I received this in the last day or so. ITHINK it's in response to an e-mail I sent that included my brother's health disaster story, but it's pretty hard to tell. In any case, Senator Stabenow, in her last e-mail to me declared directly her support for a "public option (and other good things). I give you... Senator Debbie Stabenow!
Thank you . . .
. . . for contacting me regarding problems with our health care system and the importance of providing health care for all Americans. Without a doubt, this is one of the most difficult and heartbreaking issues that I hear about from families, and I am grateful for your willingness to share your thoughts and experiences with me.
I am fighting to make sure that every family in America has access to the health care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Too many families have experienced the pain of being told that they are too sick to get insurance or that their insurance company won't pay for the treatment they need. This is simply unacceptable, and I am working everyday to make sure that these stories are heard loud and clear by my fellow members of Congress!
When it comes to health care, our families and businesses are in a serious crisis. High health care costs are causing cuts in benefits and increases in premiums, adding to the ranks of the uninsured at alarming rates. The impact of this problem however, goes beyond individual families. Skyrocketing health care costs make our businesses less competitive in the global marketplace and cost us good-paying jobs.
As Congress works to achieve quality, affordable, health care for all Americans, it is imperative that we build on the things that currently work well in our health care system, and change the things that do not. That is why I believe we need a health reform effort that will:
- Lower the cost of health care for families and businesses.
- Keep what works, and fix what's broken.
- Assure affordable, quality health care for all Americans.
- Offer a competitive public health care plan and strengthen consumer protections through Insurance Reform.
- Encourage quality and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in our health care system.
- Expand the use of electronic medical records.
- Treat both the physical and mental health needs of Americans.
- Encourage healthy lifestyles.
- Support home-based and community-based care for the elderly and people with disabilities.
- Train doctors, nurses, and other health professionals for the future.
- Eliminate health care disparities.
- Lower the cost of prescription drugs.
I believe that health care is a right, not a privilege. There is no doubt that the problems we face are complex, but there are real solutions. For more information about the health care debate, please visit my website at: www.stabenow.senate.gov/healthcare.
As we continue this effort in the U.S. Senate, I will be fighting for a uniquely American health care system that provides high-quality, affordable health insurance to every family who needs it.
Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to do so again if I can be of help to you or your family.
Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
I will be replying with my support, as I have before. I urge you to do the same.
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Comments: 58 ( 1 removed by Chuck L. )
Same letter she sends out to everybody..
We hold the majority, use it or lose it !
The Republican whip has stated that there is no bill the Democrats could come up with that the republicans could support. Trying to work with them has only extended the time - it's done NOTHING to improve the bill.
"A bad bill could be worse than no bill Chuck.
As I've said before, that's the same fake argument that has RESULTED in NO BILL for the past 50 years. Enuffa that! Time for this to HAPPEN!
And dontcha know… there you were (Not you? Sure SOUNDED like you.), kvetching and bitching about “Socialized Medicine,” “interfering in the sacred doctor-patient relationship” (as if every insurance plan doesn’t), being forced to “…pay even though I have my own insurance,” and all the rest of the nonsense you and your ilk spout today.
No, you’re not a cynic, Carol… but you are a selfish, hard-hearted, uncaring whiner. Yes, “she” expects you (and me) to pay (as do I), even though we have our own. The insurance we’ll be paying for will go to people who have NONE, who have insurance so poor that even a SMALL hospitalization will bankrupt them, who have insurance, and don’t know it but are about to lose it, because of some illness that will get them cancelled because the insurance executives would rather see them die than pay for their treatment. THOSE are the people we’ll be paying to insure, whether it be with our premiums, through taxes, or by being fined because we refuse insurance (which fines, BTW, will pay for “insurance” to cover treatment should the refuser suddenly need it).
Also they didn't have MRIs ir Cat Scan machines to name a couple. People died from things that are cureable today.
My point was - THE ARGUMENTS HAVEN'T CHANGED!!! You, and Carol, and Marilyn, and a HOST of others, up to and including the insane talkers on talk radio are saying the same things your counterparts said in the sixties. Those arguments were bankrupt then, and they're bankrupt now.
I look for a bill to be reported out of a conference committee that contains the government option and a massive price tag that will drive up the Trillion dollar Obama deficit. It will be quickly passed by the Democrats in the Senate (if they can get 60 votes) (before anyone can read it) and then a carbon copy will be quickly passed by the Democrats in the House (if they can get 60 votes) (before anyone can read it).
The bill will be quickly signed by our inexperienced President, who just wants a bill to sign (before anyone can read it), and days later the American people will find out haw badly they have been screwed.
This is what the Democrats believe is "transparent" "representative" government.
Damn shame. I feel just TERRIBLE about it.
Chuck, you are about as funny as cancer.
Here a bunch of left wing loonies are about the drive our country into bankruptcy with a new pricey health care plan on top of the projected Medicare and Medicaid defaults, and you think it is funny. That's about the "thoughtful" reply I'd expect from a socialist supporter of the Obama administration who has little understanding or regard for the concept of liberty (I read your reply to Carol).
