Social Security does not affect the national debt.

 

People are not stupid.

The only ones entitled here are the Republican a*holes in office

Because of course the Republicans went for the 'entitlements' (which is their term and NOT TRUE). We knew this was coming from the start of Trump's presidency. 

McConnell Blames Entitlements, Not GOP, for Rising Deficits

Look! Something shiny!

What could possibly go wrong?

Although... once the US is in the grip of a revolution, the power and resource grab by the monied corporations would be very easy....

From cows to cats

Cows are more dangerous than sharks.



Ryan hasn't run the numbers on his budget.  Isn't that what you do first when you figure out a budget?  Because it involves money?

Romney's medicare cuts are the same/different than Ryan's.

American Women are Under Assault from Christian Republicans

Jan Brewer denies deferred action recipients drivers’ licenses; will other governors follow suit?

Northern Gateway: Enbridge Accused Of Misleading Public With Video That Shows Smooth Sailing In Douglas Channel

GPS in your DNA: Genetics can reveal your geographic ancestral origin

Greece, Russia... it's all the same

To Fox News...

And by the way... This last week was the warmest on record for the US.  Not that it means anything to anyone except beige-wearing, latte-drinking, tree-hugging liberal islamofascistic socialists.

Quietly trying to gut public schools.

The Germans have plans to keep net neutrality...  German Hackers Are Building a DIY Space Program to Put Their Own Uncensored Internet into Space

Don't tell anybody, but Medicare is still more cost-efficient than private insurance

I was just wondering....

What will the Republicans have when they finally achieve all the things that they care about?

They don't want to create jobs. Obviously. That would make the government actually functional.

They want to make government so incompetent that people cease to look to the government for help. Even though government has been created by the very voters to help when citizens need assistance. Government is not a separate entity but interwoven into our society and is made to last, as Lincoln said: "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." But the Republicans want to drown government in the bathtub. Government gets in the way of making money. People who count on the government for assistance will die. Republicans don't care. Drowning government will get them votes and money.

They want to remove a woman's control over her own body and reproduction, and remove abortion as an option of choice. Women will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to negate gays from society. Republicans apparently think gays should have no rights as human beings. Gays will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to allow virulent racism to be unleashed. It helps their voters to be afraid and rally around the Republican flag. People of color will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to remove Medicare and Social Security. This makes rich people happy. Older Americans and people with disabilities and children will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to let religious extremism into government, finally breaking the wall between church and state. This helps them get more votes. Wars about which religion is the right one have started in this way. People of other faiths (other than the one religion finally chosen as the right one) and atheists will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want to erase the power unions have because it impedes the progress of corporations. The workers will have less rights and protections. Workers will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

They want corporations to ignore any regulation that hinders its ability to make money. This means poisoning the earth, the water, the food. The quality of the product corporations will produce will be as cheap as possible to make and as expensive as possible to buy. People will die because of this. They don't care. This will get them votes and money.

What on earth DO they care about? They worship the almighty dollar. But dollars won't keep your community happy, healthy, unafraid, and working unless money aimed at helping people and communities prosper. Corporations will lose money in the long run. Corporations will die because of this. No corporations, no money, no votes. Do Republicans care?

Things that are cool

Catching anti-matter to study

Sharks like AC/DC's music

Anybody else see the amazing fire demon rising up out of Chile's volcano?



Australian climate change scientists stand up in spite of death threats.

Paul Krugman explains why Vouchercare is not Medicare.

Fox News has a slump...

Gamer humor.

It looks like Newt Gingrich is as faithful to his words as he is to his wives.

Quote of the day from this article:

Kama Sutra for policy wonks: Newt Gingrich takes multiple positions on Medicare repeal.

Would Health Care Reform Help You?

A post by Barbara O'Brien of Mahablog:

Many obstacles and stumbling blocks remain in the way of health care reform. The House and Senate bills will have to be merged, and then the House and Senate both will vote on the final bill. We don’t yet know what will be in the final bill, or if the final bill will be passed into law. Passage will be especially difficult in the Senate, where it will need 60 votes to pass. It is still possible that after all this angst, just one grandstanding senator could kill the whole thing.

But just for fun, let’s look at what conventional wisdom says will be in the final bill and see if there is anything in it that will be an immediate benefit to people with peritoneal mesothelioma and other asbestos-related disease.

It is likely that the final bill will provide additional funding for state high-risk insurance pools. Currently more than 30 states run such pools, which are nonprofit, state-sponsored health insurance plans for people who can’t buy insurance because of pre-existing conditions. The biggest problem with such pools is that, often, the insurance they offer is too expensive for many who might need it. Both the Senate and House bills provide $5 billion in subsidies for state high-risk pools to make the insurance more affordable.

Under the Senate bill, beginning in 2014, private companies would no longer be able to deny coverage to adults with pre-existing conditions, nor could they charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. Until then, the state high-risk pools could provide some help.

Closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap — also called the “doughnut hole” — is another potential provision that could help some patients with asbestos-related disease. The “doughnut hole” is the gap between the coverage for yearly out-of-pocket expenses provided by Medicare Part D and Medicare’s “catastrophic coverage” threshold.

