They really ARE going to take your medicare!

But that's a good thing... just hear me out!

In 2003, during the Bush years, before the Democratic surge in congress, the legislature passed something called, The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (also MMA - Medicare Modernization Act). It's commonly referred to as "Medicare PartD" (Instated in 2006). I didn't know much about it back then, but I know about it now. As you can probably guess by the title, it was an attempt to reform regular old every-day Medicare.

As we know it, Medicare is a single-payer program established in the mid 60's (passed in '65, instated in '66) aimed to benefit our seniors. There were some problems (as there still are) with the rising costs of prescription drugs, and this was marketed as a promise to help with that. I have linked an article from the New England Journal of Medicine for reference to some of the atrocities that took place in order to pass this beast.

For those of you who find it too daunting to click links and read more, let me just cut and paste a little excerpt for you from the article. I find it enlightening and absolutely relevant (albeit sickening) to the current health care debate brewing throughout America.

"When the conference report was brought to the House for a vote, members were given less than one day to read the 850-page bill, a violation of House rules. When the vote was called at almost 3 a.m., voting Democrats stood unanimously with 22 Republicans in opposing the legislation. Had the vote been gaveled downin the customary 15 minutes, the bill would not have passed. So the Republican leadership held the vote open for a record three hours while attempting to change the outcome — through intimidation and other tactics that, again, violated House rules. Finding itself with a narrow lead at 5:53 a.m., the Republican leadership immediately brought the vote to a close."

Fast forward to the present. There's an upswell of concern that the government is going to "take away my medicare". Well, if you're a medicare PartD recipient, that's actually true. They ARE going to take your medicare away, and they should! You will not be left out in the cold however. You will return to regular old, every-day medicare. The way medicare was intended, and I promise you, you'll be better off for it.

Let me explain why this is a good thing:

When Medicare PartD was introduced, it was ushered in with the help of drug-company and health insurance lobbyists. As driving forces behind the bill, the only thing they really "insured" was the interests of drug and health insurance companies. With the help of congress, they succeeded in taking Medicare out of the hands of the non-profit single-payer system and into the hands of for-profit private insurance and pharmaceutical companies. As you can imagine, this presents an enormous conflict of interest.

Tax-payer dollars were then siphoned to the Medicare Part D providers, a.k.a. private insurance/pharmaceutical companies, as they would be allocated to every-day Medicare. The problem arises when these private insurers have no legal obligation to actually abide by the laws that govern Medicare. They can take those tax dollars and do with them what they will. And they do.

For example, they cherry-picked who they would cover. They would search insurance rosters for the most healthy of 65+ citizens they could find, and petitioned them for support, by signing up for PartD voluntarily. Thereby increasing the odds that they would not be burdened with actually PAYING OUT those tax dollars they received to provide proper health care to someone who might need it. Some of these private companies made people sign away their every-day Medicare rights, in order to be covered under the private insurers. For others, there wasn't even an option. And by others, I mean poor. Seniors under the Medicaid program were automatically dumped into the new PartD program without any say. In fact, the poor are some of the worse off under this program. I have linked another article, this one from the Heritage Foundation, to further enlighten the reader to some of the horrors of this "Medicare Modernization Act".

I haven't even TOUCHED the "donut-hole" issue. Basically, you pay 25% of costs for any drugs you may require, up to $2,250.00. From $2,051.00 to $3,600.00, the recipient is required to pay 100% of the cost for whatever drugs they might require. The assistance with coverage is resumed after the $3,600.00 mark, and the patient goes back down to only paying 25%, which is STILL MORE than they would pay under every-day Medicare! Whew! Now, I'm not entirely sure HOW this can be construed as BENEFICIAL, but you know what Rick James always says, "Cocaine's a helluva drug!" I kid! .......... maybe ......

As time has passed we've heard stories of people getting sick (not all of them of course), and the trusty PartD providers (which we know now just regular old private insurers) would play the same games they do with all of us, by rejecting tests, care, attention, help, information, and drugs. They also made it IMPOSSIBLE for American's to negotiate with Canada or Mexico for more COMPETITIVE drug prices, and added patent protections to generic brands. As a result of these irrational and completely cruel actions, beneficiaries under Part D pay up to 80 percent more for their prescription drugs than Medicare recipients.

