tagged w/ Health Care
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By David Edwards
Thursday, April 5, 2012 13:39 EDT
The chairman of the Republican National Committee is denying that his party is waging a war on women, saying it’s as fictional as the “war on caterpillars.”
In a interview that will air on Saturday, Bloomberg TV’s Al Hunt asked RNC Chairman Reince Priebus how big of a problem it was for Republicans that recent polls showed President Barack Obama with a 2-1 lead among female voters in battleground states.
“If Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that the Republicans have a war on caterpillars then we would have problems with caterpillars,” Priebus explained. “The fact of the matter is that it’s a fiction.”
“This started as a war against the Vatican that this president pursued,” the RNC chairman said, referring to the Obama administration’s mandate that health care insurance provided by religious institutions cover contraception for women. “He still hasn’t answered Archbishop Dolan’s issues with Obama-world and Obamacare.”
“How do we combat it? We make the case to women and everyone in this country — no matter what you background — that, number one, this president hasn’t fulfilled his promises. Number two, we can do better in this country in regards to jobs and the economy.”
Probable Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney earlier this week declared that he would “take our message to the women of America” to make up lost ground.
“We have work, we have work to do, to make sure we take our message to the women of America, so they understand how we’re going to get good jobs and we’re going to have a bright economic future for them and for their kids,” the candidate told supporters in Middleton, Wisconsin. “And make sure that these distortions that the Democrats throw in are clarified and the truth is heard.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/05/rnc-chair-gop-war-on-women-fictional-like-war-on-caterpillars/
Watch the video from Bloomberg’s Political Capital with Al Hunt, broadcast on April 5, 2012.
"WTF??? They have a War on Caterpillars as well???? Holy Makerel!!!" =)By David Edwards
Thursday, April 5, 2012 13:39 EDT
The chairman of the Republican... more
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By David Edwards
Thursday, April 5, 2012 10:25 EDT
President George W. Bush’s former senior advisor on Tuesday said that President Barack Obama was “some kind of political thug” because he suggested that it would be “unprecedented” for the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the health care reform law.
During his show on Tuesday, Fox Business host Lou Dobbs asked Karl Rove how Obama was handling the possibility that the court might overturn all or part of the Affordable Care Act.
“Not too well,” Rove insisted. “This is a bad way to start off, looking like you are some kind of political thug at the White House threatening the Supreme Court and basically telegraphing to them, ‘You better uphold my law or there’s going to be political damage created and I’ll help do some of the creating.’”
“I thought it was very unpresidential and probably shows the mindset of what the president might do if it’s declared unconstitutional,” he added.
As Bush’s former top political adviser, Rove was also accused of strong-arm tactics like improperly firing U.S. Attorneys for their political beliefs and engineering laws against LGBT rights to turn out conservative voters.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/05/rove-obama-a-political-thug-for-supreme-court-remarks/
Watch the video from Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs Tonight, broadcast on April 4, 2012.
"This is very interesting, what do you folks Think???" =)By David Edwards
Thursday, April 5, 2012 10:25 EDT
President George W.... more
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"This Supreme Court case is the Waterloo for political polarization, because it underscores something we should have known all along: Great changes in national public policy should never be erected on slender partisan majorities.
If they are, they will always be suspect.
It's a proposition advanced by the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who understood there's little upside to partisan policymaking. After all, he was a member of the 1983 commission that reformed -- and saved -- Social Security for a generation. The program faced collapse; a bipartisan group of heavy-hitters fixed it, together.
No one liked all that the rescue plan contained. But the work had to be done and they did it.
That kind of work is not something we see a lot of these days: health care reform, arguably the most far-reaching social legislation since Medicare, was passed strictly along party lines. Sure, the White House says -- with some justification -- that Republicans weren't interested in their plan. But would the GOP have bitten on a more scaled-back version? Would some in the GOP have broken ranks over, say, requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions so long as it wouldn't bankrupt them? Sure.
But that wasn't to be. The Democrats had a two-house majority, so the stars were aligned. And with recalcitrant Republicans vocal in their opposition, the Democrats, too, became more strident.
So reform was an all-Democratic bill, a sure way to be challenged before the high court. And no one looks good: the president, who Monday seemed to be warning the court about "judicial activism" in advance of any decision; the court, which about half of the public now believes is political anyway; and Congress, which has an approval rating so low it's hard to even find.
