Harry Reid almost had me last night. As he talked about the Senate
health care bill and why it needed to pass last night, he recounted
some of the cases in Nevada where health care was desperately needed
but not available because insurance coverage was denied, a job was
lost, a decision between food or drugs had to be made. Senator Reid was
distraught, you could tell. I almost cried. Almost...
If Harry Reid and others in congress were really that concerned, even distraught over the plight of everyday Americans, why then are we not seeing a Single Payer system discussed, a fight for a strong Public Option or at the very least, an expansion of Medicare?? Because most members of congress are in the pockets of lobbyists of the insurance companies and Big Pharma. They are more concerned about their political fortunes and their reelection than the well being of their constituents.
While the healthcare bills in the House and Senate may be seen by some as an improvement over what we have right now, it is still Governor Dean said a piece of crap not worth voting for. Sure, on the surface it addresses issues such as the denial of insurance because of a pre-existing condition but it still allows insurance companies to then go ahead and charge those with a pre-existing condition 50% more than healthy folks, the old will be charged two to three times more than the young and healthy and there will not really be an effective cap on how much an insurance company can charge. A lifetime cap what exactly is that? Without a mechanism to provide true competition to the private for-profit insurance companies, there really is no incentive to keep rates down. Republicans have argued that if the insurance companies were just able to sell across state lines, it would provide for competition among insurance companies within the free market system. That is laughable! Have you noticed the consolidation efforts that are going on currently among insurance companies?
There is an undercurrent noticeable. You can feel it. There is frustration, anger, rage and everything inbetween among voters across the political spectrum. The American people are deeply dissatisfied with their leaders in congress and with the president. Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com wrote yesterday:
There is an enormous, rising tide of populism that crosses party lines in objection to the Senate bill. We opposed the bank bailouts, the AIG bonuses, the lack of transparency about the Federal Reserve, "bailout" Ben Bernanke, and the way the Democrats have used their power to sell the country's resources to secure their own personal advantage, just as the libertarians have. In fact, we've worked together with them to oppose these things. What we agree on: both parties are working against the interests of the public, the only difference is in the messaging.
And it is not just the healthcare bill that has the American people frustrated! Earlier this year Congress passed the Credit CARD Act of 2009. It was intended to protect the American consumer from outrages rate and fee increases, the "universal debt" scam etc. etc. However, a major part of the bill doesn't go into effect until February of 2010, leaving an 8-month window to the credit card industry to get their ducks in a row. For every card I have, I received a letter advising me of "adjustments". The average interest rate on a balance-carrying card is now up to 29.99%!! Do you consider that consumer protection?? When asked about these loopholes by a PBS journalist, both, Senator Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Republican Ranking Member, Senator Richard Shelby said, "the banking lobby is just too powerful"". Give me a #@#&* break! What happened to congress being the legislative body of this country??
It is time Democrats in Congress and the Presidents find their balls and step up to the plate! Stop spinning failures into faux victories! The American people may be gullible at times. But we still recognize a Lieberman when we see one!
