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Corruption in Government Goes Public

A sad display of values from elected officials. Friggin Outrageous !!!

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10 days ago
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Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent – 1 hr 8 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Invoking the memory of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.

The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

The spectator galleries were full for the unusual Saturday night showdown, and applause broke out briefly when the vote was announced. In a measure of the significance of the moment, senators sat quietly in their seats, standing only when they were called upon to vote.

In the final minutes of a daylong session, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., accused Republicans of trying to stifle a historic debate the nation needed.

"Imagine if, instead of debating whether to abolish slavery, instead of debating whether giving women and minorities the right to vote, those who disagreed had muted discussion and killed any vote," he said.

The Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said the vote was anything but procedural — casting it as a referendum on the bill itself, which he said would raise taxes, cut Medicare and create a "massive and unsustainable debt."

For all the drama, the result of the Saturday night showdown had been sealed a few hours earlier, when two final Democratic holdouts, Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, announced they would join in clearing the way for a full debate.

"It is clear to me that doing nothing is not an option," said Landrieu, who won $100 million in the legislation to help her state pay the costs of health care for the poor.

Lincoln, who faces a tough re-election next year, said the evening vote will "mark the beginning of consideration of this bill by the U.S. Senate, not the end."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul

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All 58 Senate Democrats and two independents voted to advance the bill. All 39 votes in opposition were cast by Republicans. GOP Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio was the only senator not to vote. Montana Sen. Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who has labored on health care for more than a year, flew in from his home state on a government plane for the vote and was returning afterward to be with his ailing mother.By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent – 1 hr 8 mins ago WASHINGTON – Invoking... more

remanns
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10 days ago
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Senate Democrats win vote to begin debate on healthcare bill

Sweeping health carelegislation has cleared its first hurdle in the U.S. Senate on a... more

Future_America
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10 days ago
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Meet the republicans who Don't think rape is a serious issue

What the hell is wrong with these people? are they pro rape? or like usual did some... more

CarolineS
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13 days ago
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USWGO wants people to vote for them at Webbieworld

USWGO wants the whole world to find out about the new world order and so he wants... more

USWGO
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18 days ago
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Congressman Dennis Kucinich on His Vote

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.

http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=153995After voting against H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act, Congressman... more

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22 days ago
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Kucinich's Brave Health Vote Vs. Obama's Failed Promise

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/kucinichs-brave-health-vo_b_349857.html... more

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24 days ago
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House Nears Vote for Health Care Overhaul

Democratic Leaders Are Seeking to Calm Concerns from Moderates Ahead of Vote Planned... more

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25 days ago
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Health care vote may be pushed back due to lack of support

A House leader says Democrats haven't yet lined up enough votes to pass their health... more

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26 days ago
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Maine Votes 'Yes' on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

AUGUSTA, Maine- In a landmark vote, Maine voters today approved Question 5, making the... more

copperdragon
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28 days ago
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2 comments

Did you vote today?

Did you vote today? If have not yet voted today please do so. Your vote DOES count. If... more

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29 days ago
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2 comments

Tomorrow We Send a Message!

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30 days ago
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Why should you vote?

Put your money where your mouth is. VOTE.... more

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1 month ago
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Obama to Add Gays into Hate Crimes Law

A perspective on the latest addition to the Hate Crimes law.

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1 month ago
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Vote for us before Oct 26th 6PM EST

The work we do is currently featured on Changemakers.com, and voting for our Campaign... more

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DIRECT POLITICAL ACTION 101 by Michael Moore

FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY:

1. Declare a moratorium on all home evictions. Not one more family should be thrown out of their home. The banks must adjust their monthly mortgage payments to be in line with what people's homes are now truly worth -- and what they can afford. Also, it must be stated by law: If you lose your job, you cannot be tossed out of your home.

2. Congress must join the civilized world and expand Medicare For All Americans. A single, nonprofit source must run a universal health care system that covers everyone. Medical bills are now the #1 cause of bankruptcies and evictions in this country. Medicare For All will end this misery. The bill to make this happen is called H.R. 3200. You must call AND write your members of Congress and demand its passage, no compromises allowed.

3. Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists. Yes, those very members of Congress who solicit and receive millions of dollars from wealthy interests must vote to remove ALL money from our electoral and legislative process. Tell your members of Congress they must support campaign finance bill H.R.1826.

4. Each of the 50 states must create a state-owned public bank like they have in North Dakota. Then congress MUST reinstate all the strict pre-Reagan regulations on all commercial banks, investment firms, insurance companies -- and all the other industries that have been savaged by deregulation: Airlines, the food industry, pharmaceutical companies -- you name it. If a company's primary motive to exist is to make a profit, then it needs a set of stringent rules to live by -- and the first rule is "Do no harm." The second rule: The question must always be asked -- "Is this for the common good?" (Click here for some info about the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.)

5. Save this fragile planet and declare that all the energy resources above and beneath the ground are owned collectively by all of us. Just like they do it in Sarah Palin's socialist Alaska. We only have a few decades of oil left. The public must be the owners and landlords of the natural resources and energy that exists within our borders or we will descend further into corporate anarchy. And when it comes to burning fossil fuels to transport ourselves, we must cease using the internal combustion engine and instruct our auto/transportation companies to rehire our skilled workforce and build mass transit (clean buses, light rail, subways, bullet trains, etc.) and new cars that don't contribute to climate change. (For more on this, here's a proposal I wrote in December.) Demand that General Motors' de facto chairman, Barack Obama, issue a JFK man-on-the-moon-style challenge to turn our country into a nation of trains and buses and subways. For Pete's sake, people, we were the ones who invented (or perfected) these damn things in the first place!!FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY: 1. Declare a... more