icetree's Blog

icetree Commented on Holder Stepping to the Plate by icetree

2009-08-28T12:59:58Z

hi, Ramona--
yes, good news indeed. now may something of substance come from it.
xxx
you're right, of course, Ellen.
here's hoping they don't get bogged down in those details and that this isn't just a sop to the liberals Obama [and therefore Holder] can't survive without.

if this is just a cynical ploy to keep the voters on their side it'll backfire.
xxx
hi JNagarya--
yes. "enhanced interrogation", "simulated drowning", "extraordinary rendition". don't the powers-that-be just love their euphemisms?

of course, if they told us what they're actually up to, they'd never hold office again.

icetree Commented on RUSH TO JUDGMENT by dickday

2009-08-26T20:22:38Z

"Well the best offense is to be more offensive. So you simply claim that EVERYBODY ELSE is a" _fill in the blank_.

EXACTLY what I did when I was 8. I would do something and claim my brother did it.

My excuse is that I was 8. What are Rush's and Dick's excuses?

icetree Commented on Can we please, finally, forgive Ted Kennedy? by Ramona

2009-08-26T19:51:01Z

hey, everyone--
here's a petition asking that the health care bill that came from Kennedy's committee 1] be named for him and 2] be passed intact.

please go here and sign? thanx.
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5649/t/4922/content.jsp?content_KEY=2763&tag=hk2_e1

icetree Commented on Can we please, finally, forgive Ted Kennedy? by Ramona

2009-08-26T19:22:09Z

Ramona, I cried.
thank you for this.

yes, I was deeply disappointed and angry after Chappaquiddick. I, too, counted him out for a long time.
but then he came back and did what so many in his position have not done. for that, I'm glad he was a senator of this country.

icetree recommended Can we please, finally, forgive Ted Kennedy? by Ramona

2009-08-26T14:00:03Z

icetree Commented on Calling All Dems: Time for an Intervention by Ramona

2009-08-25T18:48:47Z

tpc-- you said a mouthful there!
"They should just do it and be done with it and if they have a bad electoral consequence later that'd be a small price to pay compared to their achievement."

And, imo, if they would just step up and do what's right there would BE no negative consequence! They'd get the votes of all but the most FRWN's who are, no matter how vocal, a tiny fraction of the voters in this country.

As things stand, they're losing the independents and even a lot of people who will vote Dem -- just for someone else -- and THEN the consequences will be negative for them.

How come we the people know that and they don't?

icetree recommended Calling All Dems: Time for an Intervention by Ramona

2009-08-21T22:51:09Z

icetree Commented on Calling All Dems: Time for an Intervention by Ramona

2009-08-25T18:27:03Z

hi Ramona--
GREAT post -- and one we need to read over and over and pull our friends in to read and call their friends.

imnsho, one of the slippery slopes we have slid down is, somehow, deciding that what someone does in the bedroom is more important than what [he, most often] does in the Oval Office or on the floor of the Senate or the House.

Some of the greatest ones haven't kept their britches zipped and have still managed to pull off some of the most important things this country has ever done.

Our country needs to get past its adolescence and its chanting of, "Huh uh! I'm gonna tell!"

icetree recommended Instant Water (just add water) by Donal

2009-08-24T23:24:18Z

icetree recommended "I Don't Think Everybody Needs Healthcare Coverage." by Kris Broughton

2009-08-24T11:52:08Z

icetree Commented on The Facts About Canadian Care by icetree

2009-08-13T00:35:14Z

hi, synchronicity--
I agree with your view. as to why single payer was left out-- the insurance lobby won this round.
we need to get what we can this time and try again in 4 years or so.
xxx
Karen09--
you are too right. our system is badly broken.
xxx
thecleverbulldog--
what utopia? the post certainly didn't paint that picture, imo.
still-- when The Commonwealth Fund, a non-partisan organization looked at deaths that could have been prevented had appropriate care been available and Canada rated 6th in positive outcomes while the US rated last -- well, I have to wonder.
Do you?
xxx
nebton--
people keep bringing up wait times -- just as if they didn't happen here.
and just as if people who can't pay aren't waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting and either dying or going bankrupt.

at least in Canada, it will be paid for. they will get care. generally speaking, urgent matters are taken care of immediately.

the system did have problems during the 1990's during their recession. and the gov't worked to close those holes.

closing the holes -- that's what our proposed plan hopes to do, too.

