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Bill Moyers Points to TPM Cafe Over Wendell Potter Interview
Hmmmm . . . This is GREAT to see . . .
Very very interesting . . .
And big huge THANKS goes out to Ramona for her efforts here in her blog . . .
Bill Moyers shines light on the health
insurance mess - a Journalistic Best
The video and transcript link for Moyers' show from last night is here:
pbs.org/moyers/journal/07312009/watch.html
Here's Moyer's opening:
One blogger at the widely read website Talking Points Memo summed up what many had to say:"I beg everyone who reads this and clicks onto the link to send it on to everyone you know. Send it to your congressmen, your governors, your legislatures, the White House. Get an email chain going--put the link up on yard signs or billboards. Put it on bumper stickers. Stencil it on tee-shirts or tattoo it onto (sic) your forehead. Whatever it takes. This is a television event too important to let die... Keep it going."
Well, it's alive and well, and thanks to this station, you're about to see it again. The message is even more timely. You heard Wendell Potter tell us how the industry would try to shape the health care debate as it played out in Washington over the summer. Sure enough, that's exactly what has happened. By pouring millions of dollars into lobbying -- including hiring more than 350 former members of congress and government staffers and by enriching incumbents with campaign contributions -- the health care industry is winning again.
If you have not viewed this latest particular program, it's a must see...
And let's continue to help Ramona and Moyers take this video viral.
Again ... Here's the link.
~OGD~
ps: I don't do this often, but I request your help to get this post up to the recommended read posts and possibly to the front page of TPM. Thanks . . .
.
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I watched program and sent link for transcript with note to my email list. I'm also sending to all other media outlets (CNN, FOX, Network, papers here, et al.) asking them why this information (facts) is not being published via their own media outlet.
I hope someone does a blog on Baucus previous staffers (lobbyists now) and some of the more vital points.
I also urge all to support PBS. I send donation as they are really struggling and they so important as a resource (such as this program).
Thanks for this blog! Strongly Rec'd!
August 1, 2009 1:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Auntie Sam . . .
You're one of the best ... and all of you who reads this know you are the rest of the best too.
Your recommendation to send the PBS link to all other media outlets is spot on the mark.
It wouldn't hurt to send it to each individuals representative and Senate member. Even if they don't watch it personally one of their staff members will check it out and let them know what's out there.
Thanks for commenting and for the recommendation.
~OGD~
August 1, 2009 2:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
Actually,
I think it's best to provide the a link but quote parts that you want to emphasize. CT has advised us in the past that they are not likely to do more 'work' like look at a link but maybe if you quote part of what is in the link they will be interested enough to take a look. If you leave it to the link alone... it's likely they won't check it out.
Great post! Thanks!
August 1, 2009 2:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
OGD and all...
I believe it would be a very good thing to keep this link and info alive here. What do u think about posting this link and other like ones everyday?!? With a bit of the transcript as you have done below too?!?
August 1, 2009 10:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
And please send this on to your email lists too. My Republican congresswoman who is about as anti-reform as you can get, (her daughter is a healthcare insurance lobbyist) has put a straw poll up at her website asking the question "Do you support the health care proposal that's in the House right now?"
Please pass the word to anybody who wants an overhaul of our awful system to go to her website and vote yes. We were winning this thing last night with 79% of the vote when I first got her email. We dropped down to 64% by the time I went to bed last night. This morning we're back up to 72%! Let's prove her wrong on her own website.
http://judybiggert.house.gov/
August 1, 2009 10:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
I got it goin and I received a lot of feedback Mark.
August 1, 2009 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes dd, after I sent email I did some homework and then voted YES!
August 1, 2009 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh Auntie, thank you so much. I was not intending to cause a bunch of confusion. I trust MarkG intrinsically. He says this bill is ok, its ok.
He is a good man to trust!!!!!!!!!!
August 1, 2009 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you Dick. Congresswoman Biggert is way out of touch. On her teletown conference call Monday night she complained she didn't have enough time to work on the bill, after admitting the House was in session at that moment, working on the bill. A caller had to tell her the bill's number is HR 3200.
If everybody votes for reform at her website she'll have to change her tune. It'll put her on the defensive and I'll spread the word far and wide that a Repubican's own straw poll, on her own website, showed overwhelming support for real reform.
August 1, 2009 11:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Back up to 71.4% now.
August 1, 2009 10:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's been over 71% all morning. Way to go TPMers!
August 1, 2009 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did it and passed it on to my e-mail list asking them to pass it onto theirs.
count was over 72 percent when I signed.
August 1, 2009 11:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Now down to 70.5%, she's probably scrambling to get the NRCC to send it out to their mailing list. Not gonna work Judy, we want an overhaul of this crooked system and we want it now.
August 1, 2009 11:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
First, thank you for this post.
