How the ACA Shields the NRA

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Friday December 21, 2012 · 8:38 AM PST

2012/12/21 · 08:38

The NRA knew there would be a horrendous massacre like the one in Newtown that would change public opinion on gun control. They knew this back in 2010 when health reform was being drafted into law. Knowing that one day public opinion would turn on gun control, they used the Affordable Care Act to shield the NRA. They inserted an amendment to the Affordable Care Act titled "Protection of Second Amendment Gun Rights." This amendment literally prohibits health professionals from being able to identify the risk a person like Adam Lanza could be to a community or himself. The NRA amendment shielded Adam Lanza from detection by mental health professionals. Unfortunately, the law did not protect the victims of Adam Lanza. More on the other side.

gpack

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Tuesday March 01, 2011 · 12:14 PM PST

2011/03/01 · 12:14

The announcement yesterday by Obama to the Governors was a deft shot across the bow to those who think health care reform will be the 2012 albatross around the President's neck. In the GOP House it's all about repeal or replace ObamaCare. In the hinterland 29 states have sued to block the law and 32 governors have written Obama asking for more flexibility to their states. Be careful what you wish for - as the saying goes. The man in the White House is willing to grant your wish and move the debate from his house to their state houses before 2012. And those governors eager to criticize may soon have the opportunity to show their skills at solving intractable problems.

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The Public Option Trojan Horse

gpack

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Tuesday March 30, 2010 · 10:10 AM PDT

2010/03/30 · 10:10

It just may be that some very smart people have inserted a section in the new health care reform legislation that is a Trojan Horse for the public Option. In sec. 1323 - COMMUNITY HEALTH OPTIONS, there are broad hints of public option styled health plans that can appear on state exchanges. when I first read this in the Senate bill, I tried to find out who put this in the bill. Nobody seemed to know - or they weren't telling. Now that it is law, it merits some close scrutiny. For those who like the public option, this may be very intriguing. At the very least, it begs the question of how this got into the bill.

gpack

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Sunday February 28, 2010 · 7:19 AM PST

2010/02/28 · 07:19

Supporters of health reform need to get out of the weeds and stay on message - yes we can! That was the mantra of the election meant to make our democracy a government of the people. Now we see the center piece of the last election, health reform, slowing bleeding and perhaps dying a death by a thousand cuts. So this generation needs to get out of the weeds and ask itself, can we do greatness? Or are we just able to argue minutia? I think we can achieve greatness, it's in our DNA - somewhere.

gpack

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Saturday February 20, 2010 · 7:44 AM PST

2010/02/20 · 07:44

How is it that in Washington DC a bunch of really smart people will meet on Feb 25th in an effort to find solutions to the national health care problem, while at the very same time the small community of Muskegon Michigan will be teaching another community from Bend Oregon on how to operate a successful community-owned health plan for their uninsured? In one city health care is about politics, in another city, on the same day, health care is about real people getting the job done. How this happened is a fascinating tale.

gpack

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Saturday August 22, 2009 · 8:05 AM PDT

2009/08/22 · 08:05

In all the hue and cry over the public plan, does anyone actually know what the plan is? It's become the progressive rallying cry, like "Remember the Maine" - but what exactly is the public plan? Okay, it's sorta like Medicare for everyone. Yep, that's the program with the doughnut hole, remember? And the government's going to pay subsidies so lower-income people can afford the public plan - or any other plan on the Exchange. But exactly how much do we pay - and what will we get? Before we "buy" into the public option, shouldn't we know what it is we are buying? And what will it cost? I mean what's it cost retail? I here the big numbers the government pays - wholesale. But I went looking for answers to this question of what it will cost retail. What if I told you that I found out the public option will be no bargain for many uninsured people. In fact it will cost more than a private plan will cost. Here's what I found when I looked closely at the details of the much beloved public plan (either co-op or government versions of a public plan.)

gpack

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Thursday May 29, 2008 · 8:34 PM PDT

2008/05/29 · 20:34

Is anybody paying attention to the media narrative enveloping the coverage on McClellan's book? I have parachuted into a few cable programs talking about the book and found the echo chamber filled with hollow refrains about the man's questionable loyalty.

In the run up to Iraq, the media failed to get the story right and now they are embarrassed by the Bush Administrations equivalent of Bagdad Bob who is showing the rest of us how the media sideshow called "news" is really nothing more than co-dependency between the fourth estate and the White House.

Keith Olbermann at least gave the book a fair hearing by asking substantive and historical questions. Sadly though, most of the bloggers here missed the point. This is not about salivating over some victory over Darth Vader Inc. Grow up folks - set your hyper-partisan passions down long enough to fully appreciate what is now unfolding.

gpack

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Tuesday May 20, 2008 · 5:06 AM PDT

2008/05/20 · 05:06

Kentucky is about to show us all that it is yet another rear guard state, after West Virginia and Pennsylvania. These folks just refuse to join the rest of the country in finding leadership that can handle the tough job ahead. They want to cling to their Appalachian folkways of being isolated in the hill country. The national Gallup tracking poll is now showing Obama has a lead over Clinton of 55% to 39%. And yet, in Kentucky where they are still polling for the primary, Clinton leads by 62% to 31%. How screwy is that?

gpack

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Monday May 12, 2008 · 11:58 AM PDT

2008/05/12 · 11:58

It's on the Lansing NPR station. Barrack is coming to Michigan Wednesday.

Also just got a call from my daughter in Grand Rapids telling me she just received an email from the GR Dem Party telling her Obama would be coming to GR on Wednesday. She called them for tickets and learned he'd be there around 7 PM.

So why is this important? Think about what it may mean for Obama to be in Michigan the day after the WV primary. The answer may be on the flip side of this diary.

gpack

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Tuesday April 29, 2008 · 12:36 PM PDT

2008/04/29 · 12:36

As this is my first diary post, it also feels a bit like that first dance long ago. I just hope I get all the steps right.

By way of brief background to set up this diary, I experienced presidential politics from the trenches in 1976 and again in 1980. I began as a volunteer field staff to Carter in Ohio in January 1976 when he was listed in the Gallup polls as an asterisk. In 1980 I served as the National Director of Administration for the campaign. In between I worked on the White House staff and with the EPA. Now looking back I can see the fabric of those elections much clearer, and today I sense some déjà vu in observing the Obama campaign. This blog is written from that perspective.

There is a certain aspect to the Obama candidacy that brings back memories of the 1976 campaign by Jimmy Carter. In looking back now on those years, I believe that Carter was almost too decent to be President. Obama carries that same sense of decency. It may turn out that Carter was just ahead of his times, as many of my fellow Carterites will claim. It may also turn out that we need that decency now more than ever in our conduct of democracy.

RSS

How the ACA Shields the NRA

Wyden Brown Game Changer

The Public Option Trojan Horse

Can we achieve greatness through HCR?

Tale of Two Cities

What's the Public Plan at Retail Cost

After McClellan's book, what happens next?

Why Kentucky Doesn't Help

BREAKING in Michigan

Is Obama "Carter Deja Vu"