Tag: health care reform (page 4)

AARP CEO Barry Rand released a statement today on why AARP supports a new health care plan:

Doing nothing is not an option. But any reform must not get between a patient and their doctor. It must not cut Medicare benefits. It must not allow insurers to continue to line their pockets by covering only the healthiest and the youngest.

And those 50 - 60,000 members who quit since July 1? AARP says almost 1.8 million people have joined or renewed their memberships in the same period. AARP has 40 million members.

So, does AARP support Obama's health care bill as he said last week? It's not clear. After Obama made the comment, it responded:[More...]

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) released this statement today on the public option. A snippet:

A strong public option would ensure competition in the industry to provide the best, most affordable insurance for Americans and bring down the skyrocketing health care costs that are the biggest contributor to our long-term budget deficits. I am not interested in passing health care reform in name only. Without a public option, I don’t see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it.”

Progressives keep ratcheting up the pressure. Via Firedoglake today: [More...]

Jane at Firedoglake crunches the numbers and says there will be no health care bill without a public option. Why? She says the numbers show: Republicans aren't voting for the bill; the Dems can pass it with 218, but if they lose 40 Dems, it's dead. And, she says,

57 Democrats who signed the July 30 letter saying that they "simply cannot vote" for a bill that "at minimum" does not have a public plan (PDF).  There are 7 more not listed on the letter who have pledged to vote against any bill that does not have a robust public plan.  That makes 64 Democrats who won't vote for the "co-ops" that both Kathleen Sibelius and Robert Gibbs say the White House is "open" to.  

Do the math:  257 - 64 = 193.  They need 218 to pass the bill.

A commenter pretending to be Matt Yglesias responds:"Jane -- Denouncing a bill without the public option is counterproductive."[More...]

Zach Lahn got a lot of attention yesterday for his question to President Obama in Grand Junction about how private insurance companies could possibly compete against a Government non-profit, and his cocky attitude, shouting out and play to the media.

He failed to disclose he was a staffer for one of Colorado's most right-wing Republicans in the State legislature. (He's taken his Linked-In profile down.) As Colorado Pols says,

It also takes some "chutzpah" to fail to disclose to either the President or to reporters interviewing you afterward that you're a staffer for one of the hardest-right Republicans in the Colorado Senate, Sen. Greg "Obama's Gonna Take Yer Guns" Brophy, wouldn't you say? It's not like that should have disqualified him from asking the question--much like the infamous Brooks Brothers riot of Florida 2000 legend, though, it would have helped explain why he was so, um, "passionate."

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Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) (received by e-mail, no link yet) on President Obama's speech on health care reform in Grand Junction today:

“I look forward to continuing the conversation about health insurance reform with Coloradans over the next several weeks. I want a bill that meets the needs of everyone in our state. I’m particularly focused on ensuring that any legislation we pass improves care for our rural communities and works for our small-business owners, who are the backbone of our economy. And I will have my constituents’ thoughts and suggestions in mind when I return to Washington.”

Air Force One is on the ground in Grand Junction. The town hall expected to start half hour early, at 3:45 pm MT. Local news in Grand Junction reports 4,000 protesters showed up earlier at Lincoln Park.

Grand Junction NBC page with live feed here. CNN is and MSNBC will also carry it live.

Let's keep comments to this thread on Obama's talk in Grand Junction and your reactions to it.

In his weekly Address this morning, President Obama sought to reassure Americans about the health care bill. He said (in part):

First, no matter what you’ve heard, if you like your doctor or health care plan, you can keep it. If you don’t have insurance, you’ll finally be able to afford insurance. And everyone will have the security and stability that’s missing today.

Insurance companies will be prohibited from denying you coverage because of your medical history, dropping your coverage if you get sick, or watering down your coverage when it counts – because there’s no point in having health insurance if it’s not there when you need it.

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President Obama will be in Grand Junction, CO today to talk about the health care reform bill. Right-wing activists are calling out their troops:

Organizers of what’s now known as a “Hands Off My Health Care” rally are expecting 3,500 to 4,000 people in Lincoln Park at 10 a.m., including tea-party and other activists from the Front Range and Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.

“We are asking everyone to wear a solid red, white or blue shirt, show our patriotism and to contrast the purple shirts worn by SEIU activists,” Nancy Rumelt of Loveland said in an e-mail, referring to the Change for America campaign of the Service Employees International Union.

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The AP factchecks Sarah Palin's claim that the proposed health care reform bill would create death panels by depriving seniors of life-sustaining treatment.

Palin's claim:

Federal bureaucrats would play God, ruling on whether ailing seniors are worth enough to society to deserve life-sustaining medical care. Palin and other critics are wrong.

So, it's not true. It's another Sarah Palin lie. Either she's not intelligent enough to understand the plain English of the bill or, like Supreme Court opinions, she hasn't read it....or she's just an opportunist out for headlines that will mobilize the right-wing. Take your pick. I'll choose all three.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), a first-term Congressman I like very much, held a townhall meeting on health care today outside a King Soopers grocery store in Brighton, CO, which is about 1/2 hour northeast of Denver.

Some of the signs these protesters carry are just nuts. Like, "Jesus is My Single Payer" and "Seniors, Get Your Death Pill here" (photos from Complete Colorado, whose coverage of the event is here.)

To his credit, Rep. Perlmutter actually sat down and listened to folks discuss health care.

Mike Ditto (Progress Now, former online communications director for Mark Udall and many others and former TalkLeft webmaster) had his car vandalized . His twitter feed of the event is here. You Tube video of damage here -- they got almost every panel of the car. Photo's below:

I just got back from the health care event at the Stout St. medical clinic for the homeless, sponsored by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and attended by Colorado Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I got lots of pictures outside and was allowed inside for the press conference. I got right up front with the network camera crews and took lots of video. I also interviewed a 16 year old protester on why he objected to the health care bill. It will take me a while to upload, so check back.

There was no disruption of anything by the protesters. They were outside the clinic. Only 70 people, mostly press, were allowed inside the clinic. When I left at the end of the press conference, the street was empty. They had no effect on what went on inside. A total waste of their time.

Update: Videos and Photos below (all uploaded now.)

Via e-mail from the Democratic National Committee:

There's been a lot of media coverage about organized mobs intimidating lawmakers, disrupting town halls, and silencing real discussion about the need for real health insurance reform.

The truth is, it's a sham. These "grassroots protests" are being organized and largely paid for by Washington special interests and insurance companies who are desperate to block reform. They're trying to use lies and fear to break the President and his agenda for change.

Health insurance reform is about our lives, our jobs, and our families -- we can't let distortions and intimidation get in the way. We need to expose these outrageous tactics, and we're counting on you to help. Can you read these "5 facts about the anti-reform mobs," then pass them along to your friends and family?

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