May, 12 2022, 11:29am EDT
Medicare for All Legislation Reintroduced to Fix Our Failing Health Care System
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today reintroduced Medicare for All legislation in the U.S. Senate. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
"It is unrealistic for the United States to continue with for-profit insurance.
WASHINGTON
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today reintroduced Medicare for All legislation in the U.S. Senate. Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
"It is unrealistic for the United States to continue with for-profit insurance.
"The privatized, balkanized, and bureaucratized for-profit insurance model has given us the worst of all worlds: We pay the most and get the least. We have the most health care rationing of any rich country, by far. We have huge racial disparities in access to quality health care. And while private insurers are rolling in profits, medical bankruptcies are soaring and hundreds of thousands of patients are resorting to GoFundMe campaigns in a desperate effort to raise funds to get care they need.
"It is unrealistic to believe this system can be tinkered with and deliver health care to all. The problems that characterize our current system are the natural outgrowth of the system's design.
"Medicare for All is the realistic alternative to our current, failed system. Medicare for All would build on the most popular and efficient part of our health care system - Medicare. It would improve Medicare by eliminating out-of-pocket costs and expanding available services, including to provide dental and hearing care. And it would expand Medicare to cover all Americans.
"With the realistic proposal of Medicare for All, everyone would be insured. Health care decisions would be made by patients and doctors - not for-profit insurance companies focused on their bottom lines. Coverage would not depend on where you work or whether you're employed. And there would never be another medical bankruptcy.
"Medicare for All is not just realistic policy; it's realistic politics. It's not just that strong majorities consistently support Medicare for All in polling. We're seeing a growing grassroots movement with new intensity: Nearly 100 resolutions from cities and towns all across the country have called for Medicare for All. And we see it in the strong co-sponsorship of Medicare for All in the U.S. House of Representatives and now the Senate - despite aggressive lobbying by the health care industries.
"We can either continue down the path of corporate greed and human suffering, or we can do what every other rich nation has done and guarantee universal coverage. Medicare for All is the realistic, humane and just choice."
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Biden Says Netanyahu 'Hurting Israel' With Gaza Policy But Vows Unwavering Support, Weapons
"Biden said the death toll in Gaza is 'contrary to what Israel stands for,'" said one critic. "Maybe it's time to admit that that is what Israel stands for."
Mar 10, 2024
President Joe Biden said Saturday that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not handling the situation in Gaza the way it should be, but said U.S. support for its ally will remain.
Following the State of the Union address on Thursday, Biden was caught on a hot mic telling Democratic lawmakers that he had privately told Netanyahu that "you and I are going to have a 'Come-to-Jesus' meeting," suggesting a crossroad when it comes to the U.S. president's so far unconditional support for the Israeli prime minister and his government's policies.
Asked about the comment on Saturday during an interview with MSNBC, Biden said the death toll in Gaza—which he placed at 30,000 people, the approximate current figure used by the health ministry in Gaza—is "contrary to what Israel stands for. And I think is a big mistake."
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor at Princeton University, took on Sunday issue with Biden's remarks, even as they reflected a much more critical stance.
"Biden said the death toll in Gaza is 'contrary to what Israel stands for,'" said Roth. "But Israel is imposing it deliberately, just as it imposes apartheid and the expansion of war-crime settlements. Maybe it's time to admit that that is what Israel stands for."
Biden said Netanyahu is "hurting Israel more than helping Israel" by the way he continues to conduct the assault on Gaza, and said that he wants "to see a cease-fire" so that a "major, major" prisoner exchange can take place with an initial six-week period in which fighting is stopped and noted the started of the holy month of Ramadan that begins next week.
Biden further called the looming threat to invade Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians with nowhere else to go have sought shelter and safety, a "red line" that he does not want Israel to cross, but added that he would "never leave Israel" or stop supporting what he called the nation's right to defend itself.
"The defense of Israel is still critical, so there's no red line I'm going to cut off all weapons so they don't have the Iron Dome to protect them," Biden said.