Now regarding Bigget specifically:
I read her opinion on health care, which is posted at her site. It's called "Reform not Revolution". Never have three words so epitomized the massive failed mentality of our elected reps.
She puts forth the faulty argument, complete with the distortions and misleading assertions we have all heard time and time again:
"Congress is poised to vote on dramatic changes to our nation’s health care system. But like many, I believe we need reform, not revolution. For most Americans, including those with private health coverage, the bill before Congress will mean major changes – or even an end – to their current plans or benefits. Others will find themselves affected through new taxes, employer mandates, and regulations on what medical options are available for providers and patients.Proponents argue that a government-run plan is the only way to reach the uninsured.
I disagree. The current proposal would drive out higher-quality insurance options enjoyed by many families today, and could force as many as 11 million seniors from their Medicare Advantage plans. All of this will cost taxpayers $1.6 trillion over the next decade alone.
At over a thousand pages long, the bill will create more than fifty new bureaucracies, generate miles of red tape, and let Washington make decisions for doctors and patients. The end result? Revolutionary changes in medicine, including rationed care, lower standards, and long waiting lists for such common procedures as knee replacements or bypass surgery.
To finance this plan, the bill would raise taxes on employers, hitting individuals and small businesses especially hard. At a time when more than one in ten Illinoisans are already out of a job, I don’t believe that anti-jobs taxes are the answer.
Health care is a national problem affecting every American, and I know that it requires comprehensive reform. Many still lack access to quality care, and premiums continue to skyrocket. Too often, doctors are compelled to practice costly, defensive medicine while preexisting conditions go uncovered and untreated. At the same time, small businesses struggle to provide for their employees.
Unfortunately, many in Congress seem intent on rushing forward with an ideologically-driven, big-government plan while ignoring commonsense ideas that would actually curb costs, protect taxpayers, and improve the overall quality of care.
I think we can do better. I’ve fought for real reforms that will reduce health care costs for all Americans while also expanding coverage. We need to curb frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits that drive up costs for everyone. Let’s renew the emphasis on preventative care, utilizing the latest in gene-based medicine. We also need to protect taxpayers by combating the waste, fraud, and abuse that is rampant in the Medicare system. And by developing better health information technology, we can eliminate unnecessary paperwork while reducing costly and often tragic mistakes. Most importantly, let’s finally allow small businesses to band together in Associated Health Plans, enabling them to take advantage of the same large-volume discounts and benefits enjoyed by large employers. These simple reforms would save hundreds of billions of dollars and reduce the number of uninsured Americans. They also would make health care more affordable for working families and small businesses, while protecting doctor-patient relationships. I plan to oppose the revolution, but I will continue to work for these real reforms."
Now we all know this is not her opinion. This is not her thinking. This is the thinking that was sold to her by her party and she is trying to sell to her constituents.
I'm not as versed at refuting all the points as others, but it would be great if someone with more focus and knowledge did so, not just here, but on her site.
All politics is local. We have to disseminate the truth at a local level so that reps like Bigget aren't able to conveniently disseminate these decades-old lies, free from personal consequence. By that, I mean that each rep should be called out and held personally accountable for hiding behind a party line.
That is what works best. And it works regardless of party. Push the faces, not the party. When you run ads that call out each person for accepting insurance or pharmaceutical hush money, like Ben Nelson or Max Baucus, and you hold each responsible for employing the "distort, demonize and delay" political tactics, then those people are forced to confront their own vulnerability.
August 1, 2009 11:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
She just cuts and pastes the same old scare tactics. And why not? They've worked before. Her daughter is health insurance company lobbyist so she has no intention of reforming anything if she can help it. Let's show her we want the change we voted for last year.
Patients in our current system are like the rope in a tug of war between providers who want to get payed as much as they can and insurers who want to pay as little as they can. All too often what gets lost in the process is what's actually best for the patient. Vote yes for healthcare reform at:
http://judybiggert.house.gov/
August 1, 2009 11:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
I wasn't able to find a comment section that accompanied her post "Reform, not revolution".
It is interesting that leading Republicans aren't holding town halls on the subject of health care. It's important, I would imagine, to avoid interaction with constituents when you're on the wrong side of an issue. And with health care, it's like being on the mega-wrong side of an issue.
Republicans are not even participating in a current debate--I don't know what decade they're in, but it's not this one.
Maybe it's best to focus on dems who are stalling and dragging their feet. But knowledge is power and the more constituents of either party are able to bat down the pervasive myths of "socialized medicine" and "government rations of health care" and other ludicrous assertions that have stood the test of time, the better off we'll all be.
August 1, 2009 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
We had a meeting with her on 6/29. She complained about Campaign for Better Healthcare sending out an email asking people to show up. Apparently she thought it was going to be a private little chat with a special interest group that her campaign contributors didn't have to know about.
