Republican Death Squad!

Yesterday, I spoke about the Republican National Committee’s insurance policy through CIGNA covering elective abortions. No great surprise, really, as they are the Party of Hypocrisy.Today, Think Progress reports that not only does CIGNA cover abortions (and still does), they also provide end of life counseling DEATH PANELS for it’s members, providing all kinds of guidance on How To Die:What’s next? Will we find CIGNA covering sex change procedures for closeted Republicans?

OOPS!Nevermind!

CIGNA covers gender reassignment surgery as medically necessary when ALL of the following criteriaare met: The individual is 18 years of age or older.•transsexualism that includesThe individual is diagnosed as having a gender identity disorder (GID), including a diagnosis of trueALL of the following criteria: 

The individual has demonstrated the desire to live and be accepted as a member of the oppositesex, in addition to a desire to make his/her body as congruent as possible with the preferred sexthrough surgery and hormone replacement.

The transsexual identity has been present consistently for at least two years.

The disorder is not due to another mental disorder or chromosome abnormality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RNC Insurance Covers Abortions!

We all know about the Stupak Amendment, that totally unnecessary amendment pasted in the House health care bill passed last week. Ignoring the rights a woman has over her own body, the amendment blocking coverage of abortions by any public health insurance plan surely pleased the the conservative Democrats out there, and left all Republicans jubilant.

In what is the latest string of embarrasingly hypocritical actions and words of the Republican Party and conservative right wingers everywhere (hello Carrie Prejean?), comes word that the insurance carrier of choice of the Republican Party, CIGNA, has gladly provided coverage of elective abortions to Republican Party members for 18 years:

Federal Election Commission Records show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna. Two sales agents for the company said that the RNC’s policy covers elective abortion.

Informed of the coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told POLITICO that the policy pre-dates the tenure of current RNC Chairman Michael Steele.

“The current policy has been in effect since 1991, and we are taking steps to address the issue,” Gitcho said. [...]

According to several Cigna employees, the insurer offers its customers the opportunity to opt out of abortion coverage — and the RNC did not choose to opt out.

Oops!

Of course, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, upon finding this out, instructed CIGNA that the party would now opt-out of the coverage. The only problem is, if CIGNA continues to provide coverage for abortions to it’s other policy members through premiums paid by the Republican Party members, wouldn’t this still be contrary to the intentions of the Stupak Amendment?

In short, yup! :

In General – No Funds authorized under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion, except in the case…[of a risk of death of the mother, rape, or incest].

I hate to say this, but wouldn’t Sarah Palin’s life had been a lot easier right now if she’d read her insurance policy 18 years ago?

Supporting a Public Option: The Wrong Way

The other day, my friend Kelly posted a great blog at The VSJ, continuing her dismay over the big insurance companies cancelling policies of those with costly medical problems. Focusing this time on Ian Pearl, who has muscular dystrophy like our friend Chuck, she tells us what extent Pearl’s insurors will go through to keep from paying for his care:

 “In an e-mail to four other Guardian executives entered into evidence in the Pearls’ suit, company Vice President Tim Birely discussed how the company could “eliminate this entire block to get rid of the few dogs.”

In case you don’t understand what that means, Kelly succinctly explains:

“the New York-based insurer simply canceled lines of coverage altogether in entire states to avoid paying high-cost claims like Mr. Pearl’s”

In reply to Mr. Pearl’s lawsuit against the insurance company, and repeated by LilMike as a viable solution to the problem is this comment:

“As a last resort, Mr. Pearl would be admitted to a state hospital under Medicaid.”

Let me get this straight…The insurance companies and their Republican supporters like LilMike are dead set against a Public Option…yet are in favor of persons being denied insurance for long-term care receiving a type of government health care under Medicaid?

In another story I just came across, titled “He’s In the Army Now”, we hear the story of Bill Caudle, a recently laid off worker who, at the age of 40, enlisted in the Army in order to receive medical care for his wife Michelle’s ongoing battle with ovarian cancer. Unable to enroll in Wisconsin’s BadgerCare Plus public insurance program (apparently because the program had been suspended), Mr. Caudle decided to join the military after his COBRA insurance ran out.

Today, Mr. Caudle has become a right wing hero. No, not for the reasons you think. Because, and I quote:

“instead of reaching for a handout, the father puts his hand up to swear in and shows how to responsibly take care of his family…”

Nobody, I repeat, nobody should have to resort to having to join the Army at the age of 40 in order to get health care coverage for their spouse!

Let me get this straight…The Republican supporters are dead set against a Public Option…yet are in favor of persons without insurance joining the Army to receive another type of government health care?

Why are the Republicans so against a Public Option when government-run health care is so great?

