acanuck's Blog

acanuck Commented on R.I.P. 'public option' by acanuck

2009-08-17T07:36:37Z

"Those who control the process."
Yes, Don, at some point -- regardless of how health care reform turns out -- the American voter is going to have to address the underlying problem.
Which is that their government, in all its branches, serves other interests than theirs.
Candidate Obama recognized that reality when he talked of rooting out the power of corporate lobbyists.
President Obama seems to be acknowledging what a small cog he is in the military-industrial-financial-congressional-media complex that holds real, though unconstitutional, power.
He harnessed the sentiment of revolt against it long enough to get elected, but the consortium runs by its own rules, and they do not include bowing to electoral defeat.
But you were saying about health care ...

acanuck Commented on No Public Option? Then Kill It by oleeb

2009-08-17T04:17:17Z

The Republicans and the industry lobbyists raise a bogus stink about "death panels" and the White House and Democratic Congress cave on the public option.
The Democrats have just handed their opposition the template they will use on any issue that Obama tries to address throughout his administration.
Embarrassing!

acanuck recommended No Public Option? Then Kill It by oleeb

2009-08-16T20:39:53Z

acanuck Commented on R.I.P. 'public option' by acanuck

2009-08-17T01:25:02Z

Don, I've read that reconciliation is a lot trickier a process than most people think.
It will be ironic (to me, at least) if Obama tries that procedural tactic to sideline his own party's progressives rather than the Senate-side bluish dogs who routinely undermine his agenda.
Maybe he's hoping a "compromise" bill will draw enough Republican votes that he can call it bipartisan. Seems like a high price to pay.

acanuck Commented on R.I.P. 'public option' by acanuck

2009-08-17T00:49:12Z

Fight for it! By all means, fight for it!
But don't waste your time telling me you'll fight for it.
Tell Sebelius, tell Rahm, tell Baucus and Conrad -- and above all, tell the president.
Because I'll repeat what Obama said yesterday; it sounds to me like a step backward -- and not a tactical one at that:
"The public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it."
Get that? "Whether we have it or we don't!" Obama's given you fair warning.
Ignore it if you want to. But don't act surprised at what gets passed.

acanuck Commented on R.I.P. 'public option' by acanuck

2009-08-16T23:33:17Z

No argument here that it shouldn't be about politics. But the moves to sabotage reform (and I think that's exactly what Baucus and Conrad are attempting) are all about politics -- and corporate fundraising.
"Watered-down" is indeed a subjective notion. I think dropping any public option is just that -- but what do I know? I'm spoiled by having a super-efficient single-payer system.
Maybe those Americans who can afford insurance from their new regional co-ops will be ecstatic about them. I think millions will still fall through the cracks.
This is not the best Obama and the Democrats could have done.

acanuck Commented on R.I.P. 'public option' by acanuck

2009-08-16T22:45:08Z

A handful of supposedly centrist senators are effectively eviscerating health care reform, yet it's the larger group of progressives who are taking a my-way-or-the-highway stance if they balk at voting for a bill they consider ineffectual?
Seems to me taking a principled position might be their democratic duty. I don't know if that would advance the cause of reform in the long term, but if the final bill is as watered-down as it's shaping up to be, it hardly matters.

acanuck Commented on R.I.P. 'public option' by acanuck

2009-08-16T21:33:26Z

Frog and Viva, please note: I didn't say a health-care reform bill was dead.
I said the public option is.
And this is not Max Baucus rejecting a public option; it's not Kent Conrad rejecting a public option. It's not every Republican senator rejecting the public option.
It's Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stating a public option is "not essential." So that's administration policy!
Not convinced?
Here's what Obama said Saturday:
"All I'm saying is, though, that the public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it."
I happen to think Sebelius and Obama are both wrong. A public option is the minimum required to pressure the insurance companies to offer actual health care that everyone can afford. Co-ops won't cut it.
What Obama said Friday still holds true:
"We are held hostage at any given moment by health insurance companies that deny coverage or drop coverage or charge fees that people can't afford. It's wrong. It's bankrupting families. It's bankrupting businesses."
Now you can get mad at me for my "defeatist attitude" -- or you can get mad at Obama, Sebelius and the congressional Democrats and let them know it.
If enough people do, maybe it will stiffen their spines for a public option. Who knows?
My preference is for a single-payer system like we have in Canada. But a "reform" that doesn't even include a public option is mostly passing a bill for the sake of passing a bill.
At that point, as Oleeb says below, the progressives might as well take a principled stand and kill the damn thing.
It won't make much difference to the millions of uninsured being left out in the cold, and public pressure to squeeze out the insurance moguls via real reform will only grow over the next few years.
Maybe President Hillary will finally, magically transform herself into America's single-payer angel.

