Hometown Priorities

Taxpayers in KOKOMO, INDIANA will pay $1.6 million for proposed nuclear weapons in FY2009. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

476 Kokomo Residents with Health Care for One Year


Taxpayers in KOKOMO, INDIANA will pay $92.2 million for total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending since 2001. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

27,304 Kokomo Residents with Health Care for One Year


Taxpayers in KOKOMO, INDIANA will pay $21.7 million for the military cost of securing energy in FY2009 (includes Iraq war). For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

6,427 Kokomo Residents with Health Care for One Year


"Taxpayers in KOKOMO, INDIANA will pay $10.4 million for the military cost of securing energy in FY2009. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

3,088 Kokomo Residents with Health Care for One Year"



"Taxpayers in Kokomo, Indiana will pay $11.7 million for TAX CUTS for the RICHEST 10% in FY 2009. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
(In English; no more taxing the poor to save the very rich a couple of bucks.)

5,562 Kokomo Children with Health CARE for One Year"



Mind you; I said Health Care; not Insurance Coverage.  (One of those things, most definitely,  is not like the other.)Insurance doesn't come into it. Only the actual Health CARE is important. (in the context of this article, anyway.)


How we finance it (Health CARE) should be our only question.

It is morally wrong to make your fortune(s) off of the dead bodies of others.

It is as simple and as complicated as that.

(local)



Sources:

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/

5 Things Britains Wish Americans Knew

1) The NHS (National Health Service) is so popular in the UK that virtually ALL politicians, INCLUDING CONSERVATIVES, support it.


2) Investor's Business Daily ran an anti-reform editorial claiming that "scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless." (Unfortunately for them; they were forced to retract that because Dr. Hawking is BRITISH and lives in the UK.) Hawking even wrote an editorial (electronically) singing the praises of the NHS.


3)Two UK women claim they were duped into appearing in anti-health reform ads broadcast in the US. They allege that their words were twisted to make it appear that they were against the NHS. (They happen to LIKE the NHS.) Neither woman was told that their words would be used in US ads.


4)The ads were sponsored by the Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, which is run by Rick Scott. Rick Scott was FORCED TO RESIGN as the HEAD of HEALTH PROVIDER (Insurance Co.) Columbia/HCA because of MASSIVE FRAUD at the company.


5) IT IS INTERESTING THAT BRITAIN'S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, WHICH GOES FAR BEYOND ANYTHING PROPOSED BY OBAMA, IS SO POPULAR IN BRITAIN THAT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST HINT THAT A PARTY WANTS TO DISMANTLE IT WILL COST THEM AN ELECTION.

Moral; Try really hard not to listen to anti-healthcare reform editorials written by Insurance Company shills. (You won't get the truth. They LIKE the status quo, you see.)

http://politicalirony.com/2009/08/17/gop-attacks-are-hurting-conservatives-in-the-uk/

Healthcare Providers in Mexico Doing a Booming Business

~IN A NUTSHELL: "The very wealthy can afford whatever they want, the very poor get it through aid, but the working and the middle-class have to struggle to pay insurance," That pretty much covers it.~



"Retired police officer Bob Ritz has health insurance that covers his medical and dental care in the United States.

"I pay $400 a month for my health insurance, and it's still cheaper to come to Mexico," says Ritz, 60, as he stood outside a sun-bleached pharmacy in Naco, a few hours drive southeast of Phoenix."

Bob Ritz{Retired Public Servant, no less.}

"The total number making the trip is unclear. But a recent study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research estimated that nearly 1 million people from California alone seek medical, dental or prescription services in Mexico each year."

"The very wealthy can afford whatever they want, the very poor get it through aid, but the working and the middle-class have to struggle to pay insurance," said Ritz, who worked as a police officer in Chicago for 28 years.

"I'm very lucky to live near enough to Mexico to get good healthcare at a reasonable price," he added.


~There just HAS to be a better way, folks. This is killing us. Insurance companies have priced themselves out of the market.

Daily, I hear about a bank buying out another one. Big Insurance company bought by a bigger Insurance company. Pharmaceutical company bought out by a bigger Pharmaceutical company, Huge cable monopolies, Phone monopolies, Hospitals owned by Doctors, and our options get fewer, AGAIN, while the prices continue to rise. Huge oil companies and Shareholders' Profits....

Are you getting my point?

