Archive for 'Healthcare' Category

The True Lesson of the Brown Win: the voters want a KISS

E=MC2: Energy equals Mass times the Speed of Light squared; the mathematical equation at the heart of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. One of the most complex mathematical theorems ever devised, reduced to an equation so simple that even Sarah Palin’s probably heard of it. And it is BECAUSE it is so simple that it’s lauded [...]

Might Coakley’s Loss Become a Democratic Victory?

January 20th. A Democratic win with the inauguration of President Obama, and one year later, the loss of a key Democratic seat in the Senate. Arguably, two victories for frustrated Democrats. Liberals like myself have been frustrated by President Obama’s inexplicable need to court Conservatives to pass health care reform with 60 votes in the [...]

The Amazing Mugsy’s Predictions for 2010.

Okay, maybe calling myself “The Amazing Mugsy” is a bit of a stretch. So sue me. It’s the final Monday of the first decade of the new millennium (though technically, 2000 was the last year of the 20th Century). Every year at this time, I like to pause to make my predictions for the coming [...]

A Dickens of a Mistake: Plot hole in “A Christmas Carol”?

Ebenezer Scrooge never knew the son of his sole employee, Bob Cratchit, was seriously ill. It wasn’t until Scrooge learned that Tiny Tim might actually die unless he did something to help, that he was actually willing to forego some of his personal wealth to help save the life of a sick child. When Charles Dickens [...]

The Senate Healthcare Compromise: First Impressions (not good)

Last week, the Senate “proudly” announced a late-night healthcare “breakthrough” that abandoned the “Public Option” in exchange for “privately run non-profit” healthcare “exchanges” (read: “co-ops”) and expansion of Medicare and Medicaid. Now, all the details are still coming in, so this will have to be brief. The highlight of this compromise is that it “expands [...]

Debunking 8 Ridiculous Myths Against Healthcare Reform.

Saturday, the Senate passed its own healthcare reform bill, which will now go to Committee for melding with the House Bill into a single healthcare reform bill to be voted on by both houses of Congress. Just getting this far was a monumental task. It was passed in the House with only a single Republican [...]

Once again, Britain leads the way on health care

Special Edition I‘ve been noticing a disturbing trend in the evolution of Health Care Reform in Congress. It seems to me that… as long as the final bill includes some kind of government run health insurance program, it would be a “victory” for healthcare reform… even if the only people that can sign up are [...]

Thoughts on a Historic Week: Fort Hood and Healthcare.

Last week was historic for all the right AND wrong reasons. A health care reform bill that includes a “Public Option” with no “triggers” or “phase-in period” passed the House Saturday night after a long ugly battle with Republicans. That was the good. “The bad”, however, was a killing spree at the Fort Hood Army [...]

Conservative AHIP Says Republican Healthcare Solution Will Do Nothing to Lower Costs.

Back during the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Senator Obama and Senator McCain talked about how they would fix healthcare. While Senator Obama endorsed “the Public Option”, Senator McCain promoted the Republican “free-market” solution: “allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines”, presently restricted by Federal law, which would “increase competition and reduce prices”. For nearly a [...]

Argh! When even a Super-Majority isn’t enough.

Dear Gawd! Didn’t you think that when a fed-up country flipped control of BOTH houses of Congress in 2006 that we would FINALLY see a change in the disastrous Conservative policies of the past 26 years? And when voters, with their eyes slowly opening like 2-week old puppies, began to realize that Republicans were responsible [...]

Public Option Trigger? How about a PRIVATE Option Trigger?

Special Edition So-called “Moderate” Republicans like Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and “Blue Dog” Democrats have been all about including a “trigger” provision in any healthcare reform bill. What exactly is the “trigger”? Lindsay Beyerstein of The Huffington Post defined it best: “A public option with a trigger is a compromise whereby a public system would only [...]

A Closer Look at the 9/12 Rallies

My heart sank a bit upon seeing the following image to open the NBC Nightly News Saturday evening:   “9/12″ Conservative protest rally in D.C.   Hard numbers for the actual size of the protest vary wildly. A number of Right-wing groups are claiming “between 1.5 and 2 million”… a number they falsely attributed to [...]