and, yes, I agree with you about the size issue.
still, the bottom line is-- our system is broken. we need to fix it.
xxx
hi, sagesource--
exactly. we gripe about our government, too. still, if China suddenly decided to go democratic and the nay-sayers came up with the argument that the people in our country gripe about our gov't so they should maintain their status quo--- would that argument make sense?

and your point about the neonatal beds is exactly right. Canada pays for women with high-risk pregnancies to come south if needed.
xxx
hi, msa3
so your argument is:
their system is better so they should have good health care.
our system is worse so we shouldn't.

how about if we work to make our system better rather than settling for ranking 19 out of 19?
xxx
acanuck--
I wish I'd said that. eloquently put.
xxx
hi canuckjourno
thanks for your insights. we need em.
yes, it's obvious serious money is behind all the propaganda. it's so sad that pushing fear works so well.
xxx
dickday--
bet that if such a thing DID happen in Canada, the scandal would split the country wide apart.
it would be the CEO's, not the politicians that got hanged in effigy.
xxx
I'm sorry that happened to you FDRdog-- a month
to get a broken bone treated??? that's criminal.
and TWO to see a specialist? I hope the condition wasn't serious and that you're better now.

the piece I heard on NPR said that general insurance outside the state-provided program isn't allowed. people can carry insurance for the things the state doesn't cover: optometry, dental care and prescription drugs.

icetree Commented on Lets be clear on the Health Debate - one doctor's perspective by Corpiscator

2009-08-11T22:59:58Z

I had a clogged gland I needed to have inspected. I wanted to be sure it wasn't cancer and, if not, have it lanced.
It wasn't cancerous and the entire procedure took 20 minutes, 2 Betadine swabs and 1 gauze pad.

Total cost: $1,200.00. $700 of that amount was charged for the space I took up in the hospital's waiting room. $500 for the doctor's time and, presumably, the swabs and the gauze.

There is something desperately wrong with that system.

icetree recommended Lets be clear on the Health Debate - one doctor's perspective by Corpiscator

2009-08-11T22:20:37Z

icetree Commented on My Words on Bill Moyers' Lips - I'm Speechless by Ramona

2009-08-02T16:01:31Z

you go, girl!
I always knew you made a difference. now Bill knows it, too. and, hopefully, so do you.

icetree recommended My Words on Bill Moyers' Lips - I'm Speechless by Ramona

2009-08-02T14:38:39Z

icetree Commented on Marching Resolutely Backward by icetree

2009-07-31T20:38:13Z

thanks, Ramona

icetree Commented on Marching Resolutely Backward by icetree

2009-07-29T14:28:05Z

thanks, Ramona.
I just wish they weren't so true.

your comment on my blog got me off the dime and I finally got it posted over here.

icetree Commented on That Jefferson - What a Spoilsport by Ramona

2009-07-29T14:19:20Z

hey Ramona--
yes, as you said on my blog -- you and I are on the same wavelength.

eloquently written. so sad that you had to spend your talents on a eulogy.

icetree recommended That Jefferson - What a Spoilsport by Ramona

2009-07-29T13:47:44Z

icetree recommended Maher Socks it to the Profiteers - Why hasn't everyone else? by Ramona

2009-07-24T13:04:44Z

icetree recommended Cheney's Hit Squad? by Jon Taplin

2009-07-12T15:52:31Z

icetree recommended Looks Like We're Getting A Bush-Era Torture Investigation by steve katz

2009-07-11T20:42:50Z

icetree Commented on Looks Like We're Getting A Bush-Era Torture Investigation by steve katz

2009-07-12T16:29:27Z

back when Obama stepped on Holder's toes by ruling out such investigations I speculated, on my blog, that this might be the outcome he was hoping for. after all -- nothing gets the head of any department more kerfuffled than treading on his turf -- which Obama most certainly did.

and I agree with markg8 that timing will be everything.
as has been pointed out repeatedly, the O has to get his agenda passed before mid 2010. after that, may they pull out ALL the stops!

icetree Commented on Cheney - First Rule of Spy Club by Tim Fuller

2009-07-12T16:21:08Z

I agree with dickday's analysis.
while it's true that all governments show signs of paranoia, Nixon's US went WAY beyond the pale.

icetree recommended Why Doesn't Obama Call Republicans Out For Wanting America To Fail? by M.J. Rosenberg

2009-07-12T15:52:52Z