Whatever we eventually decide about healthcare reform, change; it is coming.

"May You Live in Interesting Times"

Ancient Chinese Curse

Well, they ARE interesting and I understand now why it is a curse...~

Subject from: As U.S. health row rages, many seek care in Mexico
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090814/us_nm/us_usa_healthcare_mexico;_ylt=Av5noq7Alp8CGuIVZKcrYo5H2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTJyY2llZTUxBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkwODE0L3VzX3VzYV9oZWFsdGhjYXJlX21leGljbwRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNhc3VzaGVhbHRocm8-
~Blogger~/the Cranky Quaker~

Old Sayings; New Subjects

1)(on Politics)If the grass is always greener under the septic tank; shouldn't Washington, D.C. have the greenest grass on the planet?

2)(on Healthcare Reform) If a man were asking the public to donate money for his hospital bills; why would he be against reforming healthcare?*

3)(on Wall Street)If a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush; why do we have speculators?

4)(on Blue Dogs) You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. (Or get him out of the way so that others can drink.)**

5)(on Politicians) An open foe may prove a curse but a pretended friend is worse. - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

6)(on Life) As the spokes of a wheel are attached to the hub, so all things are attached to life.- Sanskrit

7)(on the Drug War) Avoid a cure that is worse than the disease. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)***

8)(on The Party of No) An empty barrel makes the most noise. - Russian Proverb

9)(on H.R. 3200) Froth is not beer. - Dutch (on appearance on reality)

10)(on Marriage) Every pot will find its lid.- Yiddish

11)(on Insurance Company Lobbyists and Politicians) He that pays the piper, calls the tune. -
unknown**

12)(on Wealth and Poverty) If the rich could hire people to die for them, the poor could make a nice living. - Yiddish

13)(on Justice) Laws catch flies but let hornets go free.- Scottish

14) (on Attitude) Nothing is easy to the unwilling. - Gaelic

15)(on Life and Death) The rain falls on every roof. - African Proverb

16)(on Generosity) The strong should help the weak so that the lives of both shall be made easier. - Aesop (c.620-560 BC)

17)(on Ambition) There is no eel so small but it hopes to become a whale. - German

18)(on Hope) Where there's life, there's hope. - Theocritus (c.270 BC)

19)(on Basic Truths) You can't see the whole sky through a bamboo tube. - Japanese

20)(on Trying Something New) Go for it! - American



*http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/10/gladney-uninsured/
**http://www.reformer.com/opinion/ci_12986820
***http://www.mpp.org/victims/
http://www.wiseoldsayings.com/wosdirectorya1.htm

10 Things That Most Americans Don't Know, but Should.

1) 80% of the USA's population SHARES 7% of its financial wealth(money).

(Think about that a minute and reread number 1.)

2)Tommy Douglas was a Baptist Minister and Keifer Sutherlands's grandfather.

He (Rev. Douglas), the author of Canada's Universal Healthcare System, was voted by Canadian citizens as THE GREATEST CANADIAN OF ALL TIME.

3) -- This "angry mob" (above), which successfully stopped the recount in Miami-Dade County during the 2000 election standoff, was PORTRAYED by the MEDIA as an UPRISING BY FLORIDA VOTERS.(Emphasis is mine.)

1. Tom Pyle, policy analyst, office of House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

2. Garry Malphrus, majority chief counsel and staff director, House Judiciary subcommittee on criminal justice.

3. Rory Cooper, political division staff member at the National Republican Congressional Committee.

4. Kevin Smith, former House Republican conference analyst and more recently of Voter.com.

5. Steven Brophy, former aide to Sen. Fred D. Thompson (R-Tenn.), now working at the consulting firm KPMG.

6. Matt Schlapp, former chief of staff for Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), now on the Bush campaign staff in Austin.

7. Roger Morse, aide to Rep. Van Hilleary (R-Tenn.).

8. Duane Gibson, aide to Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) of the House Resources Committee.

9. Chuck Royal, legislative assistant to Rep. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.).

10. Layna McConkey, former legislative assistant to former Rep. Jim Ross Lightfoot (R-Iowa) now at Steelman Health Strategies.)

4)Definition of Astroturf-- Astroturf refers to APPARENTLY grassroots-based citizen groups or coalitions that are primarily conceived, created and/or funded by corporations, industry trade associations, political interests or PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRMS. (Grassroots support is people-wealthy and money-poor. Astroturfing is money-wealthy and people-poor.)