For example, in 2009 Medicare Part D paid at least 75 percent of what patients paid for prescription drugs up to $2,700. After that, patients must pay for all of their prescription medications until what they have paid exceeds $6,154. At that point, the catastrophic coverage takes over, and Medicare pays for all but 5 percent of the patient’s drug bills. The final health care reform bill probably will provide for paying at least 50 percent of out-of-pocket costs in the doughnut hole.

You may have heard the bills include budget cuts to the Medicare program, and this has been a big concern to many people. Proponents of the bill insist that savings can be found to pay for the cuts, and that people who depend on Medicare won’t face reduced services. But this is a complex issue that I want to address in a later post.

The long-term provisions probably will include many other provisions that would benefit patients with asbestos-related disease, including increased funding for medical research. Although there are many complaints about the bill coming from all parts of the political spectrum, on the whole it would be a huge benefit to many people.
— Barbara O’Brien
March 4, 2010

As simple as it could be

From Bill Moyers "Here's a suggestion, Mr. President: ask Josh Marshall to draft your speech. Josh is the founder of the website talkingpointsmemo.com. He's a journalist and historian, not a politician. He doesn't split things down the middle and call it a victory for the masses. He's offered the simplest and most accurate description yet of a public insurance plan -- one that essentially asks people: would you like the option -- the voluntary option -- of buying into Medicare before you're 65? Check it out, Mr. President."

No death panels, no denial of care, no pre-existing conditions, no rightwing hysteria.

Just a simple question.

Ask it, Mr. President.

Unleashed Republicans

Run amuck.



Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly explains about Michael Steele:

The lights are on, but nobody's home. The same clown who attacked Democrats yesterday for trying to improve Medicare financing just told a national television audience that he disapproves of Medicare and would prefer to "trust the private markets" -- the same private markets that left seniors without coverage, and which made Medicare necessary in the first place.

The GOP's record on Medicare is clearly embarrassing to the party. In the 1960s, Republicans fought against Medicare's existence. In the 1990s, Republicans shut down the federal government because a Democratic president wouldn't tolerate proposed GOP cuts to Medicare. In 2008, the Republican presidential ticket ran on a platform of cutting Medicare.

And in 2009, the chairman of the Republican National Committee has decided, over the course of 24 hours, he's both for and against the Medicare program, for and against Medicare cuts, and for and against privatization.

And Obama is stealing 9/11!!!1! He is making it a day of service instead of Cowerinfear day!! Republicans are mad!

Everybody in, nobody out

Medicare for all. (Via hipparchia of Over the Cliff, Onto the Rocks)

Well, nobody saw this coming!

Medicare premiums are going up:

Seniors need to start comparison shopping now for their Medicare benefits. Enrollment begins November 15 and researchers say that beneficiaries in the most popular plans could see their monthly premiums lurch up 21%. Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center, recommends,

"making a list of your medicines and how much you pay for them under your current plan. Check if that plan and other potential plans will cover those medications next year. If a plan doesn't, you could check with your doctor to see if a similar medicine or a generic would be as effective. Check the fine print because some plans permit certain drugs only after a patient has tried other medications."

[snip]

Oddly enough, the popular plans that built up a big user base by having lower premiums are the ones raising their prices most significantly. Funny how that works.

Strange....

I know just how she feels...

Helena, MT (AHN) - A 36-year-old Idaho woman became frustrated and allegedly used pepper spray on hospital employees when they refused to discharge her.

Susan Kollars sprayed employees at St. Peter's Hospital on Sunday and then ran towards Interstate 15. According to AP reports, it is not clear why Kollars was denied discharge from the hospital or why she was admitted.

According to Police Chief Troy McGee, a man driving a pickup saw Kollars but she tried to spray him as well. She was then taken into custody and returned to the hospital. She now faces three counts of misdemeanor assault resulting from the incident.

Personal adventures in our US health care system: Part eight

Phone call from someone named Jenna.

'Yes?' I ask.

'This is physical therapy from the hospital. Concerning your MIL. Do you have her Medicare number?'

Personal adventures in our US health care system: Part seven

Day of surgery to remove bar:

Planning for the prosthetics clinic before the 1 pm surgery, I called days ahead and made the appointment. ‘8:30, 8:45, or an 11:00 is available,’ said the office paperwork lady that I remembered so well from last time. I thought… 8:30 is a wee bit early … ‘8:45 please’ I said. ‘I know that she will need a small splint, here are her measurements.’ ‘Oh, good to know,’ said office lady. ‘We will have to get a special one for her.’

Husband and BIL and I involved on this one. All three of us to the prosthetics clinic, then to the hospital. I would check in with all the paperwork and then leave. They would sit through the surgery and take her home.

MIL ready to go. (Thank god for the care-givers. They are worth their weight in gold.) Wheelchair, slope, car, clinic. Parking lot, wheelchair, MIL, office. Running a bit late but still about 8:40 when I dash in ahead of the others. ‘MIL here for her appointment.’

