Second Opinion from Doctor Results in Different Diagnosis 88% of Time

Science Daily clearly takes point of view of the Medical Industrial Complex (MIC)--profit before patients--that the value of second opinions are demonstrated in a study, whereas I see this from the highly skeptical-of-the-deeply-rooted-MIC point of view that it can't be trusted 88% of the time. We don't know whether the first or second opinion is right or wrong. What about a third opinion? Would that opinion disagree with the first and the second?

“Many patients come to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion or diagnosis confirmation before treatment for a complex condition. In a new study, Mayo Clinic reports that as many as 88 percent of those patients go home with a new or refined diagnosis — changing their care plan and potentially their lives. Conversely, only 12 percent receive confirmation that the original diagnosis was complete and correct.

We take it for granted that the Mayo Clinic is right because, well, they're the Mayo Clinic, the poster child for the MIC, this vast networked system that we've been indoctrinated to believe in since birth.
It's not that the MIC is all bad, or hasn't saved many lives and improved the quality of many others.  It's the fact that the opposite is also true, it has destroyed and ruined lives, possibly in equal measure   and we're made to believe there are no other viable options. 

“We are not saying that there are no useful or helpful things within the MIC. It has saved many of our lives or the lives of people we love. We are not anti healthcare or science, but are rather exposing the reality that many of us are dependent on the MIC while we are simultaneously trying to change it and ultimately build alternatives to it. Many of us don’t want to have to turn to the MIC, yet have few other viable options. And still many of us are fighting for access to current (or better) services within the MIC. There are no easy answers and the contradictions we are living in are often painful and unjust. Similar to our work to resist and challenge capitalism or to create alternatives to the police and prisons, resisting and challenging the MIC is rife with complexity and there is so much we need that we don’t have yet.

We are asking, why we have so few options when it comes to our healthcare needs? And why insurance and pharmaceutical companies get to call the shots on the kind of care we receive—or don’t? Why don’t we talk more about the ways that forced medicalization has become part of our prison system? Or how non-western and alternative healing practices are often no less ableist than western medical practices? We are asking, what could “health,” “wellness,” “care,” “accessibility” and “sustainability” look like in practice, outside of theory? We are revealing where and how the MIC is already in our lives in ways we might not have thought of before. We are urging us all to connect the MIC to our political work, because healing, wellness, care, “health” and disability are part of whatever liberatory work we are engaged in.

Links:

Medical Industrial Complex Visual

“The Medical Industrial Complex is an enormous system with tentacles that reach beyond simply doctors, nurses, clinics, and hospitals. It is a system about profit, first and foremost, rather than “health,” well being and care. Its roots run deep and its history and present are connected to everything including eugenics, capitalism, colonization, slavery, immigration, war, prisons, and reproductive oppression. It is not just a major piece of the history of ableism, but all systems of oppression.

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Mycoplasma, AIDS, Degenerative Diseases: What You Don't Know Can Kill You.

John D. Rockefeller  Sr.'s merger with pharmaceutical and chemical giant, I.G. Farben (Auschwitz was a 100% subsidiary of IG Farben) in 1928 "created the largest and most powerful cartel the world has ever known. Not only has that cartel survived through the years, it has grown and prospered. Today it plays a major role in both the science and politics of cancer therapy."

It's important to know Big Pharma's "crimes against humanity" history, because that history fostered the chemical-based drug treatment basis for our "orthodox" healthcare system today. The industry claims that their aim is finding medical truth, and that may be true; nevertheless, publicizing that truth, once found, if that truth entails inexpensive solutions or remedies, will not happen for obvious reasons. There is nothing Big Pharma likes more than chronic illness, for which they can produce chronic palliative costly treatments that make the patient chronically dependent on them.

Which brings me to the seldom, if ever, publicized human pathogen: mycoplasmas. They are the smallest free-living bacteria that can assume multiple shapes including round, pear shaped and even filamentous forms because they lack a cell wall. This makes it possible for them to pass through  filters used to remove bacteria; and hide inside the cell from our immune system, as well as from common antibiotics, all the while interfering with the cell machinery. Because mycoplasmas have lost most of their genetic material; a strict dependence on the host for nutrients and refuge determines its ability to survive and grow.

Mycoplasma is the co-factor that alters the human immune system and opens the door for the autoimmune degenerative diseases such as AIDS, malignant transformation, chromosomal aberrations, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome (military vaccine), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig\'s Disease (every single patient shows mycoplasmal infection), Alzheimer’s, Crohns Disease, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Lupus, Lyme disease, Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Type One Diabetes, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, and cancer.  Yet, these pathogenic organisms show up in vaccines.