So basically, all that has happened is that health insurance companies are subsidized by tax-payer dollars to make promises they won't keep, to seniors who were forced into something they weren't necessarily interested in, which also requires that they pay MORE out-of-pocket expenses to/for pharmaceutical drugs, which are ALSO subsidized by tax-payer dollars! WOW!!!! How's that for some reform?

There is SO MUCH MORE to this story, and I'm SURE there will be some reluctance to accept my word as truth, but all I ask is that if you DO CARE, you check it out. Do some Google searches for yourself. Find out what's happening. It could be your mother or grandmother or uncle or father who becomes the next victim of underhanded dealings.

Back to the rumor. The "they're going to take my medicare", rally cry. That isn't a lie, but it's also not true. They ARE going to take your medicare, IF you are currently under PartD. And if they DO take your PartD, they'll just be putting you back where you're supposed to be, under every-day Medicare, and that (a la Martha Stewart) is "a good thing".

Stay Classy Opposition, Stay Classy!

Morbid

Top 1 Percent of Americans Reaped Two-Thirds of Income Gains in Last Economic Expansion
Income Concentration in 2007 Was at Highest Level Since 1928, New Analysis Shows
Average income gains, adjusted for inflation, between 2002 - 2007:
* the top 1 percent of earners, saw a 61.8% increase
* the top 0.1% saw an astounding 94.1% increase
* while the bottom 90% saw a measly 3.4% increase.

This is just revolting. More proof that trickle-down/voo-doo economics is not much more than a license to exercise greed!

Wall Street Pursues Profit in Bundles of Life Insurance

If this doesn't make you sick to your stomach, I'm not sure anything will! These people are SICK!!! To gamble on peoples life insurance plans is absolutely revolting. And yet, the catch phrase of August was "Death Panels" and magically they attached it to Obama! Projection much?

Matt Taibbi's Response to the Above Article

Excerpt: "What’s very amusing about this New York Times article is that, while describing this, there is no passage that reads anything like, “This utterly insane plan, which will condemn all those involved with it to an eternity of elaborate torment in the afterlife, is ironically being promoted by the very institutions that only just recently tried to destroy the world by creating similar casino-like gambits based on home ownership.”

Extra Extra Read all About it!!! (Photos - NSFW)

Here's a bunch of relevant info for our day and times... at the bottom (while still informative) I've added a little treat for you all.

*light green = links!

Scary! NYT Opinion Piece: A Threat to Fair Elections - This is going backwards. We do need campaign finance reform, but NOT in the direction of allowing MORE money from MORE corporate/union interests.

The Bush Tax Cuts Cost Two and a Half Times as Much as the

House Democrats’ Health Care Proposal - But Obama's the redistributor of wealth In Chief, right?

More on the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy vs. House Dem. health care proposal

U.S. Forces in Iraq Beginning to Leave, Need for Private Guards Grows - which seems like a really good idea considering Afghanistan's recent run in with private, corporate Guards!!! Guards Gone Wild!

Click the link, but I'll post a few of my faves. FYI - NOT SAFE FOR WORK!!!

It's truly shocking that a fact checking organization is needed to prove that - Barack Obama is not the first President to Address Schoolchildren

Rescission: When your health insurance provider decides it's time they don't want to cover you anymore.

And the big daddy of the day... Matt Taibbi's unbelievable, RIGHT-ON, assessment of our sick and twisted Health Care Battle!!! Like Sir Mix-a-Lot, it's long, and it's strong and it's down to get the friction on! It's something you might even want to print out and take with you to those places we don't speak of simply because it's a lengthy read, but it is so completely dense with information and wisdom I recommend it to everyone I know, even the opposition!

After being good boys and girls, and reading up on the relevant stuff, I'm staying good to my word and linking you a treat. I now follow it myself! :)

Integrity is not an Accessory!

Matt Taibbi Rocks it again!!!

EVERYONE should read this. It is long and from time to time a bit rough to read, but it is so dense with valuable information, it BEGS attention!

Sick and Wrong: How Washington is screwing up health care reform, and why it may take a revolt to fix it!