acanuck recommended Bernie Madoff: Did the SEC indict itself last week? by Mrs Panstreppon

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acanuck Commented on Crazy Is as Crazy Does! by Deep Brain Diarist

2009-08-16T20:21:05Z

Amen to what Perlstein writes, and amen to your commentary, Brain.
Those performing their frenzied dance around what Perlstein calls The Crazy Tree are what they are: crazy, frightened, paranoid individuals.
I can even understand the lobbyists and industry shills who provoke and manipulate the Crazy Tree people to defend their right-wing agendas.
But what is truly unforgiveable is the abdication by the American media of their public trust, their public DUTY.
News-media cutbacks aren't a good enough excuse. Journalists take an unspoken oath to tell the truth, and sometimes that means pointing out that something said into the camera is, in fact, a lie.
Ignoring that responsibility in order to suck up to corporate masters (or at least not risk offending them) is cowardice and a betrayal of the principles journalism once proudly proclaimed.

acanuck recommended Crazy Is as Crazy Does! by Deep Brain Diarist

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acanuck recommended The Greatest Villain by neoboho

2009-08-15T16:36:56Z

acanuck Commented on The Greatest Villain by neoboho

2009-08-16T07:29:00Z

Since you mention Hopkins as Bligh, how about his even meatier performance in Silence of the Lambs?
Can't see Bogart's Queeg as any kind of villain. Dislikeable, yes, but really just a broken, mentally unstable man.
In the seldom-seen but great Tunes of Glory, Alec Guinness indulges a vicious streak until he drives his rival -- another even more broken man -- to suicide, then experiences a sort of redemption.
I love the jovial villains: Gert Frobe as Auric Goldfinger (a tied-up Bond, as a laser moves toward his crotch: "Do you expect me to talk?" Frobe: "No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!")
And, of course, the lovable but homicidal Sydney Greenstreet, especially as The Maltese Falcon's Fat Man.

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acanuck Commented on Obama Plans To Murder Your Puppy by Frizzletoad

2009-08-14T18:58:59Z

This blog is pure right-wing misdirection and propaganda. None of the animals you depict are going to die. They are all way too cute.
Sure, there will have to be death panels, with utility to society the main criterion. But cuteness will count!
All dogs, cats and toy tigers will get an automatic pass. Toads, frogs and other reptilian types will, unfortunately, face a sterner test.
Sorry about that, but this reform is long overdue.

acanuck recommended Obama Plans To Murder Your Puppy by Frizzletoad

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acanuck Commented on The Facts About Canadian Care by icetree

2009-08-12T20:21:30Z

Would I rather pay slightly more tax, knowing it's directly funding health-care providers -- or pay outrageous premiums to insurance CEOs, and still have to worry that it won't guarantee I get the care I need when I need it?
It's a no-brainer, isn't it?
Canada's got a conservative government at the federal level right now, but even they aren't stupid enough to try to dismantle Medicare. Surest way to electoral defeat!
If Americans can be talked, lied and bullied into keeping some version of the profit-based system you have now, it will be the final piece of evidence that the Iraq War was no fluke.
Wake the fuck up, folks. Fight the right-wing crazies and corporate shills. Your lives literally depend on it.

acanuck recommended The Facts About Canadian Care by icetree

2009-08-11T21:45:58Z

acanuck Commented on Rep. Peter King Says Health Care Crisis Is Not "A Rabid-Type Issue" While 84 Year Old Ed Koch Says He's Done With Obama by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-08-12T19:42:14Z

MJ, you say Koch's question is a legitimate one. It is not.
Before you pontificate publicly on what you fear MIGHT be in a particular piece of legislation, you have a responsibility to inform yourself as to the facts. Koch doesn't even try:
"The president, I believe, has said that there will be no restrictions on private insurance coverage. ... So, where lies the truth? I don't know."
Some advice, Ed: Find out what's actually in the text of the bills, then get back to us.

acanuck recommended On the NHS (the Brits' system) by Josh Marshall

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