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Dr. Flowers Answers Obama's Request for 'Better Approach' to Healthcare Reform
Try Single Payer - All You Want and More
Last night, President Obama said he wanted ideas on health care reform.
Obama put it this way:
"If anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company abuses, let me know. Let me know. Let me know. I'm eager to see it."
House Minority Leader John Boehner raised his hand.
So did Dr. Margaret Flowers.
Unfortunately, Dr. Flowers is not from either party.
Last year, she decided to drop out of the Democratic Party because "both major political parties have failed our patients and us."
But she nonetheless took up Obama's offer.
Dr. Flowers has a plan that would fit Obama's criteria.
Single payer, everybody in, nobody out.
Medicare for all.
And this morning, she traveled to the White House to deliver a letter to Obama spelling out her reasons why.
Unfortunately, when doctor Flowers tried to deliver her letter to Obama, White House security turned her away.
For security reasons, the White House doesn't accept hand delivered letters.
Unless of course, you are with PhRMA or Blue Cross/Blue Shield or the insurance industry.
Then you get to meet with budget director, health care guru, and man about town Peter Orszag and deliver it mano a mano.
Ah yes, the personal is political.
Onward to single payer.
- Posted in
31 Comments so far
Show AllKudos to Dr. Flowers! I suggest she (or some of her friends from Single Payer Action) go back to the White House tomorrow after a press release that she (they) will be delivering the letter as a patriotic response to her President's call for a "better" health care reform system. You can't "tell" this President anything to which he will listen if he doesn't care to hear it. Only if we can somehow capture the megaphone of the media do I see any hope of overcoming the hearing impairment of him and 90% of the other Democrats.
Here's an idea, phoenix20: Don't hold your breath.
Well no, I'm not holding my breath in anticipation that the President will ever "hear" anything except what is whispered in his ear by a Wall Street fat cat bearing gifts of bags (bundles, actually) of campaign dollars. But neither am I unmindful that a well-crafted populist demonstration can give voice to the powerless against the powerful. Flowers' action reminded me of nothing so much as Michael Moore's appearance (along with a cameraman of course) at the gate of Charlton Heston's mansion to ask the aging former head of the NRA to join in promoting gun control legislation in the aftermath of Columbine. Call the Flowers demonstration "Bowling for Single Payer" or whatever you will, it's a "breath of fresh air" in the suffocating atmosphere of "there's nothing we can do in view of the power of the Mighty." That's all I'm sayin.
"a well-crafted populist demonstration can give voice to the powerless against the powerful?"
Yes, it is nice to give a voice to the powerless, but it is nicer yet to give them health insurance. Obama is working with the congress he has to get whatever he can.
mchaplan: Obama is working with Congress to give them unaffordable crap insurance that they are forced to buy or pay a "fine." If that's "whatever he can" do, include me out.
Beware of misdirection - people need health care, not health insurance.
Nonsense...You are, of course, free to interpret as you see fit, even through the lens of your partisanship. But, by any reasonable standard, this health care "reform" is nothing more and certainly nothing less than a further guarantee of profit for the Insurance Industry...the same folks who currently give us the worlds most expensive health care industry and the 37th most efficient.
Obama's supposed "leadership" is a myth, or worse, a joke. He turned the mess over to Congress when he should have shepherded this through every damn committee and had a White House presence in every single debate. Instead he refused single payer, made a backdoor deal with Big Pharma and betrayed every single working class American.
Single-payer! His (Own) PROGRAM, PROMISED upon DEM Congressional control and (HIS) presidency; which We, the People DELIVERED!! HIS TURN!!!
"If anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company abuses, let me know. Let me know. Let me know. I'm eager to see it."
Maybe he should check with Rep. Kucinich of his own party. If Obama wants to go the extra mile in his version of looking for WMD in the Oval Office, maybe he should ask for a budget score on single payer.
-If Obama wants to go the extra mile in his version of looking for WMD in the Oval Office, maybe he should ask for a budget score on single payer.
Obama -Does anyone have a better idea?
Kucinich/Flowers - Single payer!
Obama -Anyone at all?
Kucinich/Flowers - Over here mr president! Single payer!
Obama -anybody else??
Obama: Nancy Deparle, Ron Williams, Karen Ignagni, Billy Tauzin, Zeke Emanuel, Baucus, Stupak, Lieberman, Snowe, Nelson, Hoyer, Larry Summers, Tom Donahue of the Chamber of Horrors, and Ken Powell of the Business Roundtable. Nope, I've gotten the full range of opinion possible.
I don't see how any sane and reasonable person could listen to Obama's coy disingenousness and mendacity throughout the No Insurer Left Behind debacle without concluding that Obama is a reprehensible sack of shit.
Given his unapologetic, pathological predilection for self-serving treachery and deceit, I don't see how anyone can truly believe this fork-tongued weasel to be "a good guy", "well-meaning", "sincere", etc.
Oh, there are other areas of concern, e.g. Obama's committing, condoning, and becoming accessory to heinous crimes against humanity.
But his bald-faced lying about the healthcare reform travesty really gets under my skin.
· Yr Obd't Servant
They are assuming 2 things:
1. Obama is telling the truth and really wants to hear ideas.
2. Obama gives a damn.
With that in mind we can see that he didn't suggest any means by which he would actually receive any suggestion. It's likely that he just threw it out there knowing that nobody would be able to push an idea through.