Some excerpts:

"Let's start with the obvious: America has not only the worst but the dumbest health care system in the developed world. It's become a black leprosy eating away at the American experiment — a bureaucracy so insipid and mean and illogical that even our darkest criminal minds wouldn't be equal to dreaming it up on purpose."

"In the real world, nothing except a single-payer system makes any sense. There are currently more than 1,300 private insurers in this country, forcing doctors to fill out different forms and follow different reimbursement procedures for each and every one. This drowns medical facilities in idiotic paperwork and jacks up prices: Nearlya third of all health care costs in America are associated with wasteful administration. Fully $350 billion a year could be saved on paperwork alone if the U.S. went to a single-payer system — more than enough to pay for the whole goddamned thing, if anyone had the balls to stand up and say so."

"Will wasn't the only prominent opponent of reform openly arguing in favor of the insurance industry's right to continue doing business inefficiently. Sen. Ben Nelson, who together with Baucus are the Laverne and Shirley of turncoat Democrats, complained that the public option "would win the game." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted that "private insurance will not be able to compete with a government option." This is a little like complaining that Keanu Reeves was robbed of an Oscar just because he can't act."

"To recap, here's what ended up happening with health care. First, they gave away single-payer before a single gavel had fallen, apparently as a bargaining chip to the very insurers mostly responsible for creating the crisis in the first place. Then they watered down the public option so as to make it almost meaningless, while simultaneously beefing up the individual mandate, which would force millions of people now uninsured to buy a product that is no longer certain to be either cheaper or more likely to prevent them from going bankrupt. The bill won't make drugs cheaper, and it might make paperwork for doctors even more unwieldy and complex than it is now. In fact, the various reform measures suck so badly that PhRMA, the notorious mouthpiece for the pharmaceutical industry which last year spent more than $20 million lobbying against health care reform, is now gratefully spending more than seven times that much on a marketing campaign to help the president get what he wants."

"Then again, some of the blame has to go to all of us. It's more than a little conspicuous that the same electorate that poured its heart out last year for the Hallmark-card story line of the Obama campaign has not been seen much in this health care debate. The handful of legislators — the Weiners, Kuciniches, Wydens and Sanderses — who are fighting for something real should be doing so with armies at their back. Instead, all the noise is being made on the other side. Not so stupid after all — they, at least, understand that politics is a fight that does not end with the wearing of a T-shirt in November."

A letter to Pres. Barack Hussein Obama

Dear Mr. President,

My name is Jennifer. I am 31 years old. I live in Orange County, CA and I proudly cast my vote for you last November. I have followed you since the good ol' days. The days when myspace.com was still cool. Myspace had just recently swallowed up the dinosaur referred to as Friendster. You added me as a friend, and I was intrigued to get a friend request from someone who seemed like a pretty upstanding, diligent, hard-working civil servant. You seemed like a force to be reckoned with, so I added you even though I had no idea who you were. When you decided to run for President, I began digging. I began thinking, "wow, this is the guy who added me as a myspace friend, can he be for real? I wonder what his deal is?" The more I dug, the more interested I became, and the more I realized that you were a new breed of politician. You sounded like me. When I read your work, you seemed like someone genuinely in touch with the everyday American, but with the uncanny knack for relaying life experience, and intelligence with words. I wanted to know all I could about your history, and your politics, and your method of governing. The deeper I got, the more politically aware I became, and I was stupefied by your ease. I was mystified by your grace and calm in times of controversy. You seemed like a person the world could relate to and respect, mostly because you seem to give as much respect as you receive. You didn't condescend. You spoke to people's hearts, and it seemed like your policy backed that up.

In November, after many months of spreading the word and egging on friend after friend after friend to get out to the polls, millions of people who felt much like I did, voted for you. There are a GREAT number of reasons why they voted for you in such great numbers, not the least of which being what I described above. Your sincerity and your genuine concern for the common everyday hard-working American was refreshing, and something this country so GREATLY needed.

In recent weeks, I have found myself wrestling with a constant inner struggle regarding health care. You know, just like roughly 70% of this country knows, that we are in desperate need of reform. So I am left wondering why you would even consider turning your back on that overwhelming majority of American's who were counting on you to bring about the change we so ravenously desire? I understand that a man with your mental fortitude may see things on a much larger scale than the rest of us, and that's fine, but with your unparalleled oral mastery I would imagine there has GOT to be a way that you could explain things with a little more hutzpah. Where is the candidate who shouted "ENOUGH!" at the Democratic National Convention at Mile High stadium, in Colorado? Has the American public already worn you out in these few short months? Have you already quit on us? I know we're a hard bunch to manage, but I think you're up to it.

