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Monthly Archive for October, 2009
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WASHINGTON, DC (WTF) October 13, 2009 Health Care Reform, a staple of American political debate since the Truman Administration, died today at the age of 62.
The death was announced this morning by Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME) in a tersely worded announcement.
“This is a first step in the process and those of us as members of the bipartisan Group of 6 fully intend to keep meeting, moving forward and continuing to work with the Chairman during the committee process toward crafting a bill that I, and hopefully other Republican members of the Finance Committee, can support.”
Snowe’s announcement signaled the end of all hope of meaningful health care reform by lending an air of bipartisan legitimacy to the health care bill drafted by Senator Max Baucus (DINO-MT). This will ensure that the main provisions of the Baucus bill will replace the reforms provided for in the bill passed by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and drafted by the late Ted Kennedy (D-MA).
The terms of the Baucus bill will deliver millions of new customers to the Health Insurance industry, which funnels millions of dollars in campaign contributions every year to Baucus and other “Blue Dog” Democrats. It will do this by mandating, by law, that every American purchase Health “Insurance” policies from these giant corporations, providing criminal penalties for those who do not.
It also protects the Health Insurance industry from competition by ensuring that there will be no “public option” or other non-profit alternative to the existing companies. It also contains no cost controls. In fact, a report released this week by the independent auditing firm of Price Waterhouse confirms that health insurance costs will actually increase faster under the Baucus bill than if no reform at all was undertaken.
Health Care Reform is survived by no one, since the promise of the passage of the Baucus bill ensures that millions more people will die because of the lack of meaningful reform.
OSLO, Norway October 9 2009 (WTF) – In a surprise announcement, former U.S. President George W. Bush was awarded the 2009 Nobel War Prize for “advancing more than anyone else the cause of perpetual war and human misery.”
The announcement was greeted with audible gasps from the audience, who were expecting the award to go to Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman.
“Honestly,” said a Lieberman staffer who asked to remain anonymous, “what has Bush done in the past year? He’s been out of office for most of it! This isn’t supposed to be a lifetime achievement award!”
Bush said that he was “humbled” by the announcement, and that it is a testament to the legacy he tried to build as President.
Rush Limbaugh praised the choice, saying that “it’s about time that George W. Bush was recognized for all he’s done for destruction and instability on the world scene.”
Bush won the award every year from 2003-2008, and shared it with Osama bin Laden in 2002.
The Baucus bill is fatally flawed. Every real effort by the Democrats to mitigate the worst parts of it have been voted down. No public option, individual mandates (with possible criminal penalties if you don’t buy in), doing away with S-CHIP insurance for kids, horrible cuts to Medicaid, taxes on employer-provided health plans, no price controls?
All these changes are the exact OPPOSITE of what we need in health care reform. This bill would actually make things WORSE here in America.
We have to stop this bill now. We cannot allow this bill to get to the floor and be “merged” with the Kennedy bill coming out of the HELP committee. We have to block these regressive changes now before they have a chance of polluting a bill that, while not all that we need, at least puts us on the right road.
Below is the contact information for the Democratic Senators on the Finance committee. Contact them now, by phone and fax if possible (since mail takes too long), and tell them to vote NO on the final Baucus bill. Stop this poison pill before it has a chance to destroy any real reform. Especially do this if any of them are from your state. Constituent views are always weighted much heavier than others.
Please act now. Getting real reform depends on stopping this corporate giveaway, regressive, harmful bill dead in committee.
Jay Rockefeller
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC
20510
(202) 224-6472
(202) 224-7665 Main Fax
Kent Conrad
530 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-3403
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776
Jeff Bingaman
703 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5521
TTY: (202) 224-1792
John Kerry
218 Russell Bldg.
Second Floor
Washington D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2742 – Phone
(202) 224-8525 – Fax
Blanche Lincoln
355 Dirksen Senate Building
Washington, DC 20510-0404
Phone: (202)224-4843
Fax: (202)228-1371
Ron Wyden
202-224-5244
Chuck Schumer
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
202-228-3027
Debbie Stabenow
133 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4822
Maria Cantwell
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3441
202-228-0514 – FAX
202-224-8273 – TDD
Bill Nelson
United States Senate
716 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-5274
Fax: 202-228-2183
Robert Menendez
528 Senate Hart Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
202.224.4744
202.228.2197 (fax)
Tom Carper
513 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-2441
Fax: (202) 228-2190
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