“Because certain species of the mycoplasma have an absolute growth requirement for the up-take of pre-formed sterols, including cholesterol they can cause the ‘spontaneous degeneration’ of the cells that they invade. If they do not cause sufficient damage to kill the cell, they at least compromise its capacity to defend itself from other disease agents, such as those which present as Kaposi’s sarcoma, pneumoniae carinii pneumonia, lymphadenopathy, and so on.” Donald W. Scott and William L.C. Scott,

“From its inception, the biowarfare program was characterized by continuing in-depth review and participation by the most eminent scientists, medical consultants, industrial experts and government officials, and it was classified Top Secret. The US Public Health Service also closely followed the progress of biological warfare research and development from the very start of the program, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States were working with the military in weaponising these diseases. These are diseases that have existed for thousands of years, but they have been weaponized—which means they’ve been made more contagious and more effective. And they are spreading.” Donald W. Scott

Currently, Dr. Alan Cantwell is one of the most well-known popular proponents of the link between cancer and bacteria. He has written numerous articles and books on the subject after he isolated and reported cell wall deficient bacteria in breast cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma and Hodgkin’s disease. He states,

”If a disease like cancer is indeed caused by microscopic bacteria, it would indicate physicians have been unable to see what was quite plain for some nineteenth and twentieth century scientists to observe using simple light microscopy."

Eventually, constantly under intense criticism, Cantwell was ostracized by many in the medical profession.

Females are four times more likely to be infected with Mycoplasmas than males. The same ratio of males to females applies to Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and other related auto-immune disorders. Men, pound for pound, have 25% more blood; hence, hemoglobin - the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues - than females.

AIDS and Mycoplasma: The Crime Beyond Belief

Donald W. Scott, editor of The Journal of Degenerative Diseases (pictured above) and co-founder of the Common Cause Medical Research Foundation, reveals the true and hidden story of weaponized mycoplasma and the protracted creation of AIDS by governments and private corporations. part 1 of a series drawn from the 90 min. talk given at the 9th annual conference, Sudbury, Ontario (Aug 29-31, 2008).  JODD (Journal of Degenerative Disease); Box 133 Station B; Sudbury Ontario; Canada P3E4N5  $25/year





Links:

Fluid Mosaic Model Membrane

The Linking Pathogen in Neurosystemic Diseases

Mycoplasmas Stealth Pathogens

Campaign for Truth in Medicine

Mycoplasma Protocol

Institute for Molecular Medicine

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Co-opting Hollywood to Teach and Encourage Enrollment in Obamacare.

Hollywood can be a very effective political tool for manipulating public opinion, whether the issue at hand is the "war on terror", "war on drugs", climate change, or, as in this case, healthcare. The California Endowment announced a  $500,000 grant for Obamacare education.  to Hollywood Health and Society, "a program at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center that provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate and timely information for storylines on health and climate change."  This grant will be used to educate television writers, producers, and others involved in television programming on Obamacare facts and implementation information so that they can produce prime-time narratives that encourage Americans to enroll.

“Our experience has shown that the public gets just as much, if not more, information about current events and important issues from their favorite television shows and characters as they do from the news media and online resources,” said USC Annenberg professor Martin Kaplan, principal investigator of Hollywood, Health&Society since its start in 2001, and founding director of The Norman Lear Center. “This grant will allow us to ensure that industry practitioners have up-to-date, relevant facts on health care reform to integrate into their storylines and projects.”

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Are the Beltway Elites Intentionally Throwing the U.S. Under the Bus?

Or just us Americans?  Between the on-going disaster of the incredibly complex Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, roll-out, which Nancy Pelosi famously said they have to pass to find out what it is;  the partial government shut-down spearheaded by a man married to a VP at Goldman Sachs; the threat of the first default in American history, which it appears will be ongoing (see quote below); the firing of top military leaders for what seem like trivial matters, not to mention, S&P rating downgrade of U.S. debt;  the fiscal cliff episode; sequestration, Wall Street provoked financial collapse in 2008, etc., the U.S. is a buffoon on the befuddled world stage right now, a continuous unfolding spectacle, and no one in power seems to give a damn. If anything, they're promoting that image for all it's worth. 

“Like the House GOP bill, the emerging Senate measure -- though not finalized -- would reopen the government through Jan. 15 and permit the Treasury to borrow normally until early to mid-February, easing dual crises that have sapped confidence in the economy and taken a sledgehammer to the GOP's poll numbers.

At the same time, beltway politicians have no problem allocating billions, if not trillions of dollars to fight unwanted, undeclared wars that extend  to nearly every corner of the globe; to supposedly "aid" other countries;  to prop up/bail out Wall Street; to fund the Department of Homeland Security, the NSA, the TSA, fusion centers, unconstitutional spying programs, etc,  yet we can't pay our own workers, feed our own people, or pay our troops?

