Say "NO" to the "Trigger"-- A Trap to Kill Health Care Refrom

I just sent them:

How did we get to this point where we have a "healthcare" payment system which excludes those who most need it? How did we allow bureaucrats working for the health insurance industry to make the rules about how we are allowed to access the care and advice we need to be healthy and productive citizens?

I (as a thinking person) would think that if the insurance companies actually wanted to be old school capitalists, providing goods and services in return for profits by working better than the competition, they would usefully pay for the healthcare of their customer base (we, the people). What many so-called pro-capitalists neglect to take into account is that what these insurance companies are doing is not capitalism but charlatanism.

If the private healthcare insurance industry was so interested in actually giving the best product to the American people, they've had decades of cries for healthcare reform from the American people in which to make a better product. Obviously, they are happy with their profits which often come from the despicable behavior of keeping people from the healthcare they need in order to get back to productive lives -- short term profit over long term benefit. If they can't make a decent living from selling a quality product, they ought to be in another line of work.

The government option is actually based on the capitalist theory's wonderful idea of competition to create a more broad-based market of choice for the consumer. If the private insurance industry doesn't want government competition, they ought to provide that broad base that the consumers actually want, like proper capitalists, instead of whining about theories and hypotheticals that they don't even properly understand. But why go through all the trouble of creating business models that serve the consumer when you can pay congressional reps and clever ad agencies to get the consumer to be your foodsource: suck em dry and throw em away.

My point is that we need the mixing-up of the normative, the change to get the insurance industry to be actually responsive to the needs of their consumers. The plan being considered by Congress does not negate the possibility of any other private/nongovernmental nonprofit ideas being considered in individual communities. Meanwhile, we do need reform as immediately as possible to save lives and resources.

Greed has been a factor in many industries. The health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies are more concerned with profits than people's health and their ability to pay. The stockholder is more important that the patients. There is more than a little conspiracy to keep prices high, especially when we see what pharmaceutical companies are charging in other countries for the same product that we are paying twice as much for. I hear complaints that health care is high because of law suits, but that is only a small part of the problem.

Excellent letter, Libramoon. May I copy it since it's so much better than mine?

Certainly, Sandy.

Libramoon, that is an awesome letter!

No trigger, no coops, no mandate without a strong public option!

Well said, Neil!

Agreed - the public option (shy of single payer) is the best option.

Carla,
I didn't realize you were an employee of MoveOn.org although I find it interesting that in your article you tell people to contact the White House and then give them a MoveOn.org link.

Be that as it may, it may surprise you to hear that I also don't want the trigger as I feel it is a trick to "get" a public option later (without debate) when the ire of the taxpaying Americans recedes which it eventually must when they (being unpaid taxpayers unlike the paid volunteer ACORN bus-in-a-rally people) have to go back to work to pay for all the ridiculous crap that this Congress is spending money on.

I'm not an employee of Moveon, Ken. I believe in what they are doing.

ACORN, Ken? Are you back on that dead horse?

Halliburton. Swift Boaters. AFA. Young Republicans.

(I'm going to insert these words every time I see ACORN used negatively.)

[oops, terrible error in my first version of this comment.]

Sandy,
Help me with this. Is it 'negative' to refer to the numerous indictments of ACORN for voter fraud or their demonstrated money laundering activities, embezzlement by officers or is that just the way they do business in Chicago?

Maybe if you bothered to get your facts straight about ACORN you would have the time to go negative about those who really do us harm.

Ken, it's negative and plain stupid to continue repeating dishonest accusations. If you don't know the truth about ACORN by now, there's nothing any of us can say except you are choosing to remain ignorant - and that's stupid.

Facts are stubborn things
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/More-ACORN-funding-despite-indictments-45954362.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/us/05acorn.html

Thaks, Libramoon and Sandy.

Ken, that green does not flatter you. You look a little ill. Better go see the doctor and get some health care.

Ken is the newest model of dining room table.

Learn to make a clicky link, for craps sakes.

