Posted by Len on Monday, August 31st, 2009 at 2:07 pm CT in Politics, Republicans
I mentioned a while back that I had somehow found myself on the mailing list of The Washington Times. By way of that mailing list, I received the following this morning… “Republican National Committee Future of American Health Care Survey.” I believe this is what is commonly referred to as a push poll. At any rate, I thought you would get a kick out of some of the questions. I know I did. (My answers follow their questions in italics.)
Do you believe that the state of America’s health care system is in crisis? Yes.
Do you believe that your health care decisions should be made by you and your doctor, and not government bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.? No. I believe my health care decisions should be made by some health insurance company lackey sitting in a cubicle somewhere in Wilmington, Delaware.
Do you believe it is right for the federal government to use age and life expectancy as criteria for determining access to health care? No. If anyone were actually proposing something this silly, I believe I’d be concerned. I’m not.
Estimates show that the Democrats’ plan could cost more than $1.6 trillion dollars. Do you believe that America can afford this added debt when the deficit has already reached record levels? Whose estimates? The cost of doing nothing will be much, much higher.
Rationing of health care in countries with socialized medicine has led to patients dying because they were forced to wait too long to receive treatment. How concerned are you that this would be inevitable in the U.S. under the Democrats’ plan? Not concerned at all, actually, because the Democratic plan does not propose anything even approaching socialized medicine. Besides, patients are already dying in the United States as they wait for care to be approved by the “profit first” insurance companies.
Do you believe the federal Government can provide better health insurance than your current plan? None of your business. If I do believe that, then I’ll choose the public option. Otherwise, I’ll just stick with what I have now.
Does it concern you that the Democrats tried to ram health care legislation through Congress THIS SUMMER to limit the American people’s opportunity to evaluate it? It concerns me that these American people of whom you speak just began to be concerned about the state of their health care THIS SUMMER. The Democrats have been talking about the need to improve it since the days of FDR.
Does it concern you that the liberal media has gone to unprecedented levels to only give Obama’s views on health care reform and no one else’s? There you go playing the victim card again. Nobody pays attention to the poor little Republicans. Bull. Watched any Fox News lately? Read The Washington Times? Get over it.
I guess The Washington Times must be part of that awful “liberal media” to which they allude in the final question.
I have posted the e-mail message from RNC chairman Michael Steele that accompanied this so-called survey after the break. It’s really quite amazing.
Posted by Len on Saturday, August 29th, 2009 at 12:57 pm CT in Politics
From the White House weblog:
The President discusses the steps being taken to finish the job of recovery from Hurricane Katrina as the fourth anniversary approaches. He points to local citizens working hard alongside responsible government to make real progress in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and pledges that the lessons of Katrina will not be forgotten.
Watch the video of the President’s address below or read the full text, as prepared for delivery, after the break.
Click below to listen to the audio only:
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Today’s motorcade journey set off three days of official ceremonies to mourn the passing of the senator whose career was marked by scandal and triumph during his 47 years in the Senate.
Kennedy’s body will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Library through Saturday, where civilian and military honor guards will join family members and friends for an around-the-clock vigil. On Saturday, a funeral mass will be held at a Catholic church in Boston where he will be eulogized by President Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.
Following the funeral, his body will again be moved and buried steps away from his slain brothers, President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
(Correction to the ABC News report quoted above: John McCain will not be speaking at the funeral on Saturday. He, along with Vice President Joe Biden and Senator John Kerry, will be among the speakers at a memorial service to be held at the JFK Presidential Library on Friday evening.)
Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, a son of one of the most storied families in American politics, a man who knew triumph and tragedy in near-equal measure and who will be remembered as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate, died late Tuesday night. He was 77.
The death of Mr. Kennedy, who had been battling brain cancer, was announced Wednesday morning in a statement by the Kennedy family, which was already mourning the death of the senator’s sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver two weeks earlier.
“Edward M. Kennedy – the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply – died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port,” the statement said. “We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever.”
President Obama issued a statement acknowledging Mr. Kennedy’s accomplishments. “An important chapter in our history has come to an end,” the statement said. “Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States senator of our time.”
Ted, John and Robert Kennedy
He will be missed by all.
Senator Ted Kennedy and President Barack Obama
UPDATE: Tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy from the 2008 Democratic National Convention:
Posted by Len on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 5:34 pm CT in Politics, Republicans
Everybody in America who finds themselves with either no health insurance or inadequate health insurance needs to call Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK). He’ll take care of you…
His numbers are 202-224-5754 (Washington, D.C.), 918-581-7651 (Tulsa, OK) and 405-231-4941 (Oklahoma City, OK).
Good luck.
UPDATE: While we’re on the subject of Republicans making fools of themselves, be sure to watch Johnny McCain make a complete and utter fool of himself at a town hall meeting in Arizona. Here. (Why is anybody still paying attention to Johnny McCain?)
Posted by Len on Monday, August 24th, 2009 at 8:06 pm CT in Politics
One of the most persistent myths about health care in the United States is that it is the best in the world. Not so. While it is true that we have the best-educated doctors and nurses and the most advanced hospitals in the world, we most definitely do not have the best health care.
Read “5 Myths About Health Care Around the World” by T. R. Reid (Washington Post). It should only take you a few minutes and it will dispel some of the misconceptions under which you are likely laboring.
Posted by Len on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at 1:17 pm CT in Politics
On CBS’s Face the Nation this morning, Dr. Howard Dean (former presidential candidate and DNC chairman) discussed health care reform with Bob Schieffer…
Posted by Len on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 4:07 pm CT in Politics
[Sorry this is late. Somebody forgot to remind me that today is Saturday. --Len]
From the White House weblog:
President Obama debunks the myths around health insurance reform, and discusses the public option proposal in which many of them are rooted — but he focuses his address on the stark moral and historical turning point at which we find ourselves: “This is our chance to march forward. I cannot promise you that the reforms we seek will be perfect or make a difference overnight. But I can promise you this: if we pass health insurance reform, we will look back many years from now and say, this was the moment we summoned what’s best in each of us to make life better for all of us. This was the moment we built a health care system worthy of the nation and the people we love. This was the moment we earned our place alongside the greatest generations. And that is what our generation of Americans is called to do right now.”
Watch the video of the President’s address below or read the full text, as prepared for delivery, after the break.
Click below to listen to the audio only:
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