The purpose of the meeting was to tell her some of our really horrible healthcare stories and most importantly to get her to commit to attending a bigger event in a hall that'd hold more than the 15 people she allowed into the conference room.
Her compromise was to tell us she'd have her staff organize her own "summit", that they'd control, with a panel of experts, of which we'd get to pick one.
We don't need or want a potemkin pr event where we're lectured by industry shills about what's good for us.
August 1, 2009 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's their style. A few years back, during the fight to defeat the horrible anti-immigration Sensenbrenner bill, Chris Chocola brought John Boehner and another Republican rep from somewhere downstate to hold a "public hearing." A bunch of people who had been working on the issue locally attended, hoping to have our questions answered. Instead, the three kings sat on a dais while they heard "testimony" from three white guys they had hand picked. It was a joke.
On the plus side, I did get to see two of the worse fake tans in the history of the world. Maybe that's why I can't remember who the third Congressman was--Chocola and Boehner blinded me.
August 1, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good old Count Chocula, one of Josh's favorites. Came out heavily for Social Security privatization and never lived it down. What's he doing these days? Selling insurance?
August 1, 2009 5:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's running the Club for Growth.
OT, why can't conservatives pick less chuckle-worthy names for their organizations?
August 1, 2009 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
What you prefer? Truncheon for Tax Cuts? Cudgel for Corporate Profits.
August 2, 2009 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Sync . . .
Thanks for dropping in.
Maybe folks could do something like the following ... Eh?
I'm sure CT can come in and straighten this out if it doesn't meet CT's rules and regulations.
Thanks again for dropping by -- Sync...
~OGD~
August 1, 2009 3:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jeez, not sure if you're being sarcastic in thanking me for showing up but it seemed practical to share based on the way it makes sense that staffers looking at tons of communications every day are probably not going to look at the links we reference...? but the comment about CT's 'rules' made me wonder... just trying to be helpful:)
August 1, 2009 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
FAR FRICKIN OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAH RAMONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YEAH OGD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 1, 2009 4:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Highly REC'D! Well done Ramona!!!
August 1, 2009 8:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Well done, Ramona for attracting national attention. Well done, OGD, for your indefatigable, reportage and detailed analysis. And well done, CT, for how-to(fax) credit where it is due.
August 1, 2009 8:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Did the reccy thing, of course, and will send the link to my mailing list.
One more thing I'm going to do is send an e-mail to Bill Moyers, thanking him for taking this on. He's the last of the great ones, and if it wasn't for his stature I'm sure PBS would have him out the door by now.
I'm also going to connect with my local PBS station (WGBH) and tell them that if it wasn't for persons of the integrity of Moyers I'd have stopped contributing long ago.
August 1, 2009 8:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
While you're at it, AMike, could you make a request to bring Ted Koppel back in some meaningful way?
August 1, 2009 10:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
He's the other great one...I simply pretend ABC doesn't exist since Nightline disappeared.
August 1, 2009 11:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
So far (to my knowledge) PBS is the only one that regularly lists how much healthcare companies spend in ad revenue and each politicos contributions from these entities.
Again, hope everyone can find some amount to donate to PBS!
Thanks amike!!!!
August 1, 2009 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
It is marvelous that Moyers picked up on Ramona's comment!
We are now in the predicament we are in because our leader---the President has done a poor job leading the vast majority of citizens in demanding the healthcare reform the nation needs. His naive and thoroughly Washington influenced view of working with the evil doers has failed as anyone with half a lick of sense easily predicted. He has also failed to mobilize the millions of people on his lists in any effective way because those lists are used primarily for fundraising and not for activism. There is and never was any "movement" for change emanating from his former campaign. Now the forces of reaction and predatory wealth have gained full control of the debate and intend on killing the whole bill outright and hopefully the Obama Presidency with it. It is time the President and the Congressional Democrats make the choice they should have made long ago: will they fight for what they say the believe in on behalf of the people or will they capitulate and concede the power we have given them to the special interests who are bankrupting our families, businesses and nation?
The President should decalre right now and in public that unless the bill that comes out of Congress includes everything that he has outlined as he has outlined it, that he will veto the bill and come back in January with a single payer bill that has the backing of the majority of Americans. He should add that he will call for mass demonstrations in Washington and around the country for single payer beginning early next year. That is about the only thing that will get their attention because at this point they think they've got the conciliatory, bipartisan fetishizing Obama and the rest of the corporate Democrats right where they want them and they are right.
If only the President would actually demonstrate some political courage and lead the Democrats in Congress and the people on the path we know he knows is right (single payer which he supported until he started running for President and getting millions from the parasites)then we would see different dynamics and a different outcome. As it is, with Emmanuel and other prominent DC insiders committing the same predictable strtegic and tactical errors the Dems always commit, we should expect exactly the same outcome those tactics always produce: defeat or a version of the desired legislation so watered down as to be totally ineffective. We don't need any more of that crap.