That's what happens when Washington's default setting is always along party lines.""This Supreme Court case is the Waterloo for political polarization, because it... more
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"Viewpoint" host Eliot Spitzer and Ruth Marcus, columnist for The Washington Post, discuss whether the current Supreme Court is showing signs of partisanship as compared to courts past. Marcus speculates that members of the court may be aware they are under scrutiny: "Having 5-4 majorities, decisions, either way with a group of entirely Republican or entirely Democratic justices is not healthy for the court, and I suspect some of the justices know that." Marcus goes on to predict an outcome for the Affordable Care Act."Viewpoint" host Eliot Spitzer and Ruth Marcus, columnist for The Washington... more
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By David Edwards
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 10:20 EDT
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was so amused by the idea of picking former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential nominee in 2008 that he suggested on Wednesday that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney should do the same in 2012.
In an interview on CBS News, co-host Erica Hill asked McCain for his thoughts on Romney’s possible VP pick.
“Sarah Palin has said that she thinks the nominee, if it is in fact Mitt Romney, should — quote — ‘go rogue,’” Hill noted. “What’s your advice?”
“I think it should be Sarah Palin,” McCain replied, laughing.
“Do you really?” co-host Charlie Rose wondered.
“I think we have some very qualified candidates,” McCain said. “Obviously, [Florida Sen.] Marco Rubio is in the top tier. [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie, there are a number of candidates we have out there. [Louisiana Gov.] Bobby Jendal, [Indiana Gov.] Mitch Daniels. We have a wealth of talent out there, and I’m sure that Mitt will make the right choice.”
The failed GOP nominee added: “Obviously, it’s a tough decision.”
Last month, McCain defended Palin after the HBO movie “Game Change” implied that she was an unqualified candidate who was picked because she was a woman.
“I thought she was the best qualified person,” the Arizona senator told Fox News host Chris Wallace.
“What I don’t understand, even in the tough world of politics, why there continues to be such assaults on a good and decent person, Sarah Palin, a fine family person, a person whose nomination energized our campaign,” he said. “We were in the lead and they continue to attack and disparage her character and her person.”
For her part, Palin told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday that Romney should “go rogue” and pick tea party Rep. Allen West (R-FL).
“Top of my list is Allen West,” she explained. “I love that he has that military experience. He is a public servant willing to serve for the right reasons. He understands the Constitution. He understands our national foreign policy issues that must be addressed. He has served. I really like him.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/04/mccain-romneys-vp-should-be-sarah-palin/
Watch the video below from CBS’s This Morning, broadcast on April 4, 2012.
"Yes, Yes, Yessss!!!! Please pick Caribou Barbie!!! Man this is gonna be a PopCorn eating Beer swilling Election!!!!" =)By David Edwards
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 10:20 EDT
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was so... more
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Miles: The Supreme Court is considering the Affordable Health Care Act, and much discussion is on the question of individual mandates and how these requirements infringe on our rights. Why is it OK to mandate auto insurance, but not health insurance? What’s the difference between cost shifting on cars and accidents, and cost shifting on health care?
JL: Automobile insurance is often suggested as an analogy to health insurance to argue that the mandate for the former justifies a mandate for the latter.
The analogy is not apt on several counts, the most important being that health “insurance” is not really insurance at all. The term “health insurance” is an oxymoron.Miles: The Supreme Court is considering the Affordable Health Care Act, and much... more
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"Viewpoint" host Eliot Spitzer gives his take on health care, Republicans and the Supreme Court. "There's no question the statute is squarely constitutional within existing precedents. The Supreme Court doesn't write on a blank slate — or tabula rasa as lawyers would say — they have to interpret precedent. The most conservative judge on the D.C. Circuit, the second-most powerful court in the nation, said with absolute clarity and no doubt the statute was constitutional.""Viewpoint" host Eliot Spitzer gives his take on health care, Republicans... more
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By David Edwards
Sunday, April 1, 2012 11:03 EDT
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) on Sunday predicted that if the United States Supreme Court strikes down a key part of President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, it could actually benefit him in the 2012 general election.
Dean told Fox News host Chris Wallace that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate was “something that’s not really necessary.”
“If the justices strike it down, it might actually help the president because people don’t like the mandate,” he explained. “But if the rest of the bill stays intact, I think it will ultimately seen as a victory for the president. He’ll do fine.”
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) indicated that his party was already planning the best way to spin the Supreme Court’s decision against the president.
“I think it will be pretty interesting if former constitutional law professor President Obama’s signature law gets kicked out because it’s unconstitutional,” the former Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman quipped. “The fact of the matter is that the law is very unpopular. Unlike most entitlements, it has continued to stay unpopular after it was enacted.”
