medicines most commonly prescribed to the elderly, according to the advocacy group AARP.
The increase far exceeded inflation, continuing a longtime trend.
AARP said prices charged to wholesalers have been slightly higher since the Medicare drug benefit started on Jan. 1, 2006. Since then, the outcry over prices has diminished, with the government picking up much of the tab.
"Unfortunately, many manufacturers have taken the absence of an outcry as a green light to go ahead and raise prices even more," said John Rother, AARP's policy director.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
In Oregon, the lucky will win health insurance in a lottery. Reminds me of Schindler's List--who lives and who dies--in America, it's bum luck.
Oregon conducts health insurance lottery
PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon is conducting a one-of-a-kind lottery, and the prize is health insurance.
The state will start drawing names this week for the chance to enroll in a health care program designed for people not poor enough for Medicaid but too cash-strapped to buy their own insurance.
More than 80,000 people have signed up since registration for the lottery opened in January. Only a few thousand will be chosen for the program.
"It's better than nothing, it's at least a hope," said Shirley Krueger, 61, who signed up the first day.
It's been more than six months since she could afford to take insulin regularly for her diabetes. That puts her at higher risk for a number of complications, such as kidney failure, heart disease and blindness.
Her part-time job leaves her ineligible for her employer's insurance plan and with too little income to buy her own.
http://news.yahoo.com/...
As I said, while we've been fighting, yesterday, AHIP held it's 2008 National Policy Forum.
The roster of speakers (paid, no doubt), included such luminaries as Donna Brazille, Chris Matthews, Senator Ron Wyden and others. So when you see Donna on CNN, or Chris on Hardball, (don't make me vomit laugh), poo-pooing healthcare reform, remember who their friends are.
Check out what Ms. Brazille says about what we might expect in the way of healthcare reform with a Democrat in the White House. Far less than a ringing or stirring call to action. "They'll[the Democratic president] want to get something out on the table."
Something? Is this all the enthusiasm the great "Democratic strategist" can muster?
She actually even whispers that either Clinton or Obama might "shelve" the centerpiece of the campaign.
Will they also "shelve" getting out of Iraq?
AHIP Speakers Debate Health Care Reform
As far as healthcare policy goes, Burman set the landscape on which the debate will take place, one in which spending for entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare account for increasing portions of the federal budget. Anyone seeking to enhance those programs, or to establish a federal entitlement that would guarantee health care coverage for all Americans, "is going to have to be able to argue that this new entitlement isn’t going to make the problem worse," he said.
The current downswing in the economy "makes it even harder" to enact any major changes in healthcare policy, Murphy said.
However, Brazile said that should a Democrat be victorious in November, expectations will be high for some policy proposals to be unveiled in the first 100 days of the next presidency.
"It’s almost like a deal breaker" if a Democratic president were to shelve their healthcare proposal, she said. Both Obama and Clinton "will want to get something out on the table quickly," she added.
http://www.lifeandhealthinsurancenew...
"Something on the table." Just throw them the American people something--anything, just keep 'em docile.
Guess Donna must be well insured (with someone else picking up the tab). She talks like she doesn't recognize for a second the catastrophe bearing down on millions and millions of her fellow citizens.
Maybe we ought to shelve the fighting around here and start holding various feet to the fire. Or not.