The UnAmericans

How this world has changed. Earlier this year we elected a man as President. We elected a man who spoke eloquently of change, hope, and equality. A man who singlehandedly regained the respect of this country in the eyes of our fellow nations. A man who showed the youth of our country that yes, anyone can become President.

Even a black man.

Before Barack Obama took office, even during the election last year, a disturbing faction of our population started emerging. People who didn’t want the new President to succeed. People who wanted him to fail in his visions to renew our country and leave behind the eight years of shame of the previous administration. People who placed one thing above everything else – their racist hate.

The protestations are humorous: “No. It’s not about hate!” Bullshit. It’s all about hate. It’s all about racist hate coming from the right wing and the fools who listen to the sound bytes of the Becks, Limbaughs, Coulters, Drudges, and others whose only purpose is to spread an agenda of racist hate.

Someone I know…let’s call him Josh, is a brilliant example of such a lemming. Unable to construct a thought of his own (unless he’s wishing Death by AIDS upon someone), his usual reply to the silly right wing claim usually starts with “I heard on the radio…”. And he’s not the only one.

Across the country, thousands of like-minded (hah! That’s an oxymoron!) neanderthal, racist, intellectually-challenged souls are repeating the same claims. Believing every word they get by listening to the radio, reading chain e-mails sent by their fellow racists, thriving in political blogs written by their equally neanderthal, racist, intellectually-challenged writers, the racist haters continue to direct their poison towards the President – only because he’s a black man.

Case in point: Chicago. President Obama’s home town. Finalist for the 2016 Olympics. Yet…because Chicago’s the home of our President, the right wing haters like Josh and others, didn’t want Chicago to get the Olympics.

Forget the HUGE economic boom the Olympics would foist upon the economy of Illinois! Forget the influx of visitors to our country spreading peace and competition among our fellow man!

Forget it! Goddamit, they say, if Obama wants the Olympics then we don’t!

Today, those racist, neanderthal, intellectually-challenged trolls are celebrating. Not because one of our states will be hosting the Olympics.

Because they won’t!

How Un-American!

And…look who also supported the Chicago Olympic bid!

They say that the Olympics will come to Chicago if we’re fortunate enough to be selected, but really it’s coming to America, and I can’t think of a better city to represent the United States than Chicago.

This is a well thought out venue. There will be — the athletes will be taken care of. People who will be coming from around the world will find this good city has got fantastic accommodations, great restaurants. It will be safe.

And so I — this country supports your bid, strongly. And our hope is that the judges will take a good look at Chicago and select Chicago for the 2016 Olympics.

Update: From The Weekly Standard:

Patriotic Unity or Racist Hate? – Another Look

Following my recent post about Glenn Beck’s 9/12 March in Washington comes this revelation: Marching alongside the lily white protesters at the Capital was a fringe group so vile in their message one must be amazed at the positive reception they received from their fellow visitors…

Here’s Rachel Maddow:

lol…I’m shocked, amused, and not at all surprised! One of the commenters to my previous post, someone who identified himself as “Ohandy1″ took me to issue for calling the protesters in Washington “idiots”. I stand corrected. No idiot would ever fall for, least of all march along arm-in-arm with,  the Billionaires for Wealthcare.  Only stupid idiots would!

Mr. Ohandy1 also took me to task over the number of people attending the event. Citing the ever-reliable Michele Malkin as his source, he insisted two million (stupid idiots) attended the march this past weekend! He even alluded to an even greater number of three million were marching…quote:

The estimates, not misquoted, place the numbers up to 2mil. (I’ve heard numbers over 3 but not many trying to stand by that) Near as I can tell this could make this the LARGEST event EVER of its kind. Even larger than the inoguration. Even the lower estimates make it a notable event larger than the “million man march” which reached about 800,000 according to the most generous estimates.

Yeah, right.  Here’s a picture of President Obama’s inauguration:

And…here’s a picture (from Fox News) of the 9/12 Stupid Idiot March from last weekend…

I’ll let my readers decide which had the most people.

Patriotic Unity or Racist Hate?

Yesterday, a group of approximately 60,000* men and women descended upon Washington, D.C., in a protest organized by FreedomWorks, Fox News, and cheerleaded by the heir-apparent of the Republican Party, Glenn Beck. The march, presumptively to protest President Obama’s health care proposals and government spending, was the brainchild (yes, I know that’s an oxymoron) of Beck who envisioned his 9/12 Project earlier this year in his quest to spread his hatred and racist propoganda directly at the President:

Beck hosted a special program earlier this year announcing his initiative called the “9/12 Project” — an effort to ostensibly recreate the patriotic unity after the September 11 attacks.