It is far more honorable to fight for the right and to lose after giving it your all than to fight for what you know is not right in the hopes that it has a better chance of passage and then lose, not because you were too idealistic but because you never fought to win in the first place. We have seen over and over and over again that is a losers strategy yet the Democrats of Washington DC insist on repeating it over and over and oever again.
August 1, 2009 10:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks Ramona and thanks to OGD for reminding us of an important lesson. It may seem at times that we labor alone in our thoughts and our writing without effect but it only seems that way.
Feel – Think – Write – Rewrite – Publish - Sing.
August 1, 2009 10:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is great, from Jonathan Alter:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/209817/page/1
An excerpt:
August 1, 2009 12:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks OGD!
Go Moyers and Ramona!
August 1, 2009 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ramona, I remember you lamenting about what was "wrong" with you.
Well, you were just extensively quoted - and by Bill Moyers, no less. I'd have to say, there isn't anything wrong with YOU whatsoever. :)
Well done, and keep up the good work.
OGD: Thanks for highlighting this with a blog post. I've always said that we're eventually going to get there on health care, but that we needed something other than the "all-or-nothing" approach from 1993-94.
If we keep the heat on about the public option, I really believe that we'll either end up with single payer or significantly improved provider pricing, with near-total coverage either way.
I'm really impressed by the work you and other TPMers are doing on this. I wish I could be more involved, but I'm swamped right now. Keep it up!
August 1, 2009 6:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh my gosh, Boyd, I said that?? (I did, but I didn't think I'd ever see it again!)
Thanks for commenting. Cloud Nine today, back to work tomorrow.
August 1, 2009 10:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks so much, OGD, for keeping this going. And thanks for the comments, all. It was pretty overwhelming to hear my words coming from the lips of the Great One, Bill Moyers, but I wasn't saying anything that others here haven't said many times before.
We MUST keep this issue alive, and TPM may be the best place to do it. There are so many knowledgeable, impassioned, eloquent writers here who are willing to take the time to add their voices to important discussions of the times.
I've learned so much by coming here, and I'll be forever grateful for the company I'm keeping. TPM is rapidly growing in importance, and it is deserving of every bit of praise.
August 1, 2009 10:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ramona . . .
Your right in there with all the best there is here at the Cafe!
Keep up it and fight the good fight.
~OGD~
August 2, 2009 4:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh Ramona. What you have done!!!!
Sometimes I would feel that all we said here was lost....
And yet, it was you. There is no better representation of our little club than thou. hahahahah
August 2, 2009 5:04 AM | Reply | Permalink
Just back from the DC Healthcare Reform Rally and saw this post.
Watched the extended PBS interview with Potter and am taking Ramona's advice to heart (I'm drawing the line at tatooing my forehead).
Paying it forward:
Email links to Moyers Interview: CHECK
Yard signs, posters, postcards, and bumper stickers are in the works. Not kidding.
Ramona: Thanks for the inspiration.
Nice show of teeth!
P.S. Report on the rally to be posted ASAP (need Sunday to get it together but will be back shortly).
August 1, 2009 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ramona Breathes Life Into Public Airwaves,
Reviving Health Care Debate
Thanks OGD!
#:~)
August 1, 2009 11:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
For any midwesterners interested, Dennis Kucinich is going to speak in Aurora, IL tomorrow. From the email I received from Health Care for All IL announcing the forum:
Rep. Kucinich is a co-author and chief co-sponsor of "The U.S. National Health Care Act" (HR 676). Congressman Kucinich has led many single-payer victories in the House, including most recently an amendment to allow a state single-payer option in the current Obama health reform bill.
Rep. Kucinich will talk about the fatal defects in the Obama health care legislation and the need for single-payer national health insurance. Please join us for this exciting evening!
Sincerely,
Nicholas Skala, HCAI Secretary
Health Care Forum with Rep. Dennis Kucinich
Sunday, August 2, 2009 | 4:00 p.m.
Prisco Community Center
150 W. Illinois Ave.
Aurora, IL 60506
August 2, 2009 12:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh I don't know if anyone here has done this already, but I linked the Moyers piece on Digg and facebook.
On the video page, if you hover your mouse over the "share" button on the right side, they give you all kinds of social networking sites to choose from that will post a link to the vid. Pick a couple you belong to and voila! :)
August 2, 2009 12:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
That's great, mageduley. The more exposure of the Moyers/Potter interview the better.
And thanks for the info on Kucinich. He's a fighter, too. I wonder if there will be a transcript of his remarks on his website?
August 2, 2009 9:12 PM | Reply | Permalink