For his part, Dean agreed that the law was unpopular, but Americans “actually do like what is in it.”
“I think the president is in great shape in health care unless they strike down the whole bill,” he added. “This is the most political Supreme Court we’ve ever had. Seventy-three percent of the American people believe that politics motivates the Supreme Court, and I am one of those 73 percent. So, I think a lot of this is going to be seen as politics.”
Barbour suggested that the president would not be able to run against the ruling because voters “are going to favor the Supreme Court’s opinion if the Supreme Court does, in fact, strike down the law.”
“President Obama’s policies on health care, on energy are his problem,” he opined. “They’re the wrong policies. They are bad for the country.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/01/howard-dean-striking-down-individual-mandate-will-help-obama/
Watch this video from Fox’s Fox News Sunday, uploaded April 1, 2012.
"Happy April Fools Day, Funny how Mr. Barbour Never did answer Mr. Wallaces first question, Hmmm!!!"By David Edwards
Sunday, April 1, 2012 11:03 EDT
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean... more
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Well, okay, it’s all over but the crying. The decision more than likely made mid-hearings is just a ruling that is a work in progress. The partisan decision was made without the benefit of the justices even reading it---after all the law is 2700 pages long. What are the justices to do but vote their respective partisan penchant instead? Certainly we can’t expect that justices appointed for life would take their oaths, purpose of office seriously. That really would be naïve. Read the Affordable Care Act law? Why when you can just rule on it?Well, okay, it’s all over but the crying. The decision more than likely made... more
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By David Edwards
Friday, March 30, 2012 12:02 EDT
Rep. Michele Bachmann insisted this week that the reason 40 million Americans “choose” not to buy health care insurance has nothing to do with the cost.
Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity after attending Supreme Court arguments on Wednesday, the former Republican presidential candidate said that the Obama administration was wrong to suggest that insurance could be regulated because everyone would eventually be in the health care market.
“One argument that the government was trying to make is that somehow health care is uniquely different,” Bachmann explained. “That government can regulate it because everyone participates. Health insurance is not uniquely different.”
“It’s still an opportunity that some people choose to engage in, but 40 million people do not.”
She continued: “And the premise was made that people don’t buy insurance because they can’t afford it. That’s not true. There are people who just decide they want to roll the dice and take their chances that they won’t need insurance.”
Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families found in 2009 that 66 percent thought Congress’ top priority should be making health care more affordable. In all, 44 percent of those polled said they had cut back on household spending in the previous two years as a result of health care costs.
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured determined (PDF) in 2007 that 80 percent of those without health insurance were working families.
In 2010, Bachmann became the first lawmaker to introduce legislation to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care reform law.
As justices were hearing oral arguments on Monday, the Minnesota Republican stood on the steps in front of the Supreme Court and told several tea party groups that “this is the day that we have been waiting for!”
“We have not waved the white flag of surrender on socialized medicine!” she exclaimed. “This is one of the most important, consequential decisions that will ever come before this court. … We believe that the Constitution means something!”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/30/bachmann-not-true-that-people-go-without-insurance-because-of-the-cost/
Watch this video from Fox News’ Hannity, uploaded March 28, 2012.
"You Bet your F***ing Asses I expect you to look through 2700 pages!!!! I expect you folks who write the Law of the Land to do so at whatever Cost!!!!"By David Edwards
Friday, March 30, 2012 12:02 EDT
Rep. Michele Bachmann insisted... more
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Justice: After three days of listening to the government make its case for ObamaCare, one thing is clear: The individual mandate has no constitutional basis or justification, and the entire law should be struck down.
We almost felt sorry for Donald Verrilli, the solicitor general who had to defend the constitutionally indefensible. Over three days of intense interrogation by nine Supreme Court justices, Verrilli failed to muster a single coherent, reasonable argument in support of the ObamaCare law's constitutionality.
Instead, his shambling, unfocused talking points left the government case in disarray — underscoring what a poorly conceived, badly designed law this was in the first place, and why it must be overturned.
In Verrilli's defense, we don't think even Clarence Darrow could have defended a law that runs so afoul of the Constitution's clear limits on government power.
From the very start on Monday, things went badly for the defense. Justices actually laughed at Verrilli as he tried to argue that penalties imposed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act weren't taxes — but rather something new called a "tax penalty."
If it's not a tax, it could be subject to the Anti-Injunction Act, which could delay or even invalidate parts of the health care law. If it is a tax, it blows away all pretense of ObamaCare preserving private insurance.