Let’s talk about the above quote. Patriotic unity? Really? I remember the hours, days, and weeks following the attacks on the World Trade Center that killed nearly 3,000 people.

I remember a distinctly non-partisan air of approval in the nation’s reaction to President Bush’s handing of this terrorist act in it’s aftermatch.

I remember nearly every single American, White, Black, Hispanic, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, Straight, Gay, Young and Old displaying patriotic flags, bumper stickers and words in support of then President Bush’s upcoming War on Terrorism.

That was patriotic unity!

What we saw yesterday in the nation’s Capital, lined along the streets, was far from patriotic unity.

What we saw yesterday was a sea of white faces. What we saw yesterday was the fringe of the conservative right pronouncing, nee repeating the words of racist hate so often spewed out by Glenn Beck and his co-conspirators at Fox News and elsewhere.

What we saw yesterday was hate, racism, and bigotry lining the streets of Washington, D.C.

What we saw yesterday was nowhere near the patriotic unity we saw in the days and weeks following the 9-11 attacks. Not when that unity doesn’t include the Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, Agnostics, Gays, Young and Old marching alongside the white evangelical Christians.

Until that day happens and not until that day happens can we say the words patriotic unity again.

 

* In an apparent attempt to pad the numbers, several conservative groups and Fox News decided to mis-quote ABC News and put the number of attendees at an astonishing 1.5 million people. Of course it was just another lie in a throng of lies.

Chuck’s Story – Another Look

My friend Kelly over at the VSJ just posted a story about another friend of ours, Chuck. Rather than provide a short comment in her blog, I thought I’d comment on Chuck’s Story here.

Speaking as someone who once sat in that chair at a home health care agency submitting requests to Medicaid I’d like to shed some light on the problem here.

The problem is not with the concept of Medicaid. Medicaid, as originally intended, provided a life line to the poor and disabled to obtain health care. However, thanks to partisan cost-cutting by Republicans on a national and state level the program is but a shell of what it once was, with myraid rules and accountability to prevent fraud and yearly caps on treatment costs.

In Florida, the greatest change to Medicaid occurred in 2005 when then Gov. Jeb Bush rammed the “privatization” of Medicaid through the state’s legislature. Bush’s Medicaid Czar, Alan Levine, an insurance company lobbyist, devised a haphazard plan to hand the entire system over to the insurance companies to manage.

The resultant changes have resulted in loss of care to thousands of patients, refusal to honor payments to providers, and the subsequent refusal of physicians to treat Medicaid patients. Why provide care when it might be months, even years, to be reimbursed for your service?

A report by the Kaiser Foundation highlighted the failures of the proposed changes to Florida Medicaid to deaf ears. It’s funny how many of the items cited are the same talking points Republicans are using today to spread misinformation on President Obama’s proposed health care reform:

 

Florida’s waiver moves away from the traditional insurance concept of shared risk to individual risk. The state plans to use historical utilization data to develop individual risk scores to reflect health care needs to derive the premiums allotted to individuals. Therefore, the accuracy of the scores will be critical to assuring whether individuals can access adequate coverage.

 

You see, Kelly, Chuck’s problems are indicative of why health care reform is needed. President Obama’s plan will not only allow Chuck the opportunity to obtain health care through a Private Option, it will also streamline Medicaid to provide a uniform program without all the fraud and mismanagement so prevalent today – thus saving millions of dollars.

And allowing Chuck to receive the proper care he needs.

Obama Speaks to the Children

My recent vacation took preference over the hoopla over President Obama’s speech to the children of America (today), but here’s my five cents.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH AMERICA?

What has happened to certain parents of our society – yes, I’m talking to you right wing, fear-mongering, paranoid, hating Republicans – who fear a simple speech from our President to our children? A speech that stresses the fine old American qualities of working hard, learning, and responsibility – those good ol’ bastions of the Conservative Way?

Here’s the speech in it’s entirety: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

As even the most paranoid of you can see…The speech is inspiring and well-written. And far from controversial or…I’m trying to think of all the words describing by the right wing out there…let’s just say it’s not brainwashing the children of America into a life of liberal socialist Nazi propoganda-loving servitude.

Of course, the penultimate benefit of President Obama’s speech to our children is this:

It exposes to everyone the mass stupidity of the right wing, fear-mongering, paranoid, hating Republicans in a manner so simply obvious that any future protestations and lies coming from them are delegitimized!

Now that America has seen the level of stupidity displayed by the right wing, fear-mongering, paranoid, hating Republicans in the handling of this – can we honestly believe their protestations over health care reform? I think not.

I commend our President for reaching out to the youth of America and using the circumstances of his own youth as a motivator.

And…really…isn’t that a fresh and welcome change from our last President? Does anyone out there remember his last visit with children?

