The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is a part of the United States Bill of Rights that expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion" (the Establishment Clause) or that prohibit free exercise of religion (the Free Exercise Clause), laws that infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceably assemble, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Before I tell you about the crushing healthcare burdens destroying Americans of every socioeconomic level, I hope those of you too young to remember, will take a look at this video about how my generation changed the course of a nation.
THURSDAY NIGHT IS HEALTH CARE CHANGE NIGHT, a weekly Daily Kos Health Care Series
I've been asked to write a "patriotic July 4th" healthcare diary by the organizers of the Thursday night healthcare series.
What follows is how I see our nation on the eve of July 4th, 2008.
Patriotism is not picnics, fireworks, or a long weekend.
Patriotism is not simply showing up to vote. You don't change a nation at the ballot box alone.
Patriots fight for the voiceless. And in 2008 in the United States, the voiceless has become just about the entire population.
Scenes from an American horror movie:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
But like so many, you're hanging in because in a few years, you'll be eligible for Medicare.
Help has arrived.
Finally, as a Medicare beneficiary and citizen of the richest country on the planet, you'll be able to access healthcare. You'll finally pay a modest premium to receive that long deferred healthcare.
You'll be enrolled in Medicare, one of our most cherished social programs, a program designed to protect the most vulnerable among us, America's senior citizens.
In an ocean of sobering reports on the collapse of the U.S. healthcare system, this just released report from The Center for Studying Health System Change, is among the most horrifying I've seen.
Falling Behind: Americans' Access to Medical Care Deteriorates, 2003-2007
The number and proportion of Americans reporting going without or delaying needed medical care increased sharply between 2003 and 2007, according to findings from the Center for Studying Health System Change’s (HSC) nationally representative 2007 Health Tracking Household Survey. One in five Americans—59 million people—reported not getting or delaying needed medical care in 2007, up from one in seven—36 million people—in 2003. While access deteriorated for both insured and uninsured people, insured people experienced a larger relative increase in access problems compared with uninsured people.
Some of you know that last Thursday, June 19th was a nationwide day of action against the for-profit health insurance industry.
I was in San Francisco where AHIP was holding its annual convention.
I marched with the heroes from the California Nurses Association. CNA took the lead in organizing the protests nationwide.
The protests began on Wednesday, June 18th outside the Moscone center. We had a press conference with Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Hilda Sarkisyan (who, I'm thrilled to let you know will be at Netroots Nation as a panelist on the health policy panel--I'll tell you more about that in another diary), Rick Colombo, the father of Nick Colombo and many others.
Important note for Kossacks in San Francisco: If you're attending the demonstration, please look for us at 12 noon at 4th and Howard Street - Moscone West. We'll be carrying a large orange banner which will say, (of course), DAILY KOS.
Thousands of Americans are assembling today at 12 noon today outside the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco. We're here to demonstrate against AHIP and for single-payer healthcare in the United States--what the rest of the civilized world accepts as normal.
AHIP is the chief lobbyist of the for profit Murder By Spreadsheet insurance industry.
It's the first time AHIP has held its annual convention and been greeted with thousands of outraged Americans. We're going to give them a hearty welcome to the City by the Bay.
We're here because AHIP is a parasitic organization whose only purpose is to take money and destroy lives. Before the day ends, AHIP will know it can no longer waltz into a great American city unchallenged. We will fight AHIP wherever it goes. And ultimately the American people will get guaranteed and affordable single-payer healthcare.
UPDATE: I was just advised that the The Courage Campaign has a petition asking McAuliffe not to appear at the AHIP gathering. Please take one minute to sign it.
Yes, that Terry McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
But before I tell you what Terry's up to, you might be amused to know that I applied for press credentials to cover the health insurance industry depravity which will unfold next week in San Francisco. All I wanted to do was write about Terry's speech and to let you know what AHIP is planning in the year ahead. The bastards turned me down, with a curt one sentence email from Robert Zirkelbach, one of the press flacks from AHIP.
Subject: RE: Press credential request for Institute 2008
Date: 6/12/2008 4:31:32 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
From: rzirkelbach@ahip.org
Reply To:
To: nyceve@xxx.com
Unfortunately, I am unable to provide you with a press pass for the Institute.
Scared that nyceve might tell the truth to some bloggers? Holy Patootie, they ain't seen nothin yet.
Many of us have long argued that elected officials should not receive the heavily taxpayer-subsidized health benefits which they seek to deny the American people. Please note: I'm only referring to elected officals not government employees.
Opening up the FEHBP to the American people is at the heart of Senator Obama's health plan. Giving the American people the same health benefits as John McSame is a central goal of Barack Obama's health reform .
Holy Jesus, Obama wants to give us what they have!
So, as the campaign moves into high gear, and if the media does its job, which I supposed one could argue is highly unlikely, we should start to hear some interesting details about the healthcare of our elected officials.
Things like what elected folks pay for their FEHBP benefits, and how much the taxpayers shell out for them. This is information they don't want us to have.