From Asia Times:

“Instead of honoring its duties as a responsible leading power, a self-serving Washington has abused its superpower status and introduced even more chaos into the world by shifting financial risks overseas, instigating regional tensions amid territorial disputes, and fighting unwarranted wars under the cover of outright lies.

This is a nation that claims the moral high ground? American Exceptionalism? Hardly. Murder has become routine as civilians are slayed all over the world via remote-control drone attacks. Torturing prisoners of war is seen as par for the course. Covertly, or not so covertly, spying on American citizens is becoming normalized and a giant casino is what stands in as thee economy of choice. 

It seems the motive here is to pave the way for endless future extortion, plunder, fear-mongering, and the continuous subversion of the middle-class.

In Ted Cruz's own words:

“Everyone agrees that the debt ceiling is going to be raised,” Cruz told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow in an interview tonight.

“The question,” he continued, “is whether Harry Reid and the president will maintain the same negotiating position they have on the continuing resolution, which is we will bargain for nothing, give us 100 percent of what we want or we will threaten a default.” 

So, in my humble opinion, there is no question that the powers that be are throwing we, the Americans under the bus, but what about America, the nation?  What could possibly motivate the ruling class to do such a thing?  Well, in a nutshell, globalization.  Our privileged leaders are no longer loyal to our nation, only to the wealthy and powerful corporate elite, which has, "in effect, seceded". These magnates, capitalists, moguls, and banksters are global in every sense of the word, their only loyalty is to their ever-growing immense wealth, as they seek out the most beneficial havens with no regard for national boundaries. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a transnational agreement brokered by corporations and negotiated largely in secret, that President Obama is pushing, is very good evidence that this is indeed, true.

I think the following, by bullingdonmorons sums it up much better than I ever could:

“ALL our politicians know exactly what they are doing.

Our politicians are simply service managers for the banks and corporations who now rule the world. We have been shafted. We were never given any choice, no-one ever put it in any manifesto, we never voted for it, but we got it all the same. The bankrupt ideology of Neo-Liberalism, with its dogma of economic liberalization, free trade, privatization and deregulation, and its mantra that all human activity is a market from which a profit can be made.

The ruling elite now own our land, gas, electricity, railways, water and media. They have corrupted our politicians and our police. They are now coming for our pensions, our NHS, our roads, our schools and our green spaces. They have systematically destroyed the unions, dismantled our protections, created mass unemployment and are dismembering the welfare state, They caused an economic crash which bankrupted our economy and yet they walked away with their wealth intact.

And what do we get in return? Austerity, recessions, huge debts and deficits. A government conducting a systematic assault upon the sick, the poor and the disabled, slashing welfare budgets and forcing people off benefits. 500,000 of us now use food banks. They make it easier to sack us, make us work longer hours for less pay, force our kids to work for nothing, raise the retirement age whilst cutting our pensions and weaken our health and safety laws. And all just so a handful of people can be immensely rich. Frankly, it's sickening.

But by far the worst damage they have inflicted upon us is that they have destroyed our children's futures.

My generation grew up under governments that believed in full employment and a welfare state. We benefited from decades of struggle, hard won rights that enabled us to have a decent standard of living, own our homes and be cared for when we got old or sick.

However, for 30 years, we have let them slowly dismantle everything my parents and grandparents had fought for. For the millions born since 1980, the only assets they will own will be the ones passed on by their parents. They live in rented accommodation, or negative equity or have interest only mortgages. Their pensions are worthless. They spend every penny they earn, have no savings and buy everything with credit.

But it's even worse for our grandchildren. 50% of them are now loaded with debt before they even leave education. If they are lucky enough to have a job, it's on minimum wage, on zero hour contracts, or part time work, or stacking shelves for nothing. They have no protections, no rights. Pensions are just a pipe-dream. None of them have any hope of getting a mortgage. This is the true cost of the last 30 years. In our lifetime, they have managed to strip away everything our forefathers built for our kids, reducing them to the level of medieval serfs, possessing NOTHING. It's heartbreaking.

So, It's time to get angry, and we need someone to express that anger, because none of our politicians are going to do it. Someone to speak for the millions of hard working people who only want a decent life for themselves and for their kids to have a decent future. Someone that speaks up for all of us, not just a privileged few. Someone that tells us that our worth is not measured by our wealth, but our value as human beings. Someone that tells us that compassion and empathy are not bullshit. Someone that tells us that ordinary people can expect to have a decent job, a decent house and decent healthcare. Someone that tells us our elderly can live out their final years in a degree of comfort. Someone that tells us our sick and disabled should be allowed to exist with a shred of dignity. Someone that tells us that the most disadvantaged will not be looked down upon as scum.

