Nothing About Health Care In The Current Health Insurance Bill

So, here we are – about to pass a health insurance bill. That’s right, not a health “care”, but a health INSURANCE bill. This bill doesn’t ensure quality health care for all the people of this nation, it mandates the people of this nation to pay the insurance companies for “coverage.” The bill is a big fat wet kiss that we’re giving to the bloated, privately owned insurance corporations.

First of all, it forces all citizens buy insurance from the existing corporations (something President Obama promised would not happen when he was campaigning, but don’t get me started…). The insurance companies will now be getting 33 million new customers dropped in their laps. If you can’t afford to pay for it, the government will help out by giving you money to give to the insurance companies, so they don’t have to make ANY changes to what they’re currently doing. There’s no “government plan” for people to opt into, there’s no place for mandated folks to get cheaper coverage, and therefore, nobody is competing with these insurance companies, so again, they don’t have to make ANY changes to what they’re currently doing. Now there’s no “public option”, but we can at least keep these insurance companies in check by instituting a “windfall profits” clause, right? Some type of anti-trust clauses to keep them in line? No, sorry, that was all pulled from the bill. Nothing, NO THING is in place to force these guys to reduce their rates and stop raping the American public.

Next, to pay for the new insurance subsidies, we’re going to TAX all of the insurance policies that are considered “really good policies” – the “Cadillac plans” (something President Obama promised would not happen when he was campaigning, but don’t get me started…). Many of these policies were fought for and won by labor unions for their members, in many cases in lieu of pay raises.

Then they tell us that people with “pre-existing conditions” can no longer be refused coverage by the insurers. While this may be true, it’s also true that there’s nothing prohibiting the insurers from TRIPLING THEIR RATES to do so.

Furthermore, provisions for any women who need to, for whatever reason, terminate a pregnancy, LEGALLY, have been stripped from the bill. So this piece of legislation will essentially turn the clock BACK to the time when pregnant women were needlessly dying from botched coat-hanger abortions in kitchens and back alleys.

So let me get this straight – we could take this watered-down, anti-health, anti-care, anti-women, anti-people, INSURANCE COMPANY LOVING bill that the Senate and the President are trying to squeeze through by appealing to the lowest common denominator and appeasing the few crybaby, right wing, WACK-JOBS in the Democratic Party who would rather hold this bill for ransom and get whatever they can for themselves than hold to the Democratic Party Platform and do what is right for the nation, in order to pull out 60 votes.

OR

We could expand and improve the Medicare system and let everyone either enroll in it or keep the coverage they currently have. And we could do this using the reconciliation process (since we’re making changes to existing legislation, not enacting new legislation) which would only require 51 votes to pass.

Let me just conclude my rant by saying this: if this bill passes in its current form, the Democratic Party should a) remove the donkey as its mascot and replace it with a jellyfish, b) alert all Democratic registered voters that there is no longer a “Democratic Platform” (by the way, who is the chairman of the DNC since Howard Dean resigned? Do you know? Neither do I, but whoever he is, he’s not doing SHIT for any of us) and c) get ready for a big loss in 2012 because, I don’t know about you, but I will be voting for an independent party candidate. A candidate represents the values of the PEOPLE of this nation, not the corporations and their fat wallets.

Where's the hope for a new tomorrow? Where's the change we can believe in? (something President Obama promised when he was campaigning, but don’t get me started…).

MandateTHIS!

High Tech Mechanisms or High Quality Employees?

I love all this talk going around about “airport security” and full-body scanning systems. The issue isn’t the technology being used, it’s the effectiveness and diligence of the employees.

Instead of spending a ton of money buying full-body scanners, boost the personnel, enhance their training, make sure they’re well paid with benefits so they care about the job they’re doing. If you give a guy off the street a uniform and a badge, minimum wage with no bennies, how important do you think he’s going to feel his job is? How safe do you feel getting on your plane knowing this is the guy responsible for your wellbeing? Ok, so lets presume the x-ray machines and new body-scanners are in place. If Joe Security is more concerned with being late for his coffee break or chatting with his buddy about the big game this weekend or texting his date from last night what a great time he had, how much attention do you think he’s giving to the techno-displays? How effective will he be scanning the crowd and observing behavior? Making mental notes of the fidgety guy on line? Scrutinizing the airline ticket or visa, checking the no-fly list, matching the photo to the person in front of him? And if the people doing security aren’t asking you the same questions they asked the guy in front of you, how secure do you feel putting your family on that flight?

You could have the best scanners and sniffers and devices in the world in place, but if the people using it don’t give a rat’s ass, the technology is ineffective.

MandateTHIS

We're baaaaack!

Ok, MandateTHIS has returned...sort of. In our previous incarnation, we did several things. We posted links to news items of the day (from reliable sources) that either needed public scrutiny or to bring to light important information that was being buried by the mainstream media. We established an outlet for people to post their rants and keep their heads from exploding. We provided links to other progressive sites, made up an essential reading list of "must-read" books for progressives and posted info about new events that activists need to know about and participate in. Basically, it was a "go-to" spot for fellow liberals so that they'd know they're not alone in the nation. Due to growing time constraints on our part (not having the time to update and maintain the site regularly) and what we felt was a lack of outside interest (poor planning when establishing the site didn't allow for a hit-counter), we retired MandateTHIS.org to the website burial ground.

Lately, we've been relegated to writing letters to newspapers and media outlets hoping for the letters to be printed and read.

Well, here we are again, starting MandateTHIS2. This time, we're establishing a blog so WE can rant and rave and keep OUR heads from exploding and not have to depend on others to print or read and circulate. If you like what you read, circulate it to like-minded folks. Also, let us know in your comments. If you don't agree, let us know and we'd be happy to discuss and/or update our opinions. Being true liberals, we're openminded and welcome intelligent conversation. Ultimately, we're hoping to connect with and establish a network of progressive activists that can help promote a progressive agenda where, as of now, most of us feel like we're alone amidst a sea of fundamentalist nitwits. Thanks for checking up on us.

MandateTHIS