But first a word to the naysayers. If you think we can win this in November without Alegre and all the Clinton supporters then you're nuts.
So let's acknowledge their profound sadness. Let's acknowledge the grief of Hillary Clinton supporters. Imagine the anguish the Obama supporters would feel today if the situation were reversed.
My beloved 85-year-old mother who hoped she would live to see a woman in the White House, well you know how she's feeling.
Wipe away your tears Clinton supporters. We need you. We need my mother. I'm desperate as are tens of millions of Americans.
I'm also scared about, God forbid, a third Bush term. Really scared.
Alegre, when you were at Daily Kos, bravely and beautifully supporting your candidate, I believed at the end of the day, you were going to actively and enthusiastically support the nominee of the Democratic Party.
I can say this because I had the great pleasure to get to know Alegre. She is a fierce and committed Democrat.
I haven't felt this demoralized and revolted in a long time. You might feel some outrage once you read about the latest insurance industry assault on the American people.
The New York Times is reporting that many American women are facing significant additional health insurance hardships as a result of having a cesearean delivery.
I'm writing this diary listening to CNN and the intrepid Sanjay Gupta in the background interview Arlen Specter about his recurrent Hodgkins disease. Specter's advice, "Never give in". But nary a question from Dr. Gupta--just the usual breathless fawning--to the senator about survival strategies for Specter's fellow citizens who do not have his Cadillac Congressional health benefits.
This is one of those days when you don't know whether to laugh or cry.
The New York Times is reporting that in a major reversal, the SEC "has told companies they must allow shareholders to vote on a proposal for universal health insurance coverage."
This is huge. I make no claim to be an expert on the SEC or corporate proxy statements, but my power of intuition is intact, and this strikes me as a transformative event.
Over the years, the commission said, it had reversed its position on certain issues to reflect "changing societal views," and that now appears to be the case with respect to health care.
I've had a bunch of emails asking where are the healthcare catastrophe diaries?
I've been spending some time on the unhealthy side of life. A touch of viral meningitis. I'm better but not perfect. There's nothing to treat viral meningitis, trust me, I went to two doctors.
I'm lucky, I have insurance, though one of my doctors doesn't take my crap junk insurance, I don't blame him. Why should a doctor accept a shit 20 cents on the dollar payment from a blood sucker insurance company? So I pay him. But when you shell out a couple of hundred dollars to a doctor, you understand what it feels like to be uninsured. You also ask yourself, what in the hell is wrong with a country that regards basic healthcare as a luxury?
Allow me to give you some bad news. We're all going to be paying a lot more for a lot less, and the insurance industry doesn't give a rat's ass how many Americans just throw in the towel and are forced to go naked.
You've been wondering, I'm sure, exactly how unfair our healthcare system has become. Very, very unfair is the answer.
This reality takes on a new urgency as John McCain goes around the country promoting a bogus "healthcare plan" for the American people. A "plan" that would exclude him with his pre-existing conditions, if he were not a U.S. Senator, and a recipient of heavily taxpayer subsidized government healthcare.
And since the media refuses to ask the maverick about his own healthcare benefits, which he wants to deny to you and me, I decided to do some research--to get a handle on exactly what people like John and Cindy McCain receive.
Locating information about their Cadillac Healthcare isn't easy. It's buried deep in vaults inside the office of OPM which essentially acts as the HR department for the federal government.
But I've been able to piece together the disgusting reality.
As you might expect, the fawning media stenographers are taking dictation very well. This morning, Mike Allen a well-insured stenographer at The Politico weighs in.
McCain moves to middle on health care
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is proposing a greater federal commitment to people without health insurance on Tuesday, suggesting that it help funds states to set up non-profit risk pools to help Americans who are denied coverage or can’t afford it.
"Everything's fine," McCain told reporters during a news conference. "Like most Americans, I go see my doctor fairly frequently." http://blog.washingtonpost.com/...
The McSame "Like most Americans, I go see my doctor fairly frequently", healthcare tour begins today at Miami Children's Hospital.
Here it is, directly from ROBERT LASZEWSKI one of the most respected health policy analysts in the nation.
Wall Street finally seems to be figuring out that the health insurance business is, and has been for years, on a long walk off a short pier. What's sustainable about a business whose costs have continually exploded at 2-3 times the growth rate of the rest of the economy or the wage rate? Just where did Wall Street think this business was headed all those years the sector has been the darling of Wall Street? http://healthpolicyandmarket.blogspo...
And here's where the fight to take back our healthcare system from the merchants of death will begin in earnest.
If you believe this grim reading, healthcare reform is DOA--or even worse, just empty campaign bullshit.
The Hill is reporting this morning that leading Democrats,including my own Chuck (I never met a TV camera I didn't love) Schumer, are to put it politely, hedging on healthcare reform.
Dems hedge on healthcare
Congressional Democrats are backing away from healthcare reform promises made by their two presidential candidates, saying that even if their party controls the White House and Congress, sweeping change will be difficult.
It is still seven months before Election Day, but already senior Democrats are maneuvering to lower public expectations on the key policy issue.