Someone that tells us that our kids can still have hopes and dreams.

We should all be born equal, with an equal chance to develop, to achieve, to succeed. But far too many are now condemned to a life of struggle by a system that creates so many losers for the benefit of so few winners. It is not only unfair and unjust, it is unsustainable.

And it's time we all stood up and said, enough is enough.

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Stay Asleep and Dream the American Dream.

The "American Dream" mentality, equating happiness with the superficial act of acquiring or gaining possessions and wealth, breeds a lifestyle of unsustainable consumption that often creates the American nightmare for all too many of us, simply because the system is rigged against the vast majority. Yet people continue to dream on.

The Economic Collapse reports a 3-hour hospital visit can cost as much as $83,046! Is it any wonder that medical bills are the number one reason Americans file for bankruptcy?  But that's what you get with profit-as-much-as-you-can health care.

The fastest way to go broke in America is to go to the hospital. These days it seems like almost everyone has an outrageous hospital bill story to share. It is getting to the point where most people are deathly afraid to go to the hospital. All the financial progress that you have made in recent years can literally be wiped out in just a matter of hours. For example, you are about to read about an Arizona woman that was recently charged $83,046 for a 3 hour hospital visit. How in the world is anyone supposed to pay a bill like that?

Moreover, what are the chances of achieving the "American Dream" when well over three-quarters of the population is living paycheck to paycheck - that is, if they're lucky enough to get one, a paycheck, that is. To quote E.L. Doctorow, “I am often asked the question How can the masses permit themselves to be exploited by the few. The answer is By being persuaded to identify with them.”

“I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one man who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars, while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence.”
― Eugene Victor Debs

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Woman Arrested After Begging For Care At Hospital, Then Dies In Jail

It is said that all it takes for the triumph of evil is for "good" men to do nothing. Good? How is a man good if he does nothing to help another human being who is suffering? Dying? Especially if that man has taken an oath to watch over the life and health of  their fellow human beings (doctors), or has sworn to protect their fellow human beings (police). 

Sadly, for Anna Brown, a 29-year-old African American woman left homeless after a tornado in 2010 that destroyed her home, after she lost her job at a sandwich shop, met with the most blatant and callous disregard in her time of need, instead. 

Ms. Brown, 29, had sprained her ankle that week and on September 20, went to Saint Louis University Hospital for treatment. The X-rays were negative and she was given painkillers and discharged. But Ms. Brown was not satisfied, sensing something more was wrong with her. She refused to leave the hospital, so police were called. Hospital security called police, so Ms. Brown, in a wheelchair due to the pain in her legs, rowed herself next door to a children’s hospital. Though doctors there said she did in fact have tenderness in her legs, they said they could not treat her because it was a pediatric hospital. Refusing to return to SLU Hospital, an ambulance took her to SSM St. Mary’s Health Center, a hospital with a mission statement emphasizes “special concern for people who are materially poor and vulnerable.” Ms. Brown was homeless and on Medicaid after a tornado in 2010 destroyed her home and she lost her job at a sandwich shop.

Ms. Brown was given ultrasounds on both legs, which did not find any blood clots or other abnormalities, according to State inspectors who examined her medical records. The hospital gave Ms. Brown the number to several homeless shelters and sent her on her way. But Ms. Brown returned eight hours later, now complaining of leg and abdominal pain. Hospital staff refused to treat her, giving her discharge papers which she refused to sign. Richmond Heights Police, who were already at the scene, wheeled Ms. Brown out of the hospital, as she yelled “my legs don’t work!” At the request of the hospital, police arrested Ms. Brown and charged her with trespassing.

When they arrived at the jail, Ms. Brown told the police she could not put pressure on her legs, so they dragged her out of the car by her arms. Police listed “possible drug use” as their reason for Ms. Brown’s behavior, since hospital staff told them she was “fit for confinement.” Though the woman moaned in pain and begged for help, police dragged her into a jail cell and laid her on the concrete floor, even though a cot was right next to her. Ms. Brown stopped moving and breathing fifteen minutes later. Paramedics tried to revive her without success, so they rushed her back to St. Mary’s, where she died within an hour. The autopsy revealed she died from blood clots in her legs that ultimately lodged in her lungs.

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Get Vaccinated Now or Die: Bill Gates and The Year of the Vaccination

There is very little doubt that vaccines contribute to the skyrocketing number of children diagnosed with Autism. There is very little doubt that vaccines can cause death, and life altering injury to a number of people.  There is no doubt that the vaccination industry is 100% legally protected from people who might suffer from its life-altering or life-ceasing side effects.  Yet, because Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest men in the world, and a big bully who monopolized the computer software industry, he gets to what's good for all children around the world...that poor African governments, should, if necessary, vaccinate  children at gunpoint. Wife,  Melinda agrees.

