John Kerry, Health Care Sellout #1

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Saturday September 19, 2009 · 11:40 AM PDT

2009/09/19 · 11:40

The staggering lack of democracy in the United States on economic issues, and in particular on health care, has created a situation in which almost no US Senators favor Medicare for All despite likely majority support from the public.

The worst shills in the US Senate on this issue are not Republicans. In very red states like say Kansas, the population almost certainly does not favor Medicare for All. Orrin Hatch may oppose single payer, but at least he can rightly claim that his position is the one held by his constituents. So the prize for the most elitist senators here must go to the blue states.

Who is the worst sellout of the Senate? It may well be John Kerry, the lone remaining senator from the bluest state in the Union, Massachusetts. Why Kerry as opposed to competition like Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand from New York, you ask? After all, there are plenty of nauseating sellouts from very liberal states--how about Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island, the bluest state in the Union second only to Massachusetts?

khin

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Friday September 18, 2009 · 10:39 AM PDT

2009/09/18 · 10:39

Many people have been writing to their representative and senators lately about preserving the existing public programs in HR 3200. That is good work and we should keep it up.

However, there is another crazy reality that has been getting overlooked almost entirely in the media. This is the massive number of representatives and especially senators who totally snub their noses at constituents' opinions on Medicare for All. To realize the incredible magnitude of the problem, consider this graph:

khin

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Thursday September 17, 2009 · 8:55 AM PDT

2009/09/17 · 08:55

It never fails to amaze me how incredibly warped the debate in Congress is on health reform. While majorities of the public likely favor Medicare-for-All, this Congress full of shills dismisses the idea out of hand.

Time to fight back. Call your representative and senators now and tell them to cosponsor HR 676 and S. 703, vote for the Weiner amendment and S. 703 when they come to the floor of the House and Senate soon, and retain the Kucinich amendment in HR 3200!

Just in case you need to know what these are:

HR 676 is the The United States National Health Care Act, which would simply expand Medicare eligibility to all Americans.

The Weiner amendment is an amendment to the main healthcare bill, HR 3200, that is going to receive a vote on the House floor this year. This is very important because Medicare-for-All has never gotten a floor vote before!

S. 703 was introduced by the great Senator Bernie Sanders to create a single payer health care system. It will also likely receive a floor vote this year!

khin

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Wednesday September 16, 2009 · 5:55 PM PDT

2009/09/16 · 17:55

But now it's time to fight back. We need to call our Representatives and Senators and tell them to cosponsor HR 676 and S. 703 and support the Weiner and Kucinich amendments for health reform!

Every cosponsor we can secure for HR 676 will move us that much closer to enacting system wide health care reform in this country. On S. 703 the situation is about as utterly outrageous as could it possibly be--our revoltingly corrupt Senate has NOT ONE cosponsor yet. Let's see which one will be first!

The state efforts for single payer also need our support. That's why it is important to tell your Representative to support the Kucinich amendment to remove any legal roadblocks to state single payer!

khin

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Tuesday September 15, 2009 · 11:58 AM PDT

2009/09/15 · 11:58

A while back I was having a conversation with someone here about whether it was better to advocate Medicare-for-All as opposed to just the public option. The conversation went something like this. I said, "You can't get something if you're afraid to ask for it." He replied, "I asked my mother for a pony. She didn't respond."

What is so sad about this mentality is that a majority of the population probably supports Medicare-for-All according to polls done this year. 58% supported "a national health plan in which all Americans would get their insurance through an expanded, universal form of Medicare-for all" according to the July Kaiser tracking poll, compared with 38% opposed. Earlier this year other polls put support at similar levels.

The question, then, is how can people become so depressed by the system that they think even speaking out for what a majority of the population likely favors is a waste of time? How can people become so caught up in the game of inside the beltway Washington politics that they decide that Americans' opinions are no longer relevant?

khin

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Monday September 14, 2009 · 4:21 PM PDT

2009/09/14 · 16:21

The question, then, is how can people become so depressed by the system that they think even speaking out for what a majority of the population likely favors is a waste of time? How can people become so caught up in the game of inside the beltway Washington politics that they decide that Americans' opinions are no longer relevant?

khin

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Saturday September 12, 2009 · 10:33 PM PDT

2009/09/12 · 22:33

After reading this very well-informed diary addressed to those who favor the public option or Medicare-for-All (my case), it is clear to me that better answers to the following questions would be helpful.

What is the most practical reform of the health care system that will...

Reduce provider costs in health care

Reduce insurance costs in health care

Reduce economic inequality in society generally

I would recommend looking over that diary before reading this.

khin

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Friday September 11, 2009 · 10:29 AM PDT

2009/09/11 · 10:29

Here is a new version of the letter to my senators on health reform.

khin

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Saturday September 05, 2009 · 10:00 AM PDT

2009/09/05 · 10:00

This will be a harsh diary, and I expect much criticism in response, but it must be said.

The current failure by many organizations that are supposedly progressive on health care to promote national health insurance is a strategic disaster.

Among these organizations, one that is particularly important to me stands out because it claims to be a "Daily weblog with political analysis on US current events from a liberal perspective." This organization is of course Daily Kos. However, given the polling data on health reform and statistics on Daily Kos stories, it is very clear that at least compared with the public, Daily Kos is not liberal on health care reform. The only question is then: is Daily Kos redefining "liberal" to mean something that ignores public opinion (elitism), or is it just cynically and deliberately pushing a false liberalism (fraud)?

khin

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Friday September 04, 2009 · 1:10 PM PDT

2009/09/04 · 13:10

You won't get something if you don't ask for it.

That is why we should not be surprised that Medicare-for-All is not on the political table right now: it's not just that big money is opposing it, it's that many progressive organizations refuse to fight for it despite its solid public support.

The most immediate obstacle to its passage is hence the stagnancy and elitism of many organizations that ought to be taking up the charge.

khin

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday August 29, 2009 · 10:41 AM PDT

2009/08/29 · 10:41

The Daily Kos editors have shunned advocating Medicare-for-All lately in favor of only a public option. They are not alone, of course. But in this post I would like to outline again why this stance is terribly short sighted and can never hope to inspire a mass movement for health reform.

In short, the answer is because current plans just do not accomplish anything near enough to get people out there and willing to fight. If you want people to fight, they've got to get something clear enough and big enough in return to outweigh the time spent.

There are two different fronts that do need to be distinguished:

The lobbying front directed at Congress

The education front directed at the public

And here's my current take on things.
daily kos single payer medicare for all obama democrats republicans

khin

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday August 27, 2009 · 1:38 PM PDT

2009/08/27 · 13:38

The health care reform debate right now is stunted.

The best proposal in Congress is the House bill that includes only a small public option. The Senate looks eager to kill even that.

What's our best bet?

There are two fronts that I think are very separate and should be sharply distinguished:

The lobbying front directed at Congress

The education front directed at the public

National health insurance should be the stated goal on both.

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