Howard Dean: “Kill the Senate Health Care Bill & Start Over!”

After months of debate, infighting, and all out tom-foolery, former Democratic presidential candidate, and DNC chairman, Howard Dean thinks that we should scrap the health care bill and start over. According to Dean, all of the negotiations and deal making has water down the bill so much that what is being proposed in the Senate isn’t truly health care reform. Dean, who thinks there are good elements in the bill, believes that the current legislation being debated in the Senate (which lacks the public option) is more of the same old ish. “No one will think this is health care reform. This is not even insurance reform,” he said.

Dean, of course, has more insight into this topic than most other elected officials due to the fact that he is actually a physician.
That’s why his words are resonating so strongly in the blogospehere.
According to several sources, Dean even stated that America needs to start over in Obama’s second term. (If he gets a second term.)

Man, it’s hard to believe that after all this craziness, Congress still continues to jerk around the American people, especially young folks who will have to pay for these half-baked reforms.

Posted by:

Biko Baker

One of the Worst (Muslim) Weeks Ever

Peace peeps. If you thought my blog on my experiences observing and partaking in the November elections in Maine was provocative, my latest musings on WireTapMag.org around the Fort Hood killings, the death of DC sniper-John Allen Muhammad and the trial of alleged “mastermind” of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (“Who’s Afraid of the ‘Muslim Boogeyman?’”) is sure to raise those stakes.

Check it out over at Wiretap!

Posted by:

Joshua Fahiym Ratcliffe

Kanye and Joe Wilson: Who Cares?

Time to admit something: I’m kind of uncool.

On a scale of one to badass, I’m somewhere around Screech from Saved by the Bell.

Maybe that’s why I’m a little jealous of Kanye and, to some degree, even Joe Wilson.

These guys have been cocky enough to actually yell out and take over our collective attention with their bad behavior for the past week or so and to some degree – I kinda envy that. But it takes a certain type of person to bluster on loudly while important things are actually happening.

And all the while, nobody is talking about the issues we actually give a damn about. What ever happened to that little health care reform thing? Or the fact that the racism we all believed to be dead is making a resurgence in ‘news’ punditry? Or an effective, progressive climate bill?

It’s kind of like our eating habits. More often than not, we’ll choose a big, juicy gossip Big Mac over a nutritious fact salad. And we’re infinitely worse off for it. As young Americans, we really need to reevaluate our news habits… or soon enough, we’re gonna be watching the weekly (Insert Pundit Here) Hot Dog Eating Contest And Face Punch Challenge for our daily updates on the state of the country.

Could be just the Screech side of me talking though.

Posted by:

Steve Romain

School House Rock? I Prefer Dr. House Rock.

According to a recent poll for the AARP, most people still don’t know what the public option actually entails.

Even after all the rhetoric, the posturing, the partisan politics, three out of five people do not know what is on the line. Peep the stats:

“A new survey by Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates for the AARP reveals widespread uncertainty about the nature of the “public option” — a government-run health insurance policy that would be offered along with private policies in the newly-created health insurance exchanges.” When given three separate choices as to what the public option entailed, only 37 percent of people chose the correct option. 26 percent of people believed the public option would be a nationalized health care system like Great Britain, while 13 percent thought the public option would be a network of health care co-ops. The final 23 percent of people didn’t know.

Luckily, I’m feeling pretty generous today, so I spent some time tracking down a little video which will put any confusion to rest. End of story. Send it to your friends and stuff, so you can let that guy next door who cries “OH MY GOD IT’S SOCIALISM WTF” whenever anyone mentions health care reform that he is basically a nut job.

Check the video after the jump. It’ll give you the straight dope about what health care reform is and what it isn’t. AND it’s a pretty cute cartoon too. Chloe Hilliard would be proud.

… Continue Reading

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Steve Romain

14 Myths About Health Care Reform

Isn’t Twitter amazing. Really?! Who would have ever thought that finding cool ish on the Internet could be so easy? Like yesterday, someone tweeted out this fresh (like hi-top fades and spike lee movies) link to a list of all the myths about heath care reform. I am glad someone is cutting through the B.S. Check out the link and come back and let me know what you think. I personally thought it was hecka helpful. Shouts out to Mediamatters.org

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Biko Baker

The X Fact(her): Health Care Reform for Dummies

Can someone please tell me why these people are mad?

Haven’t they watched SICKO? Well maybe their Senators should hold a town hall meeting where they watch the Michael Moore documentary about health insurance in America and let see if they continue to bitch and moan about Prez Obama’s proposed reform.

I won’t pretend to know the ins and outs of the bill that is on the table but I do know I need cheaper health care.

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Chloe

Time for America’s Check-Up

Are you one of the 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance? Think you’re paying too much for too little if you do? Either way, you’ll probably welcome the news that a plan for health care reform is one step closer, thanks to an announcement Obama made Sunday that placed reform costs at 1 trillion dollars over ten years rather than the 1.8 trillion dollars that had been announced earlier. It’s a reform he labeled a “necessity rather than a luxury.”

Just about everyone agrees that it’s necessary to offer insurance to all Americans and to control healthcare costs from skyrocketing. Despite this, a bipartisan agreement is still far from a done deal. Much of the disagreement stems from a public/private divide and from concerns over the sheer amount of money needed to overhaul the system. Some feel that 1 trillion dollars is still too much money to be spending on health care—which it is. It’s a lot of money period. But in the grand scheme of things, it feels like something worth investing in. Put it into context: in 2009 alone the US will be spending 1 trillion dollars on defense-related issues, including the military and two wars. What’s another trillion dollars spread out over ten years, especially if it is an investment in the future happiness and well-being of Americans?

Besides, the system can’t get worse than it already is. The US pays more for health care than any other country—approximately $5711 per person each year. And you get significantly less bang for your buck than other countries: lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and less coverage (15% of Americans don’t even have access to healthcare). It’s kinda like forking over the money for a gourmet meal and ending up with a corn dog.

At this rate, any reform seems better than no reform at all.

Posted by:

Yolanda Clatworthy