‘You’re a bit late,’ said office paperwork lady, flapping papers about on her desk. ‘Oh, no,’ I said, ‘We have the 8:45 appointment.’ ‘No, you have the 8:30, but we can still take you.’ ‘No, I’m sure…’I began to explain. ‘You will be beat,’ stated office lady emphatically. My mouth hung open in astonishment.

BIL and husband rolled in MIL. Gave office lady the co-pay. If I threw a tantrum right there in the office, ripping off wallpaper, jumping on the spindly furniture, and eating the potted plant, it would feel good temporarily, but hurt MIL’s prospects for this splint thingie she had to have. I sat down quietly.

A few minutes of hunting about my papers made me realize I was missing something. I drove quickly home so I missed the next part. My husband filled me in.

They sat in the waiting room until about 9:15, when my husband noticed the prosthetics doctor driving into the parking lot. The actual visitation lasted less than 5 minutes. The doctor didn’t even look at the broken arm, but measured the other arm. Then he didn’t have the right size. BIL and husband very unimpressed. Left with splint Velcro thingie in box.

MIL, BIL, husband and I to hospital. Admissions, paperwork, forms, upstairs, room. Changed MIL to gown, visited the smallest bathroom in the world. (Try that with someone who can’t move her arm nor stand up without assistance.) Blood pressure, temperature. Verified husband still had splint box. After settling MIL into bed, I kissed her, thanked BIL and husband and joyfully fled the hospital.

My husband came home hours later stunned into exhaustion. BIL and he had seen MIL into surgery. They had gone to the allotted guest room and settled in to wait. And waited. Sometime later Dr. R.S. showed up, declaring her out of surgery and fine. Husband offered him the splint box.

‘Oh, no. I couldn’t find you, so I used one of ours,’ Dr. R. S. said cheerfully.

Personal adventures in our US health care system: Part six

Finally the final check-up before surgery.

BIL and I went. (MIL, wheelchair, slope, car, doctor’s office.) X-rays downstairs. Up elevator, sign in, co-pay. Bones look straight (really amazing), Dr. R.S is pleased. Sets date for surgery (very fast, he said, hardly any time at all under). Back over to hospital for pre-admission. What is her Medicare number? Explained about the Multi-County Stupendous Coverage Card and the fact we had not yet found it amid her papers. MIL beams at woman. Woman spent 10 minutes hunting through computer files for number. Nothing. Typed in: not yet found.

Up a floor to another office to talk about steps needed before surgery. Did we need this step? Sadly yes. Blood taken at time of last surgery cannot be used and urine needs to be taken. Can’t we do it here? No, said the nurse. The offices used different urine sample cups.

Different urine sample cups?

My mouth must have been agape. Why didn’t they stock both then? … But I didn’t ask.

BIL, MIL, and I out door, parking lot, car, wheelchair, new building. This building was right across the street from the hospital too. We waited in the messy waiting room amid crowds of people. Into another room to give blood. The floor tiles were broken and buckled, the cotton balls were scattered about the floor. Boxes were stacked along the wall. The bathroom was filthy and trying to assist MIL for the urine sample was a nightmare. She then had to go into a special room for blood being unable to get onto the stool. Which meant we waited longer.

Finally, exhausted, MIL taken home. I offered to make the run to the prosthetics clinic where we had to get a splint for MIL for after surgery. Dr. R.S. had said it would be small or medium, so I measured MIL’s arm. To clinic, into office, spoke to woman through office glass window. ‘Here for MIL’s splint.’

‘Ah,’ said the office woman settling down comfortably behind her file-covered desk. ‘I have her paperwork right here. Is she here?’ ‘No, I have her measurements with me.’ ‘Oh, no, no, no. We cannot give it to you. Insurance. Liability. She must come in.’ ‘That is very difficult,’ I gasped out and left.

Yet another visit for MIL. The only time open for family members would be the day of the surgery.

Personal adventures in our US health care system: Part five

Post-operative visit to Dr. Real Surgeon.

BIL and I on this run. MIL ready, wheelchair down to car, over to Dr. R.S.’s office. Kept MIL downstairs while I ran up to sign in, verified that x-rays were needed, ran down with paperwork. X-rayed. Looked absolutely amazing. Straight…wow. Those bar thingies work!

Back up the elevator to Dr. R.S., co-pay, in office for exam. Should have had warning. Dr. showed up with several papers, mid-talk went out to retrieve another insurance form. Discussion about seeing a physical therapist at the hospital. We accepted this, worked it in for that day. (MIL, wheelchair, parking lot, car, wheelchair).

Over to hospital, waited for physical therapist. He checked her arm and hand. Showed her how to keep moving her fingers and shoulder. Waited about an hour for about five minutes’ worth of finger wiggling. Oh, well. A flyer would have been as helpful.

Now almost two months had gone by.

Home care by care-givers and family meant cleaning the bar with peroxide. Daily program to get MIL to wiggle hand and fingers, but all for naught. The splint and bar weighed too much, prevented movement, and her hand turned into a useless club. Well…when the stuff comes off, then we will work it hard.