The people who own the controlling interest in the corporations are so much richer than the rest of us that their attitude towards the world and the people who inhabit it is totally different from ours. In the first place they feel entitled to extravagant privileges far greater than those of the common citizen. They feel that it is their right to use us for their own profit and that they have no obligation to give back as much as they get. They recognize no obligation to give adequate compensation to enable those that they exploit to maintain themselves at a decent standard. The owners of the corporations see no reason to grant human rights to those who serve their interests. The owners of the corporations have so little conscience that they are willing to eliminate entire civilizations and lay waste to vast areas and destroy whole ecosystems in the interest of making a profit.
The owners of the corporations see no reason to let us have a say in the way things are done and will do everything they can to keep us from having any say at all. They will do everything they can to maintain complete control. And the Supreme Court has given the owners of the corporations even more power to do just that. It will take either a revolution or a massive grassroots movement to convince those who are supposed to represent us to amend the Constitution to take all private, and corporate, money out of politics to end this economic feudalism.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Health Care Reform-Push It Through Or Start Over?
How we pay for health care is a big deal for America. We pay far more than any other developed country and get results that are inferior to those of many only semi-developed countries, like Cuba and Costa Rica for instance. Every European country pays less and gets more for their money than we do. And the situation is getting worse! Last year was the most profitable for the insurance industry with their profits up very substantially from the previous year. And this year their rates are up as much as 30% for most of us that are lucky enough to be insured. Health Care Insurance now eats up 17% of what we spend and next year will rise to above 20%. Something has got to be done or we soon won’t have any money to spend on food, rent or mortgages, cars, clothes or utilities, etc. Business is already suffering and the rising cost of health care is a big part of the problem.
President Obama wants the Congress to push a health care reform bill through even if it isn’t all that he wants or even very good. It is a badly flawed bill and has a lot of opposition from nearly all quarters. No Republican is supporting it and the majority of the population doesn’t like it either. It does too much for the insurance companies and almost nothing, as far as I can see, to control cost. President Obama is still trying to get some Republican cooperation. But that is highly unlikely to happen.
Now there is a call to trash this bill and to start over. I think we should. I think we should get the Democrats and the Republicans to get together in conference and put both parties’ ideas on the table for consideration. And it should be done in the clear light of day. The people of this country who will be most affected by it should be able to see it and to comment on it. Maybe if they did pressure from constituents would get the Congress and Senate to do something that would work to get real reform. And if they would put single payer on the table this time maybe it would have a chance of passing.
A single payer system is what most other countries use that do better than we do at a lower cost. Insurance industry propaganda makes it sound like it isn’t nearly as good as the private health insurance system we have. But the people in those countries are, for the most part, very satisfied with it and think we are the ones with the scary system. I agree with them. Our system sucks and it is scary!
Having a single payer health care system like Medicare for all doesn’t mean there would be no private health care insurance. I get money taken out of my Social Security and given to an insurance company instead of Medicare. And I get more for my money than if I used Medicare. I think it would be a good thing to adopt a similar system for everyone. We already take money out of pay checks to pay for Medicare. Give everyone Medicare and let them opt out and buy into a private plan if an insurance company offers a plan that would save money or give better coverage for the same money. We might have to deduct more than we do now to pay for Medicare but if it is in lieu of the insurance premiums Americans pay now we would still save. It would end most of the problems we have now with the high and upward spiraling cost of health care. It would be real health care reform.
President Obama wants the Congress to push a health care reform bill through even if it isn’t all that he wants or even very good. It is a badly flawed bill and has a lot of opposition from nearly all quarters. No Republican is supporting it and the majority of the population doesn’t like it either. It does too much for the insurance companies and almost nothing, as far as I can see, to control cost. President Obama is still trying to get some Republican cooperation. But that is highly unlikely to happen.
Now there is a call to trash this bill and to start over. I think we should. I think we should get the Democrats and the Republicans to get together in conference and put both parties’ ideas on the table for consideration. And it should be done in the clear light of day. The people of this country who will be most affected by it should be able to see it and to comment on it. Maybe if they did pressure from constituents would get the Congress and Senate to do something that would work to get real reform. And if they would put single payer on the table this time maybe it would have a chance of passing.
