Public Option Passes

House Democrats unveil $894 billion health care bill

Wow, just when I thought Obama and the Democrats pussied out, the House passed health care reform with a public option. The bill will cost 894 Billion over the next 10 years or about 89 Billion per year which is about 32 Billion dollars less per year than we spend per year on the Iraq war. The good thing about this is that this money will go to help Americans....36 million uninsured Americans to be exact and make health care more affordable and will force insurance companies to play by the rules.

So if any fiscal conservatives want to bitch about throwing too much money away, Iraq is by far the biggest reasons the tax rates of the top 1% of the population will return to what they were in the 90s and still be about half of what they were during Reagan's first term.

An Important PSA Regarding Health Insurance

The Lie About A False Lie

WHAT A DOUCHE!!

From CNN: Joe Wilson shouts to Obama during speech: 'You lie'

Here's what I want to know:

1. Where was Joe Wilson in 2002 when Bush was addressing congress with actual lies about WMDs?

2. What would have happened, if in 2002, Democratic congressmen would have correctly addressed the President as a liar? I mean, besides Rush Limbaugh having a heart attack, Faux News replaying the clip for the next 6 months over and over, Toby Keith writing a song about traitors and Dick Cheney water boarding the person who did it.

3. What exactly is he lying about? If anything, the bill would require undocumented workers to purchase insurance so we no longer have to flip the bill for them when they end up in the emergency room like we are doing now.

4. And finally, what kind of pressure are the insurance companies and drug companies putting on these guys to oppose this? How many more hundreds of thousands of dollars did Joe Wilson just add to his reelection fund from the insurance industry for yelling that out on national TV?

Well, I think I have some answers for that last one. Health Professionals were the top contributors for Joe Wilson totaling $244,196. But that's not where it stops. He has also received $86,150 from pharmaceutical companies, $73,050 from insurance companies and $68,000 from hospitals and nursing homes. From the health sector alone he has racked up $414,246 in contributions over the last 4 elections. http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=Career&cid=N00024809&type=I

In 2002, when confronted with the fact that the US Supplied Iraq with weapons during their war with Iran and that we exchanged weapons to Iran for hostages to fund the Nicaraguan Contras, he shouted out the following: “That is wrong. That’s made up, I can’t believe you would say something like that.”

Clearly this guy either doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground or he watches too much Faux News.

Good Rant On Healthcare

Republicans no Longer Support Trickle Down Economics

8 States sue Bush over kid insurance:

Eight states are suing the "pro-life, pro-family", Bush administration over his veto of the bill which would have provided health insurance to lower and "middle" income children. The bill would call for an extra 60 billion dollars over the next 5 years; we spend over 100 billion a year in Iraq. The Bush administration is stating that one of the main reasons for the veto is because it would cover people making up to $83,000 per year and that it was too expensive. Apparently those people already have enough money and don't need the governments help.

That's as ironic as it is funny, didn't the Bush tax cuts mainly benefit rich people? When his tax cut plan becomes mature, the richest 1% of the population will receive 52% of the total tax savings? Don't federal oil and gas subsidies go to the most profitable companies in the world? Isn't the elimination of the Estate Tax something that only benefits the people who stand to inherit a net worth of 2 million dollars or more? Since when does Bush have any problems with the government helping "rich" people? Message: Only millionaires and billionaires need the governments help, not the working man; anything else would be socialism.

Isn't cutting expenses and or taxes for well to do people a way that Republicans always said would benefit the poor and the entire economy? Doesn't that supposedly create jobs thus putting money into the economy generating other sources of tax revenue? Didn't Reagan get elected on the concept of trickle down economics?

Apparently poor and middle class children don't have as strong of a lobby as Exxon and ADM.

And by the way, you will notice that besides Hawaii, these are almost all of the states in the US with a higher than average cost of living. For instance, if you live on a salary of $17,000 per year in Durham, NC you would need 39,221 in NYC. A salary of 50,000 in Austin, TX has the same buying power of 76,263 in San Jose, CA. California has the highest cost of living and it is 53% above the national average, Massachusetts is 3rd, and Illinois is 5th, New Jersey 6th, New Hampshire 10th.

I live on over $83,000 per year in Chicago and I am single with no wife and no children and I honestly don't know how much extra income I would have if I had a stay at home wife and 3 kids. Trust me, 83,000 is not a lot in those states and it's certainly less than the 36 Billion in profits that Exxon makes a year yet they still receive government hand outs.

By the way, a recent Washington Post poll showed that 72% of Americans favor an expansion of health coverage to children.

On the flip side, there are several Insurance / HMO lobbyist who will retain their jobs.