“The defense of Israel is still critical,” President Joe Biden tells Jonathan Capehart. “But there's red lines that if he crosses…cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.” pic.twitter.com/0SAPJySAYS
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 9, 2024
On Friday, the U.N. High Commission for Human Rights warned the "already catastrophic" situation in Gaza would "slide deeper into the abyss" if Israel carried out its promised attack on Rafah.
"Any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes," said the Commission's spokesperson Jeremy Laurence. "This must not be allowed to happen."
During his interview with MSNBC, Biden downplayed those in Democratic primaries over recent weeks who have voted "uncommitted" to voice their disapproval of his unrelenting backing of Israel as it carries out what experts and critics have said is a clear case of genocide in Gaza.
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Doing Something Trump Almost Never Does, Biden Apologizes
Following criticism, Biden said he regrets using the noun "illegal" to characterize an immigrant during his State of the Union address.
Mar 10, 2024
President Joe Biden did something Saturday night his 2024 Republican rival Donald Trump rarely, if ever, does: he apologized in the form of expressing regret.
Following vocal criticism of his use of the word "illegal" to describe an immigrant during Thursday's State of the Union address, Biden admitted during his weekend interview with MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart that he should not have used the word widely spewed by right-wing xenophobes and GOP lawmakers to denigrate undocumented migrants and refugees residing in the country.
"I shouldn't have used 'illegal,' it's 'undocumented,'" Biden said.
"When I spoke about the difference between Trump and me, one of the things I talked about in the border was his, the way he talks about 'vermin,' the way he talks about these people polluting the 'blood.' I talked about what I'm not going to do. What I won't do. I'm not going to treat any of these people with disrespect."
Watch:
NEW: President Biden tells @CapehartJ that he regrets using the word "illegal" during his State of the Union speech to refer to the alleged killer of Laken Riley.
“I shouldn't have used 'illegal.' It's undocumented."
Tune in at 6pm ET on MSNBC for the full interview. pic.twitter.com/EX7XuyhF1N
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) March 9, 2024
"It takes a big person to admit their mistakes," said Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, a voter mobilization group. "As an immigrant, this retraction means a lot to me."
During his Thursday night address, Biden took the bait from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), shouting about a woman named Laken Riley, who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant and has now become the latest victim of violence exploited by the GOP to demagogue and fearmonger over immigration.
"Laken Riley" said Biden in response to Greene, "an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. "To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you."
The president was immediately and roundly rebuked by progressives and immigrant rights advocates for the comment.
"Let me be clear: No human being is illegal," said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), responded by saying: "Just like we should not be implementing Republican policy, we should not be repeating Republican rhetoric."
Despite many reactions like that, Biden defended his use of the word again on Friday. When asked about his use of the word by a reporter, Biden said, "Technically, they are not supposed to be here."
But Saturday's reversal was welcome by many of the same voices who had earlier condemned the president's choice of words.
"I'm glad to hear Biden taking back his comment," said Erika Andiola, an immigrants rights activist, who on Thursday night called Biden's remarks hurtful and argued that "words matter" because they ultimately shape opinion and policy.
"He's the President," Andiola said late Saturday in response to Biden's new comment. "His words can shape narratives and using the 'I' word to describe any undocumented person or asylum seeker can have negative consequences against our communities."
As is well-documented, but requires repeating every time the issue arises, U.S. citizens commit violent crimes at much higher rates that undocumented people but this has never stop the political right from deploying these tropes—especially during election years.
Despite the ability to reverse course on rhetoric, it has been Biden's policies around the border which have most concerned immigrant rights defenders.
Ahead of a visit to a border area in Texas last month, Amnesty International USA called on Biden to reverse course on supporting a legislative deal, now languishing in Congress, that largely embraced "cruel" Trump-like policies of deterrence and rolled back key protections for refugees and those seeking asylum.
"President Biden needs to find the political courage to rise above the growing tide of xenophobia and return to his promise to push for commonsense solutions that center safety and human rights," said Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights for Amnesty, at the time. "Until he does that, he'll only be on a race to the bottom as far as who can be the cruelest to those who need protection."
