I've been hearing Rachel Maddow and others come out scathingly against Bart Stupak and the abortion issue with the upcoming health care reform bill that's slated to be voted on soon. At first - I'm like: "yeah yeah, Bart bad bad guy..."
Then ... a couple of nights ago - Rachel had the night off and we watched Chris Hays (who did a great job - but please do something about the pen!) ... and he had on Diana DeGette from the U.S. House of Representatives on the program.
Now Rachel's contention is that there is no mention of abortion in the pending legislations ... that - Democrats didn't want this to be a sticking point for anyone in order to pass health care reform. The concept was to keep things "status quo." Which in my opinion makes perfect sense and what not.
Except.
When Diana was on the program with Chris - towards the end of the segment, she began to articulate the position a bit more differently. I'm paraphrasing, but she said that the way the current system is, a woman who has bought private insurance can be covered under her plan to receive services associated with having an abortion.
THEN, Diana DeGette stated: "We want to make sure that this feature is also available in a government created market" when health care reform passes.
Wait, wait, whoa. Huh?
Technically, there is no change or provision for abortion, HOWEVER ... When Diana articulated that she wants to have the government negotiate plans in this special health care market - that would include the same provisions as the woman who would be opting for private health care insurance ... a light bulb went off.
I think I understand Bart's contention here.
Abortion is still a very very very divisive issue as it always has been.
But it's disingenuous to portray the abortion reference as being just "status quo." It's not really. Even if the bills out there do not expressly say: "government mandated abortion options," it does say government will negotiate plans for the public just like the ones a woman can get in private ... which is technically *not* status quo anymore.
Keep in mind that this has nothing to do with the right of a woman to choose - as much as it is the coverage options and negotiations initiated by the government which I can see from Bart's perspective as being a step forward in the pro-choice column. In Bart's mind a huge step forward is my guess.
Not that I'm against that -- because I *am* pro-choice and believe that a woman should hold that decision for herself. I do think women should be allowed to get treatment and that's my personal belief and opinion. But the Bart Stupak position contemplates the overall goal for health care reform.
UPDATE: As of this entry - I noticed tonight on Rachel's program that there's little that can be done for Bart's amendment - because the Senate bill has to be passed in its entirety anyway so Bart's efforts are all for not.
But I'm disappointed a bit in Rachel - for spending so much time attacking Bart, without being a bit more credible in her reporting about what Bart's position was. There *is* a difference when you put out all the pieces on the table - and whether you're pro-life or pro-choice, one needs to remain objective when observing that there *is* a difference in the approach. Regardless of your politics - having an honest discussion is better than trying to carry on a bias-slanted one that's based on a half-truth.
C'mon Rachel - you're better than that.
Showing posts with label Health Care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Care. Show all posts
Friday, March 12, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Democrats deserve it....
Disappointment doesn't even come close to expressing how I feel about the Democratic Party right now. When I look at the headlines, hear the news accounts and wonder exactly what happened to the party that was supposed to LEAD us from the plight of the Ott years ... into a new decade.
This party has done EVERYTHING to take itself out of contention in 2010 and even 2012 because there's no unity. There's no consensus and the American people can sense this. So when this party faces its potential doom on Tuesday with the Brown v. Coakley race in Massachusetts -- I have to shake my head and say that the Democrats deserve it.
For 10 months they fought and rallied behind the man that would become their leader ... and everything this President wanted to do, every senator, every representative, every official was absolutely standing behind it ....
.... until they actually were confronted that this President was ACTUALLY going to do the things he set out to do. And then the floor began to fall out of this "super majority" which now looks like some sort of comical keystone cops convention....
It's been frustrating for this President, who thought he had every ally in alignment, in agreement, in forward thinking about health care ... only to find that he has a splintered party that supports (literally) both sides of the debate. HOW these elected representatives can side with the insurance industry is nothing short of shocking. It's unfathomable if not inherently against the ideals of the Democratic party.
That's why the Republican party is licking its lips come Tuesday. They can sense the door swinging harshly back in their favor at a time when it's surprising anyone would trust a Republican these days.
So what happened?
I do believe this President abandoned his vision for a better, stronger, more resilient America. I believe his party is a rag-tag bunch of individuals all vying for whatever political capital and cover they can get. The problem is - when they lose their majority, progress in this political climate will come to a standstill and Obama will fatefully be called a lame duck in his first term....
...thus making the Republicans look like prognosticators when all they did was muck and mire the entire process knowing full and well that the Democrats would only shoot themselves in the foot.
Well - the Republicans called that play right ... because it's pretty apparent that the Democratic majority has several self-inflicted gunshot wounds in their foot....
Independents see that weakness and they get less enthused for the President. I can't really blame them except to say that the alternative is NOT going to make this country better. But the Democratic party ultimately did this to themselves. The Republicans, in all their collective flailing about still had zero chance of overtaking the momentum.....
As he approaches his State of the Union address on the 27th - his party is in shambles. You can thank the likes of Grassley, Nelson, Landrieu, and others who completely let their blindness consume them for the greater good. What these idiots so truly don't understand is that they are NOT well liked by either party .... and hence the "once in a century" opportunity to improve a failing health care system falls squarely on these misinformed jackasses.