Yes, at gunpoint. 

After many reports over the past years of threatening children with their lives in order to vaccinate them, The Malawi Voice, finally made it official and reported that 131 children were vaccinated, clearly against their will and the will of their parents, at gunpoint.

Of course, those who advocate for vaccinations will undoubtedly, call up  "credible" evidence to support their platform; however as Sandy Gottstein points out: "those studies that purport to show zero to minimal damage are based on flawed research, which includes, in part 1) improper comparisons between vaccinated groups and the failure to include any never-vaccinated people as controls, 2) outright dismissal of virtually all anecdotal and other evidence, as well as failure to properly follow up on any of it, and 3) dismissal of biological evidence in support of damage claims".

Bill Gates doesn't even try to hide his nasty agenda. He has been heard to say, more than once, that vaccines stop sickness and reduce population growth.(:31 first video and 2:01 second video) Really, Bill? And, how does that work, again?





Clearly, the message that seems to get louder and louder is, as long as you die at the hands of government, the medical establishment, the pharmaceutical companies, etc...in other words, die, while lining the pockets of Bill Gates, the powers that be, and help Bill Gates in his effort to reduce the population, it's all good.

Who does Bill Gates think he is? More importantly, who do we think Bill Gate is?

Links:
How Corporate Greed, Biased Science, and Coercive Government Threaten Our Human Rights, Our Health, and Our Children

National Vaccine Information Center

Machines of War: Blackwater, Monsanto, and Bill Gates

Gates Foundation Invests in Monsanto at the Expense of Small-scale African Farmers

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Paul Ryan's Plan Will Ration Health Care by Ability to Pay Even More Than It Already Is.

Even today, the elderly have considerable out of pocket expense when it comes to health care. I know my retired parents pay $800 per month (I think...I just know it's a hell of a lot more than they should have to pay) for health care insurance, in addition to Medicare coverage. And, now Medicare (government sponsored single payer health care system for the approximately 47 million elderly) may be eliminated entirely if deficit-cutting, supply-sider, Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, gets his way.

Ryan's plan relies on vouchers - which the federal contribution will be pegged to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) - that future retirees can use to buy private health insurance. Here's the thing: the inflation rate of healthcare expenses (and private insurance costs) rises three times faster than the CPI.  The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that by 2030, retirees will pay 68%  out of pocket, compared with the 25% the elderly  pay now.  Not to mention, those retiring in  ten years, will- if the current trend continues - have very little to no savings at all.

We often hear that demographics, or the growth of the aging population is what's responsible for driving health care costs sky-high.  Not so, says health care economist Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton University. He claims that the growth in the aging population (occurs at a glacial pace) only accounts for one-half of one percent of the 6% inflation rate of healthcare expenses (and private insurance costs). So, what drives the cost?
The supply side of the health care system. That's right, the private sector (physicians, especially specialists, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, etc.), who continue to increase prices. Americans pay twice the amount for everything from doctor visits to medicine, than every other country.

Now Ryan will lie to tell  you that he has the same type of health care insurance. This is not true, as his plan is not pegged to the CPI; the federal contributions in his plan keep pace with the inflation rate of healthcare costs.

On the critical metric of whether the Ryan plan would reduce total health-care costs [] the CBO conclusion is shocking: The plan would not only fail to decrease health-care costs per beneficiary, it would increase them — by an astonishingly large amount that grows over time. By 2030, health spending on the typical beneficiary would be more than 40 percent higher under the Ryan plan than under existing Medicare, according to the CBO report.

....How could this possibly be, when the point of reform is to reduce costs? The CBO points to two factors: Private plans have higher administrative costs than the federal Medicare program, and less negotiating leverage with providers-- Peter Orszag

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Repaying Our Heroes With Disease, Financial Hardship and Death.

The devastating death toll for 9/11 responders and other World Trade Center workers nears 1,000, and no one knows why. So, doctors and some New York legislators are urging the "federal Department of Health and Human Services to draft autopsy protocols to pinpoint 9/11-related fatalities."

Of those nearly 1,000 people who died from 9/11 exposure, only a handful of deaths were officially linked to the toxins generated by the collapsed towers. And not before some of them were labeled drug abusers by the city. That's the thanks they get.

"It was heart-wrenching," said Joe Zadroga, who watched his NYPD officer son, James, slowly deteriorate from scarred lungs until he died in 2007.

Relatives and friends know in their hearts what really killed the hero in their family - even if health officials refuse to recognize it.

"I mean, we knew what he died from. We dealt with it for four years," Zadroga added.

A medical examiner in New Jersey had ruled James Zadroga died from 9/11 exposure, only to have the city declare - for a time - that drug abuse killed him.