5)The DCI Group, a Lobbying and Public Relations Firm, is behind The Coalition to Protect Patients' Rights (CPPR), an ANTI-healthcare reform group.

The DCI Group also worked for the tobacco industry, setting up fake "smokers' rights" groups to fight public health measures.

(Props must be offered to the DCI Group. They seem to be very good at their jobs. They were very helpful in stopping the 1993 Healthcare Reform.)

Many Americans have died, due to lack of healthcare, since then.

See, also: Astroturf

6)Rep. Mike Pence, a Representative from Indiana, DOESN'T seem to KNOW that Medicare IS Government-run Healthcare.

Rep. Pence made CONTRADICTORY statements about Government-run Healthcare on the SAME DAY.

a) "If you oppose government-run health care, call your congressman." -- Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), 7/28/09

b) "I support Medicare." -- Pence, 7/28/09

Yes, in the same interview, he says both things, in all seriousness.

(Let me provide "Rep." Pence with a clue; Medicare IS a Government-run Healthcare Program.)

7) Canada has BETTER Healthcare outcomes than the USA in ALL of these categories:

(a)Circulatory disease deaths

(b)Child maltreatment deaths

(c)Digestive disease deaths

(d)Infant mortality rate

(e)Intestinal diseases death

(f)Proability of not reaching age 60

(g)Respiratory disease child death

(h)Heart disease deaths

(i)HIV deaths

(You get the point. If this is “socialized medicine,” sign me up. Please and Thank You.)

8) Michelle Bachmann (MN-R) claims that the government can provide cheaper, and better care than the private sector, and that this is something that we should be afraid of. In (her) Republican thought, it is more important to protect the private sector than it is to fix healthcare.

(Can someone explain this to me, because I am just not getting it.)

9) If you take all of the hysteria out of Birther situation you have a bunch of people that don't want to pull up their big-boy and big-girl panties and get to work on anything meaningful...period.(author)

Michael Medved, a leading FAR-RIGHT voice, recently referred to the Birthers as "the worst enemy of the conservative movement." He added, "It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company." (I agree completely; scary.)

10) The Canadian system of Healthcare is NOT like H.R. 3200. It IS like H.R. 676.

Without something Single-Payer Healthcare, like H.R. 676 in place, like Medicare, something already proven by use, then they ("Representatives in Washington) are just putting on a political MAGIC show for the voters.

(and are already bought and paid for by Insurance companies and big business.)

See, also; Medicare ; popular (Government Controlled) Healthcare SAFETY NET for American Seniors.

(We are becoming a Third World Nation when it comes to a lot of important things, like lack of access to a doctor, and I am trying to say, in this article and in my own weird and pacifist way, that it is UNACCEPTABLE to let it CONTINUE.)

Exception: See, also; Medicare ; popular (Government Controlled) Healthcare SAFETY NET for American Seniors.

All sources for this article are cited at the bottom.

All opinions are strictly my own.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/douglas-tommy.html

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/blfloridagopmob.htm

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Astroturf

http://www.prwatch.org/node/8480

a) http://www.mikepence.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3603:healthcare-one-minute&catid=48:speeches-and-floor-statements&Itemid=94

b) http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/29/medicare-flashback/

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/141534/you27re_also_more_likely_to_be_eaten_by_a_sasquatch_in_%27socialist%27_canada/

http://www.politicususa.com/en/Bachmann-public-option

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_07/019176.php

Why Are Americans So Scared of "Socialized" Healthcare?

These days, all you have to do is mention the term "Socialized Healthcare", to see a lot of people have screaming hissy fits. A lot of it comes out as anger, but I believe that most of that anger is really fear.