 

Remember this quote attributed to the former President?

“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”

Scaring Our Seniors to Death

The biggest group of supporters of the Republican Party isn’t the evangelical Christians, the rich white businessmen, or the white southern redneck.

It’s the elderly. Those over  65 years of age or so who were raised during times far more conservative than even those of the Bush years…people who fought hard for the future of their children in Europe, North Africa, Japan and Korea. People who respected Dwight Eisenhower as a military leader and people who watched Death Valley Days and it’s host with the calming, authoritative voice – Ronald Reagan. Of course, back then Reagan was a Democrat who championed the New Deal and the plight of less-fortunate Americans, especially the elderly.

Because these people worked so hard for their future and that of their children, they instinctively have become protective of such a legacy. The first mass departure of the elderly from the Republican Party was the result of the man whom they once respected so dearly – Ronald Reagan. When Reagan switched parties in 1962 he cited his fear of the takeover of our government by citing the fear of the government itself having too much control over our lives. The decline of the integrity of the words of Reagan began at the time when he proclaimed the proposed Medicare program was socialist. When Medicare became fact, the fears were proven unfounded as it substantially improved access to health care, allowed seniors to live longer, healthier lives, led to the desegregation of southern hospitals, and became one of the most popular government programs our nation’s ever seen.

The fears incited by the Republican Party of the day were soothed away by a new war and the turmoil of the 1960’s and older Americans began returning to the comforting fold of the Republican Party and Ronald Reagan as America returned to it’s conservative roots with the election of Richard Nixon.

Thus began the greatest shame of America – the paranoia of the Republican Party. Through the years of Nixon, Reagan and the Bush father and son, fear and the concept of fear grew to be the talking point of the party. Rather than intelligently debate alternatives to proposed legislation, the Republicans would rather return to the tactics of Reagan by instilling fear in the eyes of the American public to ramrod their paranoid policies through Congress and upon the freedoms we’ve always shared.

This fear brought us Gingrich’s “Contract with America”, wars in Kuwait, Iraq and Aghanistan, and the erosion of the world view of our country thanks to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the neocons of the world.

Today, the concept of fear has grown to a whole new level of shame. Our seniors need real answers on health care reform, and they’re not getting those answers from the Republican Party.

Rather than respond intelligently or cohesively to the President’s health care reform proposal, the Republican Party has dusted off the tried-and-true fear tactics in their response to health care reform - not by proposing an alternative but by attempting to scare others into thinking what’s proposed will drive the country to socialism, Marxism, or worse. Using tactics such as disrupting town halls, using the words of conservative bloggers, inane has beens such as Sarah Palin and her “death squad”, and Fox News to spread outright lies and misconceptions, the Republican Party is concentrating on confusing the message of health care reform by confusing and inciting fear into it’s supporters. Bombarding the internet with hateful, racist messages and images directed towards our President, the Republican Party has become a sham that would even make Ronald Reagan shake his head in shame.

If allowed to continue, this and this alone will result in the downfall of our country and it’s freedom.

Hurricane Charlie Strikes Again!

Seems like our famously flamboyant Governor (at the moment) Charlie Lisp Crist is at it again!

After apparently having done absolutely nothing for the State of Florida during his reign, Her Majesty can now claim his first accomplishment as Governor before heading off into the sunset better known as the U.S. Senate.

Yesiree, folks, Charlie has parted the Atlantic Sea and prevented us from being struck by hurricanes since he took office!

“Dear God, please protect our Florida from storms and other difficulties. Charlie.”

Yup. That’s what Charlie reportedly affirms was written on a note he inserted into Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall in 2007 and instructed others to repeat in the two years since. BTW – I’m glad to See Charlie’s dispatched others to…umm…stick his thing into a crack – seeing as how he’s so busy running the state campaigning for the Senate.

Now if that doesn’t get Charlie back in the good graces of the Religious Right, I don’t know what will.

Things haven’t been going well for Charlie the past six months or so. Especially in his relationship with the extreme right of the Republican Party. Seems they weren’t too pleased when Charlie stood alongside President Obama and declared the stimulus bill a God-Given boost the State needs. Or when a movie came to within a camel’s hair of rightfully outing the Governor. (By the way, Gov. Lisp Crist…just when will the First Beard be moving into the Governor’s Mansion?)

Of course, now Charlie’s running for the Senate, I’m sure he’ll change his mind on the stimulus funds…much like he’s done this week on health care reform. Just the other day he called President Obama’s health care reform “cockamamie” and that “what’s going on in Washington is nuts.”

Hmmm….Looks like the Gov’s got a one track mind lately using those homolicious words…perhaps it’s time for a trip to Fire Island?