You know as well as I do, that about 80% of politics is being a good salesman, and I've watched you do it. For the most part, I would say that you play chess while most of the rest of us are playing checkers. And it's entirely possible that you're doing the same thing here. I tend to be of the mind that most of the opposition have run their course, and it won't be long before the wind in their sails has all but faded to calm. In the meantime however, I think it would be nice for those of us who put our trust and hope in you to lead this nation out of the crumbling empire it was becoming to see that fire you once possessed with such ease and grace. The lies and nonsense and ridicule and violence that has been perpetrated in the name of freedom should not go without rebuttal. Not just rebuttal however, but classy, articulate, logic-riddled, indisputable facts. You, Mr. President, have this gift. You sir, are absolutely capable of reigniting the grassroots flame you once had burning for you in the best of ways. You know how to motivate masses of people to be positive, informed, and passionate about what they believe in, and to take that positive, informed, and passionate opinion to the people.

I beg of you, Mr. President, PLEASE... bring back some of that fire. Show us that impassioned, bold, strong warrior with the people (notice I said with, not of or for, but with) and FIGHT for our "general welfare". We fought for you! We believe in you! Please, believe in yourself and our cause on this one. We would LOVE to get behind you once more and fight for the betterment of our nation. Many of us already are, but I'm of the mind that you have the power/gift to create a windfall of support that would prove itself to be unstoppable!

Thank you for your time.
Jennifer Salvadori~!~

P.S. Can we please prosecute some of these Wall Street/Banking MONSTERS???

C'mon people, really? Some of the things these people are saying include such nonsensical, insane material it really does sadden me. They're reciting flat-out talking points. I do have to say though... I think they're all going to be really sad when they realize their fearless leaders (?) may have blown their wad a little too soon.

"America's Affordable Health Choices Act (HR 3200) will end the Hidden Health Care Tax"

Taken from the article:

This year, every insured American family will pay $1,017 -- and insured singles will pay $368 per year -- in insurance premiums just to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured.

http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/08/hidden-health-care-tax.shtml

This woman is shameful!

What is WRONG with people these days? I mean really, freedom of speech is one thing, but to be so inconsiderate and disrespectful of your fellow man, is just shameful! I'm telling you, it's the fact that people have softened up on their ass-kicking! Used to be a day when you screamed some completely insulting jibberish someone's way, you'd get a sock in the mouth. I think it's time to reconsider the merits of such behavior!

9 things (for now) about health care!

I feel an overwhelming urge to say something. I'm not going to post a bunch of links like I usually do, I'm just going to speak to those of you out there who simply don't know what's going on, and would maybe appreciate a little information without the theatrics, and spoken to you in real life terms. Not in legislation speak, or with pomp and circumstance.

First off - As of this moment, there are 5 bills being proposed. Not one. So when somebody says, "read the bill", ask them which one they're talking about. There are 2 bills in the senate and 3 in the house. They will vote in the house, and come out with one. They will vote in the senate, and come out with one. Both houses will then go to something called a conference committee. In the conference committee, they will negotiate and nitpick both bills until they come up with ONE that they can all agree on, and then they'll take it back to their respective houses and vote on whether or not they think this bill that they came up with (AFTER THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE) is worthy of being voted into law. There is no ONE bill. Currently there is no "it". What seems to be the most commonly argued though, is Obama's proposal... so here we go.

Second - There will be no bureaucrat between you and your doctor. This is malarkey. But lets just apply common sense to this assertion. What is standing between you and your doctor right now? Some insurance claims person, who actually stands to BENEFIT from saying, "no", to whatever it might be that you desire. Even if there WERE a bureaucrat in my way, I'd by far prefer that to some money hungry leech sitting up in their ivory tower, who wouldn't dare talk to me let alone sit next to me on a subway. The only thing standing between you and your doctor WILL BE an insurance exchange. Read On.