A single payer system is what most other countries use that do better than we do at a lower cost. Insurance industry propaganda makes it sound like it isn’t nearly as good as the private health insurance system we have. But the people in those countries are, for the most part, very satisfied with it and think we are the ones with the scary system. I agree with them. Our system sucks and it is scary!
Having a single payer health care system like Medicare for all doesn’t mean there would be no private health care insurance. I get money taken out of my Social Security and given to an insurance company instead of Medicare. And I get more for my money than if I used Medicare. I think it would be a good thing to adopt a similar system for everyone. We already take money out of pay checks to pay for Medicare. Give everyone Medicare and let them opt out and buy into a private plan if an insurance company offers a plan that would save money or give better coverage for the same money. We might have to deduct more than we do now to pay for Medicare but if it is in lieu of the insurance premiums Americans pay now we would still save. It would end most of the problems we have now with the high and upward spiraling cost of health care. It would be real health care reform.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Tea Party Movement
For some time now there has been a lot of talk in the news about the Tea Party Movement. Some, mostly on Fox News, say it is the future of American Politics. They say that politicians, especially incumbents, from both parties are running scared. Newscasters on the left are saying the Tea Party is just a bunch of right wingers who don’t like Obama and his measures to bring the economy back from the brink. In either case their influence is yet to be determined.
The Tea Partiers don’t like government spending. And they really don’t like taxes. I don’t have any idea how they hope to improve the economy or stimulate jobs growth. They are generally dissatisfied with the way things are. The deficit is too high. Banks don’t loan enough money to small business and employment is too low. All are legitimate concerns. So far though they have only offered criticism of those who are trying to fix the problems but have offered no solutions of their own other than going back to the policies that got us to where we are.
One problem I see with the Tea Party Movement is that it doesn’t seem to have any clear agenda aside from replacing a bunch of incumbents, especially Democrats, with Tea Party candidates. The movement seems to be a conglomerate of wing nuts who are still pushing the notion that Obama really isn’t an American citizen and “Birthers”, disillusioned Republican moderates, and Independents who don’t feel that either party is listening to them but acting on behalf of special interests instead of on behalf of the common citizen.
The Tea Party doesn’t seem to have a dominant leader either. Tom Tancredo, Sarah Palin and several other Republicans seem to be trying to hijack the movement and bring it into the Republican Party. Others seem to be worried that the Tea Party movement will fracture and further weaken the Republican Party. Meanwhile the Democrats are also divided as to the affect the Tea Party will have on their ability to keep their majority in the Congress and the Senate. Unless a strong leader with a clear agenda can get control of the movement I see them as a divisive element to the Republicans. Because of this I don’t see them as being a great threat to the Democrats. I think the general public sees them as a bunch of dissidents and will dismiss them come election time and vote for the major party candidates as usual. I think history will remember the Tea Party as another passing phenomenon like Ross Perot.
The Tea Partiers don’t like government spending. And they really don’t like taxes. I don’t have any idea how they hope to improve the economy or stimulate jobs growth. They are generally dissatisfied with the way things are. The deficit is too high. Banks don’t loan enough money to small business and employment is too low. All are legitimate concerns. So far though they have only offered criticism of those who are trying to fix the problems but have offered no solutions of their own other than going back to the policies that got us to where we are.
One problem I see with the Tea Party Movement is that it doesn’t seem to have any clear agenda aside from replacing a bunch of incumbents, especially Democrats, with Tea Party candidates. The movement seems to be a conglomerate of wing nuts who are still pushing the notion that Obama really isn’t an American citizen and “Birthers”, disillusioned Republican moderates, and Independents who don’t feel that either party is listening to them but acting on behalf of special interests instead of on behalf of the common citizen.
The Tea Party doesn’t seem to have a dominant leader either. Tom Tancredo, Sarah Palin and several other Republicans seem to be trying to hijack the movement and bring it into the Republican Party. Others seem to be worried that the Tea Party movement will fracture and further weaken the Republican Party. Meanwhile the Democrats are also divided as to the affect the Tea Party will have on their ability to keep their majority in the Congress and the Senate. Unless a strong leader with a clear agenda can get control of the movement I see them as a divisive element to the Republicans. Because of this I don’t see them as being a great threat to the Democrats. I think the general public sees them as a bunch of dissidents and will dismiss them come election time and vote for the major party candidates as usual. I think history will remember the Tea Party as another passing phenomenon like Ross Perot.
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