Facts are stubborn things

Is that why you avoid them, Ken? Come on, man up!

Ken thinks liberals are as stupid as the "Republican voter base"

Ken thinks liberals can be lied to, as a way to change our minds.

Ken is an evangelist/propagandist for the vilest Capitalist oppressors

I really think that conservatives are much more easily brainwashed. They buy into the fear much more readily. They listen to Fox. After hearing hour after hour of racist talk warnings of how the Obama administration is destroying the republic and turning our country into a communist state, they are whipped up into a frenzy and rush out to get more guns.

Oh, you mean unlike the supporters of Obama many of whom, when interviewed by various media before and after the election, had no idea what he wanted to do except be for hope and change.

If you saw it at fox does not count.
As for me I researched both candidates, including voting records and also read their books, of course Obama was the one who wrote his own before he had any idea to run for anything.
He striked me as a person of good character, not perfect, but very intelligent and industrious.
I wish he had a easier job to begin with but he has to deal with it now.
The least we can do is be well informed, do not listen to divisive rhetoric from anyone and check the facts.

Been there, done that, and sent a personal note to let them know I'm not wishy washy. They drop the public option, I drop them, and support whoever has the balls to oppose him in the next primary race, just as hard as I worked for him, this time. Frakin' politicians, you can't trust any of them.

Thanks for taking action, Ron.

I have contacted my representatives and plan to continue. Voicing my opinion is the only way I can influence the outcome.

Good for you, Leo.

Well, that's the third or fourth email I've sent the President this week about reform. I know our Senator Sherrod Brown is pushing for the public option.

We have another senator, but like my district's representative, he is a waste of space.

I've heard good things about Sherrod Brown. Thanks for doing your part, EM JAY.

I've sent my letters, even though I get no where in AZ. As far as not voting for Obama if he backs out of the public option, no. I like him, I trust him. I don't like the media, I don't trust the media. We would be better off without all the continual drivel and interviews and polls and interpretations. The right wing will eventually blow itself to shreds and we can all celebrate. Until then, we have to have faith that the people in this nation will support Obama. They voted for him, he won't let them down. If the politicians want to continue playing games, we should vote THEM out.

Keep it up, Elsie. They need to know that you're watching if nothing else.

Ron is probably owned by CATO.

Carla, I agree, Kill the trigger.

Come on everyone:

http:www.senate.gov
http:www.house.gov

Ron I apologize for the "no clicky link." Everytime I sign on it is different,
I tried that link in the corner of the comment box. . .ha! Deception.

Actually the link button in the comment box works although it doesn't seem to. Try using it (copy and paste the address into the box) and then submit it. It will then show up as a link. Before you do that it just looks like it is another copy of the address. Try it!

I received the same email and responded to it, Carla. And I'm using the icon for a FB group I started called "Get the Bookies out of Health Care." Check it out if you're ever over there.

Thanks. Good for you, Dame Ruth!

I did it too - Thanks for posting this to Obama YES! Palin ~ NO!

Thanks Digital Diva.

"a public option "trigger" in health care reform" is simply a tactic to Kick the Can down the Road. It just goes to show that the Republican Party has no ideas and can not lead this nation. They only wish to kick major problems down the road so they do not need to deal with them.
Makes me sick.

Will America goes through a period of "Blue Light Specials" as a pacifier?
Insurance companies may appear to be more responsive or provide more competition yet, it is a smoke screen that will dissipate as soon as Congress passes a watered down bill.

They also want to protect the campaign contributions that they are getting from the pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies.

Non one should accept contribution from insurance companies until the bill is passed.

Unfortunately, the money was already donated and promises were probably made.

Sent my support in. Hope it helps him. It must be so hard for him everyday to deal with those nasty people trying to hold him back, stop him from being more than just a figurehead.

I think I'll try praying more often for him. And, for me, that's a big deal.

Good for you, WC. We all need to do that. He faces major hurdles and challenges.

Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine is proposing the "trigger". We need to get in touch with our congressional reps and say "NO TRIGGER".