Kucinich's Brave Health Vote Vs. Obama's Failed Promise
There were plenty of cowardly votes in the House last night but there was only one truly brave one. The unsung hero of the night was Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich. Despite enormous pressure to support H.R. 3962, Rep. Kucinich did the right thing and voted 'no'. Unlike the Blue Dog votes against the bill, he did it for all the right reasons.
In a principled and practical statement, Rep. Kucinich said what a growing number of progressives have realized as we've watched real health care reform be compromised again and again.
During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The "robust public option" which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.
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- SleepDirt
- added this
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Weak, timid people who expect things to change without committing to such a change deserve what they get.
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- Progresshiv
- 16 days ago
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Kucinich is the man for standing up for the people once again. We need more like him if we are to have health care reform.
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"People like Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader and Michael Moore have been made pariahs by establishment Democrats. They have all been marginalized and made fun of...but check their records. They have been considered 'fringe' because they are telling us the truth about corporate abuses..."
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LMAO So you don't like the house bill, and you think it's Obama's fault? Last I heard we had 3 separate branches of government, independent of each other intending to provide checks and balances upon but not control one another. Did any of you call your Representatives and tell them you wanted single payer or strong public option? I doubt it, because for your type, bitching while sitting on your ass at your computer is easier.
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"Politics is the showbiz of industry." - Frank Zappa
Washington has become Versailles. We are ruled, entertained and informed by courtiers. The popular media are courtiers. The Democrats, like the Republicans, are courtiers. Our pundits and experts are courtiers. We are captivated by the hollow stagecraft of political theater as we are ruthlessly stripped of power. It is smoke and mirrors, tricks and con games. We are being had. - Chris Hedges
“They call it the 'American Dream' because you have to be asleep to believe it.” - George Carlin
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- WhiteNoise
- 16 days ago
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Speak truth to power. Someday people might see the use in helping all people, to raise society up .
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- treewolf39
- 15 days ago
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Kucinich is grand standing, and placing his own interests above the interest of the party and the nation. Politics is about compromise.
Kucinich may enjoy stroking his ego by being a maverick and a purist, but his vote was cowardly and egotistical.
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- unimatrix0
- 15 days ago
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After voting against H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement:
“We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system.
“Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick.
“But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies — a bailout under a blue cross.
“By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress’ blog, Think Progress, states “since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.” Similarly, healthcare stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that “money will start flowing in again” to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy.
“During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The “robust public option” which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.
more... http://current.com/items/91405678_kucinich-votes-no-and-explains-why-hr3962-is-f...
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If Kucinich and the Repugs wanted Americans to have health care, they were in office 8 years under Nixon/Ford, Reagan and Dubya and not a whisper of it. They want what the rich can afford and nothing for the working class and poor families across the land. Vote for our party and we will ignore you and keep government out of your lives until we need your vote again. Seems ike that is the only thing the repugs have been constant about for the working class and poor.
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And yet, with everything that we see and hear from these politicians, people still vote and believe in them. Why???????
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Because most of what you see and hear is intended to discourage participation and belief in them.
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Marcia Angell, M.D.
Physician, Author, Senior Lecturer, Harvard Medical School
Posted: November 8, 2009 08:02 PMWell, the House health reform bill -- known to Republicans as the Government Takeover -- finally passed after one of Congress's longer, less enlightening debates. Two stalwarts of the single-payer movement split their votes; John Conyers voted for it; Dennis Kucinich against. Kucinich was right.
Is the House Health Care Bill Better than Nothing?
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marcia-angell-md/is-the-house-health-care_b_350190....Sick Democrats
The Next Phase in Health Care Apartheid
By NORMAN SOLOMON
http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon11052009.html-
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- WhiteNoise
- 15 days ago
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