The effort will feature town-hall-style meetings by lawmakers and the president, including a swing through Western states by Mr. Obama, grass-roots lobbying efforts and a blitz of expensive television advertising. It is intended to drive home the message that revamping the health care system will protect consumers by ending unpopular insurance industry practices, like refusing patients with pre-existing conditions.
“I think what we want to communicate is that this is going to give people who have insurance a degree of security and stability, the protection that they don’t have today against the sort of mercurial judgments of insurance bureaucrats,” said David Axelrod, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama, adding, “Our job is to help folks understand how this will help them.”
....
The tough talk, however, has risks. The industry trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, is urging members to confront Democrats at public meetings, and the rising tensions could make it difficult for the president to keep insurers at the negotiating table.All I can say is, Gobama. The health insurance energy claims they will cooperate on reform -- as long as there's no Public Option. Which is why I wish they were threatened properly with Single payer, before Sen. Max Baucus and other Dems unilaterally took it off the table.
How corrupt is the top eschelon of capitalism in this country? There's the insurance companies about which, insiders like former CIGNA exec Wendell Potter admit, Michael Moore was right in his expose, Sicko. Then there's the Wall Street banks gaming the Federal Reserve by trading with them. Per Paul Krugman:
...some institutions, including Goldman Sachs, have been using superfast computers to get the jump on other investors, buying or selling stocks a tiny fraction of a second before anyone else can react. Profits from high-frequency trading are one reason Goldman is earning record profits and likely to pay record bonuses.Something has to be done to clean this country up, and it's either not going to be the Obama Administration or, more importantly, not that leader and team alone.On a seemingly different front, Sunday’s Times reported on the case of Andrew J. Hall, who leads an arm of Citigroup that speculates on oil and other commodities. His operation has made a lot of money recently, and according to his contract Mr. Hall is owed $100 million.
What do these stories have in common?
The politically salient answer, for now at least, is that in both cases we’re looking at huge payouts by firms that were major recipients of federal aid.
If it's a participatory democracy we live in here, it's time to participate.
2 comments:
NYT: "The tough talk, however, has risks. The industry trade group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, is urging members to confront Democrats at public meetings, and the rising tensions could make it difficult for the president to keep insurers at the negotiating table."
Feature, not bug.
The idea that insurers want to "negotiate" is hilarious. What they want to negotiate is that the plan contain a must-buy mandate, period, meaning another 50 million people will be forced to buy their policies and nothing else changes.
I'm glad BHO seems to be wising up, but I think he's surrounded by people who still don't truly understand just what contempt the big insurers (just like the banks/brokerages, and most of the rest of big corporate America) have for their customers, the gov't, and the public.
As the Chairman of Archer Daniels Midland once said in a moment of unguarded honesty: "Our competitors are our friends; it's our customers who are the enemy."
Here's the thing, (I've been slacking in my replies). Right now the administration is biting off more than they can chew. By trying to tackle all these problems they're going to come up short. Most likely on all accounts. If the health reform bill goes through, it better be freaking perfect.
People are expecting some sort of Utopia, Gobama promised us this. And now he's got to figure out how to execute (read: pay) for all of this. I don't remember a lot of the things he said, (poor memory) but I do remember he mentioned one campaign promise. Tax increases will not affect 95% of Americans. Well that was a year ago, and that's before he started just signing blank checks.
On a note about private health care, at least now you have some options, as a health individual. With government run health care, more than likely in order to pay for it there's going to be,( and we're going to eventually see the beautiful,) stipulations that comes with this silver-bullet-one-size-fits-all-plan.
Doctor assisted suicide for everyone! Yes We Can!
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