Third - As to the socialism claim, this isn't even close. You actually do yourself and your family a great disservice when you embarrass yourself by proposing that what Obama (only one version of 5 proposed bills, mind you) is trying to accomplish, is socialism, or fascism, or communism, or my personal favorite - nazism. This is not even a single-payer solution. Obama is proposing an INSURANCE EXCHANGE. This is something wholly different from any kind of government run/socialized/communist/single-payer system. In single payer, you the patient, pick your doctor, visit your doctor, and the doctor bills the government. In other words... medicare. Yes, we DO have socialized healthcare in this country already. That said, what Obama is proposing is that INSURANCE companies be held to a higher standard. And that there needs to be a public option that is affordable, and portable, and won't drop people for pre-existing conditions, or because they lost their job, or because they forgot to tell you about that acne medication they used to take when they were 12. How is providing options and information considered socialism? Or Nazism? People need to calm the "F" down, and start educating themselves.

Fourth - This "Government Run" concept is just crazy. Do you really think all of our doctors are going to suddenly become militarized or something? They remain their own businesses. They remain private. THE INSURANCE is what is being put into question here. NOT THE SERVICE! If you ask me... government run INSURANCE will be FAR BETTER than what we've got now!

Fifth - Our current system is absolutely bankrupting us! I know people don't talk about this much, but who do you think is paying for all of those millions of people who don't have health care insurance, but break their arms and run to the emergency room (where it costs 10x more to get ANYTHING done)? Or who suddenly contract the swine flu? I mean we could just let it go, they don't have insurance right? Well how about when that person's kid, goes to school with your kid. Sure your kid's got health insurance, because you're upstanding and responsible (implying that the uninsured is a sleaze-ball of course), but maybe your kid also has asthma and a weaker immune system. Now what? We can't just stop providing care to the uninsured. People will always have emergencies. And as a NATION it's time we all started to stick up for EACH OTHER and stop being so damn greedy! I loved the movie "wall street" too, but Gordon Gecko was kind of a monster!

Sixth - When did it become UN-patriotic to want to see your fellow citizens healthy?

Seventh - When did it become patriotic to advocate a health care system that would gladly keep you JUUUUST well enough to bleed you of every nickel you own? Then you can die. When did a FOR-PROFIT health care system, in the richest country in the world become the American way?

Eighth - This "death panel" thing really bothers me. Genuinely think about this. How sick does a person have to be (or maybe just manipulative) to distort the concept of consulting with your doctor in your more advanced years about how you'd like your final arrangements to be handled (on an every 5 year basis) into being placed in front of a "death panel", who will ultimately decide your fate? That is repulsive, and it takes a warped human mind to be able to do such a thing, let alone espouse it to the nation at large!

Ninth - I will never let this die, and anyone who wants to go with me on this, I'm up for it: Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, Bill "PAPA BEAR" O'Reilly, & Rush Limbaugh are tools. Only now, a couple of them have become puppet masters. While some of them are smarter than the others, and some of them even know the news, they just don't report it! They're entertaining commentators. So if you're looking for information they probably aren't the most reliable of sources. They enjoy watching the rise they get out of people. Myself included. They like to watch people adore them. They also like to watch people work themselves into a frenzy over their nonsense. Wouldn't you? I mean if you were cold, and soulless, wouldn't you just LOVE to watch people getting all riled up over some gibberish you spewed forth, which has literally NO effect on you whatsoever. You could just hop into your jet, and watch the peon's below do all your dirty work, while you rake in money hand over fist. It's pretty sick, but it's what's happening.

If this weren't such a serious issue, I'd do my best to just ignore it, but this is pretty serious business we're dealing with here, and I'm really tired of all the disinformation being thrown around.

There's more, and I may add to it as the day goes on, but for now I think I've ranted enough. To be honest, it was kind of cathartic to get this all out. I happen to be a fan of single-payer, but that's not even up for discussion at this point. So really, I would love it... I mean LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT, if all the people who have their proverbial panties suddenly in a bunch (and in the most curious of districts) would just calm down and talk about this. I'm referring to BOTH sides too. I think if people would converse, and not scream and yell over each other, there's a chance we could actually get some positive action out of this.

Really folks, we ARE bankrupting ourselves.