Well, you are in for a hell of a fight from those of us who don't want to pay for health care for those ACORN types you support who just want to live off of the sweat of the rest of us. Oh, we don't mind helping those who are truly disabled and unable to work, but ripping off the federal government has become a major industry in the U.S. led by criminal enterprises like ACORN.
This health care reform issue has drawn a line in the sand in our country, and a lot of us will lose friends before the matter is settled because it is clear to us that our government is no longer listening to the people. So long, it's been nice knowing you.
So far as the remainder of your comment is concerned, I just LOVE the way you toss "ACORN" in there a couple of times... for no reason at all. ACORN has nothing to do with this, but you put me in the mind of the old SNL skits with Kevin Neeland throwing words in the middle of statements as "subliminal advertising."
Now, understand me... Medicare isn't socialism, Medicaid isn't socialism, Social Security isn't socialism, a standing army isn't socialism, and this administration's attempt to provide healthcare to the millions of Americans who need it isn't socialism.
Let's see. Bush43, Clinton, Reagan and Carter were actually governors of states where they had management responsibility. Bush41 had served as Vice President and Director of the CIA.
President Obama was a community organizer, Chicago politician, and U.S. Senator, who actually spent only 100 days in the Senate learning the job. Kind of a spotty resume' compared to his predecessors.
No business would hire a person with that kind of resume. Yet he was Sold to "we the people" as the one would save the nation.
Except for one, of course. Wanna guess?
I agree that Medicaid isn't socialism. Properly managed, it provides health care to the poor and disabled who are not able to provide it for themselves and most of us pay for the program without complaint. (Improperly managed, as it is in about half of the states, it also provides health care for those too lazy to work and those in our country illegally, and the rest of us are being ripped off with high taxes to pay the cost.)
I agree that a standing army isn't socialism because "We the people" gave that responsibility to the federal government in the Constitution.
I totally disagree with you that "this administration's attempt to provide health care to the millions of Americans who need it isn't socialism." It is a government takeover of 17% of our economy that is now privately owned with the government setting all of the rules for what is offered to the public in the way of health insurance and what services health care providers will be reimbursed for providing.
But, what really frosts our butts (and shows your lack of understanding of the concept of liberty) is that the federal government presumes to 1) confiscate our hard earned dollars and give them to people who pay no taxes and choose not to work. 2) It presumes to determine which treatments may be used (reimbursed) by our physicians and other care providers even though other treatments are judged more effective by those actually providing the care. 3.) It presumes to lecture us that we have an obligation to provide health care for those "less fortunate than ourselves" (as though the government were some sort of charity like the Red Cross) while our corrupt government wastes billions in its inefficient and corrupt operation of literally thousands of programs. and 4) it presumes to do so in complete disregard for the provisions of our Constitution.
Free men do not have to put up with such oppressive programs by their government . Only serfs ruled by tyrants suffer such treatment. It terrifies me to hear that you do not know the difference.
To answer the "Huh?"... I was saying that, yes, I believe Obama might be as good as the guy who's the answer to my question, "Care to guess?" abpve.
We all know there are many people who have disabilities that keep them from working and earning a living that supports them and their families. I think anyone who begrudges them the assistance that welfare and Medicaid provide has a moral compass that needs adjusting.
That said, we all also know there are many able people who would just as soon not work, but are capable of earning a living that supports them and their families. The welfare reform act signed into law by President Clinton proved that conclusively, as the welfare rolls were pruned considerably of people who were able and employable. There are also people who are in this country illegally, but all to willing to take advantage of the benefits we offer.
That's why I mentioned ACORN before. This criminal enterprise has become the "poster boy" for ripping off the government, and in particular welfare programs. So when you start your "boo friggin' hoo" routine about hard hearted citizens who are against politicians allowing people to rip off the system so they can buy their votes, it doesn't move me at all.
I feel no obligation to give a dime to the people represented by ACORN who are being allowed to game the system by our corrupt politicians.
And, I hope there is a special place in hell for the Rathke's who used the disadvantaged to man their scheme.
"The welfare reform act signed into law by President Clinton proved that conclusively, as the welfare rolls were pruned considerably of people who were able and employable." Baloney!!!!!!!!!!!! First of all, that "they choose not to work" canard is tossed around willy-nilly by conservatives whenever there's a discussion about poverty in America. These are the people who walk past the hundreds of folks they just laid off and say "look at those lazy bums who chose not to work"! Secondly, the net effect of welfare reform was nil. The average recipient still spends between 2 and 5 years on the program, just as they did before the bill was passed.
I don't think of people on welfare as "lazy bums", but it is a fact that many people were trapped in a system that penalized them for any attempt to make their lives better. There are many in Congress who seem to like such a system and the political dependence it creates. That is a human tragedy.
Obama left a job in the State before his term was up, He left a job in the Senaate before his term was up. The kid can't seem to hold a job long.
No business would hire a person with that kind of resume. Yet he was Sold to "we the people" as the one would save the nation.
Are you serious with this crap Col?
You may not agree with this president or just not like him, but there is no doubt that Obama is one of the most experienced and academic presidents we have had in the last 50 years.
Reagan, Bush, Bush II, and yes even Clinton were not as educated as this man before they became president.
I'm not saying that the President is such a person. We are still learning what he can and can't do. But, his education is no guarantee of success in his present job.