Where is that fear coming from? From what I have seen, mostly talking points without a lot of data to back it up. Frank Luntz is in the business of making sure we keep the status quo, which means SCARING PEOPLE away from change, of any kind, that might hurt Insurance Companys' bottom-line.
(http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2009/07/16/health-care-word-soup-luntz-memo/)


While I realize that change is scary, sometimes the alternative to change is self-destruction. In the case of a lack of Healthcare Reform it is the deaths of the poor and middle class. I find this unacceptable. So, I did some digging. (You just never know what you will find, while digging.lol)

Here are some interesting bits of information that I found concerning USA (For-Profit) Healthcare and Canadian (Socialized) Healthcare:

Circulatory disease deaths per 100,000:
Canada: 219
United States: 265

Child maltreatment deaths per 100,000:
Canada: 0.7
United States: 2.2

Digestive disease deaths per 100,000:
Canada: 17.4
United States: 20.5

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births
Canada: 5.08
United States: 6.3

Intestinal diseases death rate
Canada: 0.3%
United States: 7.3%

Proability of not reaching age 60:
Canada: 9.5%
United States: 12.8%

Respiratory disease child death rate per 100,000
Canada: 0.62
United States: 40.43

Heart disease deaths per 100,000:
Canada: 94.9
United States: 106.5

HIV deaths per million people:
Canada: 47.423
United States: 48.141

Socialized Healthcare does not make a Socialized Country. The USA is a wonderful melting-pot of people, cultures, and ideas; some Capitalistic, some Socialistic, etc. You get the idea.

For me, though, caring for my fellow citizens is stronger than my fear of change. If the above is the results of Socialized Healthcare then sign me up.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/141534/you%27re_also_more_likely_to_be_eaten_by_a_sasquatch_in_%27socialist%27_canada/

EDIT: Here is some information about Socialized Healthcare from some UK Citizens. (Horse's mouth, you know.lol)

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090721075851AAphiOk

If You Disagree, Don't do Anything. If You Disagree and can Prove it, Even Better

(I don't think President Obama is perfect, by any means, but I am PROUD to have him as my President.)

Initially, this email was forwarded to me by a caring Republican.

(I googled Natasha Richardson's death. Here is what I found out...)

The actress Natasha Richardson died after falling skiing in Canada .. It took eight hours to drive her to a hospital.(FALSE: 40 minute drive.*)If Canada had our health care she might be alive today. We now have helicopters that would have gotten her to the hospital in 30 minutes. Obama wants to have our health care like Canada's and England's.

(She initially refused to go to the hospital. It won't matter where the hospital is if you won't go, though, true?)

"Paul Brunet, president of the(Canadian)Council for the protection of patients, said the question of whether a medical ambulance would have made a difference was moot.“If she had worn a helmet and accepted to see a doctor would there be any talk of this need for a helicopter?“And with all due to respect to the Americans, we don’t need any lessons from them about health care,” Brunet added. Canada doesn’t “have 50 million people without health care like they do.”**

In England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too expensive and not needed. (Absolutely nothing is true about this one.) *Per Snopes, Urban legends.

I got this today and am sending it on. If Obama's plans in other areas don't scare you, this should. Please do not let Obama sign senior death warrants

(In other words, Obama is the Boogeyman, be afraid; be very afraid. PASS IT ON.)

Everybody that is on this mailing list is either a senior citizen, is getting close or knows somebody that is. (Isn't that pretty much everyone?)

Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least) of the"stimulus" bill includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens.. The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax evader, Tom Daschle was credited today by Bloomberg with the following statement. Bloomberg: Daschle says "health-care reform will not be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them."!!!!

(He was talking about Cosmetic Surgeries and such. Talking wrinkles, not heart disease, folks.)*

If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember that Senators and Congressmen have their own health care plan that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject to this new law if it passes.

(Cause, you know; Senators and Congresspeople already have "socialized healthcare". You think about that a minute....)

Please use the power of the Internet to get this message out. Talk it up at the grassroots level.... We have an election coming up in one year and nine months. We have the ability to address and reverse the dangerous direction the Obama administration and it allies have begun and in the interim, we can make their lives miserable. Lets do it! If you disagree, don't do anything.

(In other words, spread the word. Unless you are a Liberal; then, don't do anything.)

Folks, almost 3/4 of all Americans polled want Health Care Reform.

Almost 3/4!

If you are an elected Rep and not actively pursuing ideas for single-payer; I have to ask, who are you representing?

Grassroots support is just what we need. Just make sure you are touting FACTS. Fearmongering doesn't cut it, anymore.

This is a subject of life and death; ours.

Debate; it's healthy.

But, check your facts.

*http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/seniordeath.asp

**http://www.vancouversun.com/Health/Socialized+medicine+didn+kill+Natasha+Richardson+says+doctor/1440316/story.html

***http://www.huffingtonpost.com/labourlist/socialized-healthcare-les_b_214162.html