"General Verrilli, today you are arguing that the penalty is not a tax," joked Justice Samuel Alito. "Tomorrow you are going to be back, and you will be arguing that the penalty is a tax." Even liberal justices laughed.
Tuesday went no better. The government asserted the Constitution's Commerce Clause lets it regulate or control virtually anything, including health care — especially if it has a broad economic impact. Thus, a first-ever individual mandate to buy health care is acceptable.
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But sharp questioning by justices on both sides of the political spectrum splintered that argument. At one point, Chief Justice John Roberts wondered aloud, if the government can make you buy health care insurance, can't it also make you buy a cellphone?
By Wednesday, the government's case was in tatters. A Los Angeles Times headline said bluntly: "Justices Poised To Strike Down Entire Healthcare Law."
Indeed, the justices spent 91 minutes Wednesday considering what to do if the 2,700-page law was struck down in its entirety. Based on comments, at least five justices now appear to support doing that.
And they should. Contrary to White House assertions, our Constitution strictly limits government power over us. It's the great genius of our system.
But for over a century, American progressives such as President Obama have worked to undermine those constitutional limits — opting instead for a "living," ever-malleable Constitution that lets an omnipotent government define individual rights.
Overturning ObamaCare would be a big step toward reclaiming sovereignty over our own lives and restoring the rule of law in America.Justice: After three days of listening to the government make its case for ObamaCare,... more
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By David Edwards
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 10:23 EDT
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday insisted that President Barack Obama’s health care reform law should be overturned and that people with preexisting conditions should be denied coverage if they had never had insurance before.
During an appearance on NBC’s Tonight Show, host Jay Leno told Romney that he knew people that had never been able to get insurance before “Obamacare” was passed.
“It seems to me like children and people with preexisting conditions should be covered,” Leno noted.
“People with preexisting conditions — as long as they’ve been insured before, they’re going to continue to have insurance,” Romney explained.
“Suppose they were never insured?” Leno asked.
“Well, if they’re 45 years old, and they show up, and they say, I want insurance, because I’ve got a heart disease, it’s like, `Hey guys, we can’t play the game like that. You’ve got to get insurance when you’re well, and if you get ill, then you’re going to be covered,’” Romney replied.
“I know guys that work in the auto industry and they’re just not covered because they work in brake dust,” Leno pressed. “And then they get to be 30, 35, and were never able to get insurance before. Now they have it. That seems like a good thing.”
“But people who have had the chance to be insured — if you’re working in an auto business for instance, the companies carry insurance, they insure all their employees — you look at the circumstances that exist,” the candidate explained. “But you don’t want everyone saying, `I’m going to sit back until I get sick and then go buy insurance.’ That doesn’t make sense. But you have to find rules that get people in that are playing by the rules.”
The Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent pointed out that by passing health insurance mandates in Massachusetts, Romney had acknowledged that people should get coverage when they are well, but he had since moved further to the right in an effort to win the GOP presidential primary.
“So he’s forced to give a nonsensical answer to the core policy and moral question that’s left behind if we do away with Obamacare: What should the federal government do about those who can’t get insurance covarge, thanks to preexisting conditions?” Sargent wrote.
“Until Romney details otherwise, his answer, for all practical purposes, is: Nothing.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/28/romney-uninsured-with-preexisting-conditions-should-be-denied-coverage/
Watch this video from NBC’s Tonight Show, broadcast March 27, 2012.
"Brought to you by the Weasels that also brought you Death Panels!!!!" Can I get a drum roll Please!!! =)By David Edwards
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 10:23 EDT
Republican presidential... more
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Is it constitutionally permissible for those in governance, “the government” to force you and me to buy health care insurance? That’s the question that was at the center of Tuesday’s, (day two) of the Supreme Court hearings on ObamacareIs it constitutionally permissible for those in governance, “the... more
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The fate of President Obama's health care law is in doubt after three days of arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The conservative Justices indicated they have concerns about the constitutionality of the individual mandate. Today, challengers told the Supreme Court that the entire law should be overturned if the mandate is ruled unconstitutional. While the government argued, that even if the mandate is overturned, the remainder of the law should stand. The fate of President Obama's health care law is in doubt after three days of... more
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Far be it from me to predict final outcome of the Supreme Court’s final determination on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, based on the arguments from the first two days, it’s looking ugly. My best guess is that they will overturn it, but don’t ask me to bet on it.Far be it from me to predict final outcome of the Supreme Court’s final... more
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By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, March 26, 2012 19:49 EDT
Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R) on Monday said liberals should be opposed to the insurance mandate in the Affordable Care Act because it could be used against them by a future “redneck” president, according to The Hill.