So I can't really say anymore except: "Good job Dems ... you got what you deserved..."
This party has done EVERYTHING to take itself out of contention in 2010 and even 2012 because there's no unity. There's no consensus and the American people can sense this. So when this party faces its potential doom on Tuesday with the Brown v. Coakley race in Massachusetts -- I have to shake my head and say that the Democrats deserve it.
For 10 months they fought and rallied behind the man that would become their leader ... and everything this President wanted to do, every senator, every representative, every official was absolutely standing behind it ....
.... until they actually were confronted that this President was ACTUALLY going to do the things he set out to do. And then the floor began to fall out of this "super majority" which now looks like some sort of comical keystone cops convention....
It's been frustrating for this President, who thought he had every ally in alignment, in agreement, in forward thinking about health care ... only to find that he has a splintered party that supports (literally) both sides of the debate. HOW these elected representatives can side with the insurance industry is nothing short of shocking. It's unfathomable if not inherently against the ideals of the Democratic party.
That's why the Republican party is licking its lips come Tuesday. They can sense the door swinging harshly back in their favor at a time when it's surprising anyone would trust a Republican these days.
So what happened?
I do believe this President abandoned his vision for a better, stronger, more resilient America. I believe his party is a rag-tag bunch of individuals all vying for whatever political capital and cover they can get. The problem is - when they lose their majority, progress in this political climate will come to a standstill and Obama will fatefully be called a lame duck in his first term....
...thus making the Republicans look like prognosticators when all they did was muck and mire the entire process knowing full and well that the Democrats would only shoot themselves in the foot.
Well - the Republicans called that play right ... because it's pretty apparent that the Democratic majority has several self-inflicted gunshot wounds in their foot....
Independents see that weakness and they get less enthused for the President. I can't really blame them except to say that the alternative is NOT going to make this country better. But the Democratic party ultimately did this to themselves. The Republicans, in all their collective flailing about still had zero chance of overtaking the momentum.....
As he approaches his State of the Union address on the 27th - his party is in shambles. You can thank the likes of Grassley, Nelson, Landrieu, and others who completely let their blindness consume them for the greater good. What these idiots so truly don't understand is that they are NOT well liked by either party .... and hence the "once in a century" opportunity to improve a failing health care system falls squarely on these misinformed jackasses.
So I can't really say anymore except: "Good job Dems ... you got what you deserved..."
Saturday, August 08, 2009
The Erosion of America
This isn't a nation I recognize.
In a selfish pit of "me" - we've emerged into a society that makes it all about the profit. We've lost our humanity as a nation.
So - when I hear about our "patriots" that go to our town hall meetings only to incite discourse, it reminds me again at how pathetic we are as a nation when it comes to doing things that matter.
On a solitary issue alone - universal health care - I don't think I have to wonder how low we can go:
- We've got comparisons to Hitler
- We've got fear mongering
- We've got distortions of truth
- We've got outright lies
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that once again - the Republican party is leading a personal crusade on the issue of health care. When you combine the putrid nature of the health insurance lobby - with the Republican shills -- well, we have an entire different level of immorality.
That's why it's painful to watch the erosion of America.
The really sad part is: America was ready for change.
But what completely boggles the mind is how the uneducated, uninformed and those that insist on perpetuating the boldface lies and distortions - insist on seeing through to Rush Limbaugh's promise that he hopes that Obama fails.
When you have such acid in your bloodstream, it's beyond comprehension exactly what your feeble view of the United States should be. Perhaps if this collective of mindless twits had the audacity to have an honest discussion about their contribution to the erosion of America - then maybe they could stop for a second and realize that what they are doing is hurting our country.
That's never going to happen though.
Not when the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Dobbs and every other hateful soul out there believes that politics is above everything. When you have that kind of soulless mentality working on your behalf -- who needs terrorists?
In a selfish pit of "me" - we've emerged into a society that makes it all about the profit. We've lost our humanity as a nation.
So - when I hear about our "patriots" that go to our town hall meetings only to incite discourse, it reminds me again at how pathetic we are as a nation when it comes to doing things that matter.
On a solitary issue alone - universal health care - I don't think I have to wonder how low we can go:
- We've got comparisons to Hitler
- We've got fear mongering
- We've got distortions of truth
- We've got outright lies
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that once again - the Republican party is leading a personal crusade on the issue of health care. When you combine the putrid nature of the health insurance lobby - with the Republican shills -- well, we have an entire different level of immorality.
That's why it's painful to watch the erosion of America.
The really sad part is: America was ready for change.
But what completely boggles the mind is how the uneducated, uninformed and those that insist on perpetuating the boldface lies and distortions - insist on seeing through to Rush Limbaugh's promise that he hopes that Obama fails.
When you have such acid in your bloodstream, it's beyond comprehension exactly what your feeble view of the United States should be. Perhaps if this collective of mindless twits had the audacity to have an honest discussion about their contribution to the erosion of America - then maybe they could stop for a second and realize that what they are doing is hurting our country.
That's never going to happen though.
Not when the likes of Limbaugh, Beck, Dobbs and every other hateful soul out there believes that politics is above everything. When you have that kind of soulless mentality working on your behalf -- who needs terrorists?
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