The city later relented, but Zadroga is one of only a handful of people whose death has been officially linked to the toxins of the ruined twin towers.

As of June 2009, the death toll was approximately 916 responders.  Doctors believe the total will be well over 1,000 in the next survey this year.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, a $7.4 billion bill that would re-open the 9/11 compensation fund for new payments, especially for claims based on health problems resulting from debris removal is currently waiting for Sen. Scott Brown's vote.    Meanwhile our 9/11 heroes continue to suffer, not only from the terrible physical and psychological symptoms that arose from all of the toxins they breathed in, as they labored endlessly, but from financial hardship, as well.Sept.

11 responders are headed for Massachusetts Tuesday, searching for the last vote they need to pass the 9/11 health bill in the form of Sen. Scott Brown.

Backers of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act believe they have 59 votes for the $7.4 billion measure, and they need one more to break any chance of a Republican filibuster of the bill. So far, just newly elected Sen. Mark Kirk is the only member of the GOP to get on board. Brown, responders hope, will be the second.

The Republicans are worried about bogus claims, illegal immigrants possibly getting help, and adding to the deficit. But isn't it funny how they're not worried about adding $700 billion to the deficit, should their Bush tax-cuts for the filthy rich get extended? 

A few words from just a few of the many 9/11 heroes:

"I'm a 40 year old retired cop from the First Pct. in lower manhattan. I was there the morning of 9/11 and worked over 2,100 hours in the pit the months that followed. My breathing ailments are too long to get into and I understand I will be heavily medicated for whatever time I have left. I'm writing this and urging passage of this bill for my kids sake. (Ages 8  and 6)What's done is done but at least give me the peace of mind of knowing they will be taken care of." --  Ret. PO Dave Smith (smitty 02/11/2009 2:54pm)

"This bill needs to be passed! My husband was there on 9/11 and suffered no ill effects until 2 years ago. He has had 3 operations and is now on all kinds of respiratory medications. It is a battle to get the medications covered and going to the doctors has become a full time job. He is waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is only the beginning, he can't even go anywhere without a WTC coughing fit. His quality of life has diminished rapidly and he is not the only one. He will ultimately be another casualtly of 9/11 and be degraded along the way. Please support this bill for all the workers who survived that horrific day only to suffer in the subsequent years.
Thank you from a wife who is watching her former hulk of a husband wither before her eyes." -- jkkdbm 02/09/2009 1:31pm

"I am one of the forgotten rescue workers who spent weeks and months in the "pit". I do not seek glory or a pat on the back for what I did. I live with the choices I made. I wouldn't change a thing except I hate to see my family watch me deteriorate. I can't do things I used to, I have no energy, I can't breathe, I can't sleep. I am waiting for the inevitable and it sucks. I never smoked and now I am on all kinds of respiratory meds and a machine at night. Please pass this bill, I am not the only one in this position. Passage will help the people and families of those who dedicated their time and for some, their lives, to help others in need. God Bless America!" -- smbfec 05/05/2009 1:38pm

"I am one of the very forgotten ones. I was a pure volunteer on 9/11, was one of the first on the scene to help rescue Will and John, have pics to prove it. But after going in circles with the powers to be about my health and what seemed to be a correlation between Mt.Sinai losing our info and my health care getting cancelled I wonder if I would do it again. It would be nice to know that it all wasn't for nothing. How quickly we were forgotten and treated like second class citizens. I never smoked and was in tremendously fit condition before my time at the WTC. Now I am plagued with respiratory and other health issues. All I hear is we're studying it and we'll let you know what if any help is available to you.So it's about time those of us who volunteered, weren't paid are remembered and at least given the dignity of good health care. We don't have union benefits to fall back on. It was bad for all of us that were there, we were there when you needed us now be there when we need you." - Drmini 07/13/2009 7:30pm

"I am a retired fireman who spent countless hours in "the pit". There are no pictures of me down at the site because i was deep in bowels of what was left of these buildings.
i used to run marthons now i can't walk up a flight of stairs with wheezing.i take eight medications and need a machne to sleep. i know there are men woman and children that are in worse shape than me, so i don't complain. i just want to urge our elected officials to to pass this bill.
Thank you and god bless" -- rescueman 06/25/2009 1:19pm

"Since my work at ground zero i almost died from mold infection in march 2002. I was in respiratory failure. I now have PTSD, Fibromyalgia, Thyroid cancer, chronic headaches, Acid reflux, Chronic fatigue, Sinusitis, Asthma,and concrete nodules in my lung. Wde share the same burdens. Many men are no longer able to work to support our familys.We cannot afford health insurance. I hope that as americans we are all united together. thank you and god bless -- wreckehead 09/04/2009 5:42am

"God bless Firefighter John Mcnamara E234 who passed in aug 09. Richie Mannetta E276 and PO's Diaz and Grossman from the 28 pct. All died this week of 9/11 related disease." -- jamesirc 10/11/2009 1:02pm

Sadly, almost two years later, I'm sure some of these brave rescue workers passed on, never having received the support they deserved.