“Let’s say you want to follow this administration’s idea of greatest good for the greatest number of people,” he said at a press conference. “It ought to scare liberals to come run and join conservatives, because what it means is when this president’s out of the White House and you get a conservative in there, if this president has the authority under Obamacare to trample on religious rights, then some redneck president’s got the right to say, ‘you know what, there’s some practices that go on in your house that cost people too much money and healthcare, so we’re going to have the right to rule over those as well.’”
The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Monday on the so-called individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act.
Obama’s landmark law grants 30 million Americans health insurance for the first time, bringing universal coverage closer than ever before.
But its requirement that all Americans purchase personal health insurance or pay a penalty is seen by Republicans as a breach of the U.S. Constitution.
In Monday’s 90-minute hearing, the justices considered arguments on the narrow question of whether they have jurisdiction in the case, or must wait until the law has fully entered into force after 2014 to rule on it.
“My sense was that… they seemed to be, through their questions, indicating that they thought that the court ought to rule on this,” said Price, who attended the hearing.
On the Senate floor, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attacked Obama’s signature legislative achievement as “a mess,” and said that while the president was right to seek reform, “the bill he gave us and that Democrats forced through Congress on a party-line vote just isn’t working.”
“Regardless of what the court decides, it needs to be repealed and replaced with common sense reforms that actually lower costs and that Americans really want.”
Senate Republican Jeff Sessions, who attended the hearing, expressed concern that “the courts have given too much deference to the power of the federal government and its reach.”
“This is going to be a challenge to this court to move away from the idea that anything the federal government wants to do, it’s empowered to do. That is not so,” he added.
Every Republican in the Senate and House of Representatives is on record opposing the health care reform law.
Obama’s Affordable Care Act “has become a malignant tumor, it’s metastasizing now and it feeds on American liberty,” said Iowa congressman Steve King, who has been instrumental in crafting anti-Obamacare legislation.
With AFP.
[Image via Mark Taylor, Creative Commons licensed]
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/26/rep-gohmert-warns-of-redneck-mandates-if-obamacare-upheld/
"What an Odd thing to say, was he perhaps referring to a Party Member??? Or Ted Nugent???"By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, March 26, 2012 19:49 EDT
Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R) on... more
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Facebook, senator blast bosses asking for passwords
James Cameron completes journey to deepest spot on Earth
In health care case, lawyers train for 3-day marathonFacebook, senator blast bosses asking for passwords
James Cameron completes journey... more
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By Susie Madrak
Michele Bachmann was a guest on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, and she spends some time trying to sound like a legal expert. She tries to gin up some Republican talking points about the allegedly unconstitutional mandate of the Affordable Care Act.
Keep it up, Michele. Every time you open your mouth, we get to remind people that Mitt Romney was the real author of Obamacare, and this plan was designed by the right wing Heritage Foundation:
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/every-time-michele-bachmann-opens-her
'D'OH!!!!' Please click on Link or posted photo to view... =)By Susie Madrak
Michele Bachmann was a guest on This Week with George... more
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As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) faces the Supreme Court Injustices, I am amazed at how little the general public understands about this law. This is largely do to extreme misinformation by the Republican Party and their Ministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise. Some of these lies have been repeated so often, without challenge in the MSM, that even many Democrats believe them.As the Affordable Care Act (ACA) faces the Supreme Court Injustices, I am amazed at... more
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This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of ACT UP — the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power — an international direct action advocacy group formed by a coalition of activists outraged over the government’s mismanagement of the AIDS crisis. We speak with ACT UP founding member Peter Staley, one of the longest AIDS survivors in the country; and David France, director of the new documentary "How to Survive a Plague," which tells a remarkable history of AIDS activism and how it changed the country. "I’m alive because of that activism," Staley says of the triple drug therapy he was able to take. "This was a major victory this movie tells about getting these therapies. But that was only the beginning of the battle. Now we have these treatments that can keep people alive, and there are still two to three million dying every year. There are more dying now than when we actually got the therapies to save people. So it’s a huge failure of leadership internationally. And it shows a failure of our own healthcare system." [includes rush transcript]http://tinyurl.com/77jnmswThis weekend marks the 25th anniversary of ACT UP — the AIDS Coalition to... more
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