Health care isn't even the issue anyway.
The issue has always been and continues to be the "war". Before we do anything else we need to stop the war crimes. Once that is done, then we can CONSIDER some type of health care reform. Stop the endless waste of life and money FIRST.
America is afflicted with a huge denial epidemic. Right wing nuts and self styled liberals are no different when it comes to hearing what they want to hear.
An equally widespread epidemic of anti-incumbant fever is now sweeping America. That would be a good thing if a third party is the beneficiary in Nov. elections. Unfortunately it appears the Republicans will win in Nov.
This perfectly illustrates the habitual lies spewing from Obama. He trumpets to all the world in the State of the Union how eager he is to know about any health care proposal better than the mound of shit he's prepared to throw at Americans, as if it's not possible to come up with a better overall plan. Then, when someone does exactly what he asks, a doctor no less, who knows something about this, she is "turned away" and not even allowed to present her case to the mighty Emperor. Neither would anyone else be permitted to enter the charmed circle of Obama the Magnificent, if they weren't insurance or drug lobbyists, or CEOs of those criminal enterprises. He'd listen to them, and they'd obediently parrot back to him how marvelous his plan is, since it works great for them. He's a reprehensible, lying sack of shit, as Obedient S'vt says.
Well said.
Stop blaming Obama as a man, and start blaming youselves...you know it's not personally him who gets to decide the fate of the country. I find it comical that more and more people are looking at Kucinich as a possible saviour. Deja vu...not so long ago everyone was praising our president-to-be Obama...I bet most of you who commented on here voted for him. It does not matter if the president is a Republican or a Democrat. Would Kucinich save us? I don't think so. I just see a trend amongst the nation... falling into the same same same same trap again and again and again and again. "To change society, one must first completely change oneself."
Sadly neither Kucinich, nor Sanders nor even a reincarnated Paul Wellstone could get single payer thru the corporate bought legislators in this congress.
Oh bull! LBJ FOUGHT FOR MEDICARE!
Obama would fight for real reform if he wanted to--he cares more about his coffers than American lives.
Politics is the art of the possible. It is not possible to get single payer through the US Congress. The majority of people who want single payer have nothing to do with what is possible.
Has Obama ever spoken against single payer? Obama wants a bill which will cover as many people as possible.
Congress doesn't want to put all of the health insurance companies out of business. Have you seen how easy it was to get the present health bill as far as it has gone? Do you really think it would go further if it had a single payer provision?
Politics is the art of the possible. Then the only things that will ever come out of Congress anymore is what the Big Corps. desire.
That is exactly right. Why do you suppose it took a year to get health care (without a single payer function) as far as it got? And this is BEFORE the supreme court acted.
"Has Obama ever spoken against single payer? Obama wants a bill which will cover as many people as possible."
First of all, since actions speak louder than words, Obama was the one that kept single payer off of the table.
Secondly, the healthcare "reform" bill that this Administration is about to pass is a total disaster. It does nothing to reign in healthcare costs or improve the healthcare quality. The idea that people HAVE to buy healthcare insurance or get fined by the IRS is ludicrous on the face of it. Moreover, under this bill, the abortions rights funding was hijacked, and people will continyue to pay exhorbitant premiums, copayments, and deductibles, or whatever. Many people who've already bought healthcare insurance for themselves will be forced to ratchet down what they've got. You call that healthcare reform? I sure don't.
It's fair to say that Obama and his Administration have blown it at this point on healthcare reform, our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, by cutting Medicare and many other things.
I find your acceptance of the status quo to be very disturbing.
It's not only disturbing, the callous statement is inaccurate:
Here's a video of Obama in 2003 supporting SINGLE PAYER:
http://www.pnhp.org/change/
a better choice? the whole rest of the civilized world has figured it out and obama is asking how it's done?
absurd!
TOUCHE.
very well put!
So this is the audacity of hype that Obama offered the American people! Fool us 180 times shame on?
I'm a Canadian that now lives in the US and am dismayed at Americans' general lack of creativity and courage: amongst the general population, there is a mental barrier that seems to prevent a lot of regular folk from even approaching the idea of what much less empowered people/nations have effectively implemented (read: Universal Healthcare).
I'm still trying to figure out if this barrier is the arrogance that comes with being so personally empowered so as to prevent one from considering other ("lesser") ideas, or the stupidity that comes from living in a decadent society and being spoiled to the point of not having to think for one's self.
Thank (enter deity of choice here) for California and their Single-Payer aspirations. Sanity and salvation may lie Westward...
JR
The barrier is that Americans have chosen military superiority over just about anything else and that the American people are propagandized constantly in that direction. Additionally, through thousands of commercial and political messages we are trained to see all politics in terms of "what's in it for me?"
Other countries started their systems before the medical monopoly was so firmly established. Single payer will be nothing but a financial disaster unless the monopoly is broken.
Excellent video. Thanks also, Dr. Flowers, for the even better letter to the President. Ok, now keep it going: Juxtapose his statement with the white house refusing the response. Splice, slice, and dice it up every which way, post it on You Tube. Pass it on for others to splice in their own way. Repeat. Send it to Greg Palast and Michael Moore. Repost on YouTube. Post elsewhere. Repeat.
Keep the letters and videos going. Only as millions of people come to understand the obvious will we collectively recognize whats right and make it so.