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Fed Up! Fight to Save America From Texas.

More specifically, Rick Perry, a man who clearly stands for injustice, as he not only proudly took the "Texecutioner" title away from George Bush, with 225 executions under his belt; in addition,  did everything he could to cover up evidence that would clear an innocent man, and save him from state sanctioned execution. Yet, this man, on top of winning a third term, fully expects to lead GOP governors group.

“Texans elect folks like me. The kind of guy who goes jogging in the morning, packing a Ruger .380 with laser sights and loaded with hollow-point bullets and shoots a coyote that is threatening his daughter’s dog.”

And the sad part is he's right, they do. He is now entering his tenth year as governor. He will soon be the longest-serving chief executive in Texas history.

I didn't think Texas could get any dumber, but apparently, dumbing down Texas was/is Rick Perry's strategy for staying in office forever. What else could explain his reelection for a third term, with a state budget deficit of $25 billion? Not to mention the highest uninsured rate in the nation with plans to increase that rate as lawmakers in Texas plan to use the  $25 billion shortfall in the state budget over the next two years to impose sweeping cuts to social services, including a massive cut to public schools and universities.  Yes, to make Texans even dumber!

Rich Perry and conservative Texan lawmakers want to ditch Medicaid due to its expansion under The Affordable Care Act, which will expand the program rapidly by subsidizing insurance for all Americans up to 133 percent of the poverty line. Yes, to make Texans even less insured!

Why is Texas bad for America?

“You prioritize what is important to the people in the state and then you reduce spending without raising taxes.” - Rick Perry

As Robert Perkinson, author of Texas Tough, said "Texas is America's new bellweather state...ground zero of the prison boom." The state's ideology has become the template for today's America, and its priorities, America's priorities.

In a sign of how far the far right has regained its confidence since its thrashing in 2008, in April, TX State board of education voted to radically overhaul their social studies curriculum that influences textbook purchases nationwide. Out went Thomas Jefferson, whose deism questioned the piety of the founders; in came Jefferson Davis who fought for state's rights. Less noticed was the elimination of justice from the list of virtues Texas school children have to master, as well as the phrase, responsibility for the common good. Launching the latest salvo in the nation's ceaseless culture war, but also brought the curriculum in line with the state's unequal social order. With its laissez faire corporate climate and anemic social services Texas simultaneously leads the nation in carbon emissions and children without health insurance.


Texas is wide open for business as the governor's economic development office proclaims but it's always had an uneasy relationship with lady justice. This is clearest of all in its criminal justice system which historically has always privileged ferocity over fairness...revenge over rehabilitation. -- Robert Perkinson

We, the People need to wake up to the thugs that have infiltrated our state and federal government. We need to stop voting them into office. However, there is no excuse for the Texans who voted Rick Perry into office for a third term...they are no better than he is. Having said that, I realize there are many good and decent Texans who should not be lumped in with the Texans so eager to follow psychopathic leaders.

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Obama Health Care "Reform" Continues to Serve the Interests of Insurers at Cost of Patients.

And so it continues--the massive transfer from average Americans to the wealthy.

The top executives at the nation's five largest for-profit health insurance companies pulled in nearly $200 million in compensation last year — while their businesses prepared to hit ratepayers with double-digit premium increases, according to a new analysis conducted by Health Care for America Now.

But that's going to change, right? After President Obama's health care reform - the "reform" that the private health insurance lobby most likely wrote - kicks in? 

No, according to the Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP). At least 23 million people will remain without health insurance after Obama's health care goes into effect after 2014. The hype surrounding the new health bill is belied by the facts:

* About 23 million people will remain uninsured nine years out. That figure translates into an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths annually and an incalculable toll of suffering.

* Millions of middle-income people will be pressured to buy commercial health insurance policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income but covering an average of only 70 percent of their medical expenses, potentially leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill. Many will find such policies too expensive to afford or, if they do buy them, too expensive to use because of the high co-pays and deductibles.

* Insurance firms will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products. This money will enhance their financial and political power, and with it their ability to block future reform.

* The bill will drain about $40 billion from Medicare payments to safety-net hospitals, threatening the care of the tens of millions who will remain uninsured.

* People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plan's limited network of providers, face ever-rising costs and erosion of their health benefits. Many, even most, will eventually face steep taxes on their benefits as the cost of insurance grows.

* Health care costs will continue to skyrocket, as the experience with the Massachusetts plan (after which this bill is patterned) amply demonstrates.