Trump's—who still broadly refuses to admit he lost the 2020 election to Biden even as he faces federal charges over his role in the January 6 insurrection effort—the propensity to never show contrition or confess wrongdoing has been widely documented in articles over the years with headlines like: "Donald Trump is not sorry. Ever"; "Trump Never Apologizes But Says It's a Great Thing"; "Trump's Rare Apology—A FactCheck"; and "Trump's Apology That Wasn't."
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'Beyond Misleading': Katie Britt Border Story Debunked With Bruising TikTok Takedown
"This is worth every minute," said one person who watched the 7-minute take down.
Mar 09, 2024
A freelance journalist is receiving widespread praise for his "must-see" critique of a story told by Alabama's Republican Senator Katie Britt during her official Republican Party response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union on Thursday night.
In the 7-minute and 23-second video posted to TikTok on Friday, reporter and book author Jonathan M. Katz deconstructs a key portion of Britt's speech, remarks overall that were widely panned as a "creepy" representation of the far-right, xenophobic, Christian nationalism that has found a home in Donald Trump's GOP.
The specific claim in question centers on Britt's telling of a story about a 12-year-old girl who suffered sexual violence, including rape, at the hands of drug cartels—but the details of the horrifying story, according to the facts established by Katz, reveal a clear effort to deceive those watching her speech.
"Holy moly... Jonathan Katz exposes Katie Britt as a lying sack of shit."
In the video, Katz says the facts he was able to determine about Britt's claims—which she delivered to millions of American viewers on Thursday night as the response was featured live on Fox News and countless live streams across the internet—was "beyond misleading."
Watch:
@katzonearth This isn’t going to make her like TikTok more. #katiebritt #sotu #stateoftheunion #lies #politicians #biden2024 #trump2024 #immigration #traffickingawarenes #mexico #bordersecurity #fyp ♬ original sound - Jonathan M. Katz
"Holy moly. This is worth every minute," said writer Nick Knudsen after watching the video. "Jonathan Katz exposes Katie Britt as a lying sack of shit."
Because the woman he identified as the source of the story, a Mexican activist named Karla Jacinto Romero, has retold her personal history repeatedly in public, including in front of Congress, for years and explained that events described took place in Mexico between 2004 and 2008 when she was a child and George W. Bush was president, Katz slammed Britt for making it seem "as if this woman had confided something in her and as if she was describing actions that had taken place on or even near the U.S.-Mexico border during Joe Biden's presidency," which just isn't true based on the record.
"I don't know even know what to say," Katz remarks in the video, "except that it is just fundamentally dishonest."
The gut-wrenching story that Britt told to fearmonger over Biden's border policy and denigrate immigrants and asylum-seekers to right-wing voters and unsuspecting viewers, explains Katz, "didn't happen in the United States" and "it's not an example of something that happened recently and is not even an example of something that happened on the border, and certainly not something that happened under Joe Biden."
But why would she do that? "It's very clear to me," says Katz, that Britt was "trying to create an association in the people's mind between Joe Biden, the border, Mexicans... or people of Latin descent, and sexual violence. That's what she's going for and she's doing it on the basis of what you can only say is just an out and out lie."
Katz said Friday he reached out to Britt's office for some kind of explanation but had yet to hear back. He said he would update his post if he learned more from the Senator or her office, "But for now it just looks like she got on national television and lied about something really horrific and really important for her own personal and her party's political gain."
The Washington Post later confirmed with Sean Ross, a spokesperson in Britt's office, that the women referred to during Thursday night's speech was Karla Jacinto Romero, but disputed anything about the senator's language was misleading.
But many who had watched Katz's seemed much more convinced of his case and others condemned Britt for exploiting Romero's story for cynical and deceptive political gain.
Josh Marshall, editor-in-chief of TalkingPointsMemo, congratulated Katz on the "amazing" piece and said the video revealed that Britt is "not only an emotionally disregulated freak, but a big fat liar."
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