* The much-vaunted insurance regulations - e.g. ending denials on the basis of pre-existing conditions - are riddled with loopholes, thanks to the central role that insurers played in crafting the legislation. Older people can be charged up to three times more than their younger counterparts, and large companies with a predominantly female workforce can be charged higher gender-based rates at least until 2017.

* Women's reproductive rights will be further eroded, thanks to the burdensome segregation of insurance funds for abortion and for all other medical services.

U.S. citizens pay the highest out-of-pocket amounts for health care, and therefore are much more likely to reduce their use of health care in tough times. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will intensify this problem because "most of the subsidized private plans will have low actuarial values, requiring larger deductibles, higher coinsurance (percentage of costs paid by the patient), and higher copayments (dollar amount paid by the patient)."

Once again the corporations win. The insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists got their way, and the for-profit, private health insurance industry will continue to profit immensely at the expense of those who need health care most. Congress, President Obama, the insurance industry have masked their health care rationing legislation as health care reform.

The 2,000-page piece of legislation, according to figures compiled by Physicians for a National Health Plan (PNHP), will leave at least 23 million people without insurance, a figure that translates into an estimated 23,000 unnecessary deaths a year among people who cannot afford care. It will permit prices to climb so that many of us will soon be paying close to 10 percent of our annual income to buy commercial health insurance, although this coverage will only pay for about 70 percent of our medical expenses. Those who become seriously ill, lose their incomes and cannot pay skyrocketing premiums will be denied coverage. And at least $447 billion in taxpayer subsidies will now be handed to insurance firms. We will be forced by law to buy their defective products. There is no check in the new legislation to halt rising health care costs. The elderly can be charged three times the rates provided to the young. Companies with predominantly female work forces can be charged higher gender-based rates. The dizzying array of technical loopholes in the bill - written in by armies of insurance and pharmaceutical lobbyists - means that these companies, which profit off human sickness, suffering and death, can continue their grim game of trading away human life for money.-- Chris Hedges

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You Didn't Get Mad.

As far as I know the following came from wall dude posting on the democratic underground. It's well worth the read:

You didn't get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.

You didn't get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate energy policy.

You didn't get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed.

You didn't get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.

You didn't get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.

You didn't get mad when we spent over 600 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.

You didn't get mad when over 10 billion dollars just disappeared in Iraq.

You didn't get mad when you saw the Abu Grahib photos.

You didn't get mad when you found out we were torturing people.

You didn't get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.

You didn't get mad when we didn't catch Bin Laden.

You didn't get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.

You didn't get mad when we let a major US city drown.

You didn't get mad when the deficit hit the trillion dollar mark.

You finally got mad when.. when... wait for it... when the government decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick. Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, are all ok with you but helping other Americans... well fuck that. That about right? You know it is.

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Big Pharma or Us?

Generic drugs make up 70% of all prescriptions, and according to House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Henry Waxman, "in the last decade alone, generic drugs have saved consumers, businesses and state and federal governments $734 billion." Despite that savings, the cost of drugs continues to escalate. In large part this is due to what is regarded as the future of health care: biotechnology drugs, or "biologics".

Simply put, biologics are protein based drugs made from living organisms - hamster ovaries, mare's urine, pig intestines, blood - grown inside living cells, as opposed to chemicals, normally showing better efficacy and safety than conventional drugs. Used to treat everything from cancer to multiple sclerosis to psoriasis, biologics currently make up about 20% of the pharmaceutical market - predicted to make up half the market by 2015 - and are the fastest-growing class of medicines, with more than $40 billion in annual sales in the United States.

However, the FDA has no authority to approve lower-cost, generic versions, biosimilars or “follow-on biologics” (“FOBs”) so, these drugs very rarely face competition from generic copies. FOBs (generic form of biologics) could save patients, insurers and our government anywhere from $67 billion to $108 billion during the first decade, and between $236 billion to $378 billion over the next two decades according to the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

The contentious issue here is the length of time that brand names can hold a monopoly before the FDA can approve the entry of generic competitors. Competition from generic drugs has substantially reduced prescription drug prices and overall prescription drug expenditures, increased access to therapeutic drugs for more Americans, and hastened the pace of innovation.

The provision in proposed health care legislation would allow pharmaceutical companies to extend monopolies to 12-years exclusivity once the product is licensed by the FDA. Even after 12 years, this legislation would allow a pharmaceutical company to extend market protection for its biologic by making minor modifications to the drug to effect dosing, for example.

Generic brand medications only make up for 17 percent of all profits, and generic prescription companies are more focused on the hit that consumers will take financially if longer terms of exclusivity are given to brand-names and biologics. Brand names and biologics, however, are more focused on their profits.

So, why do biologics need a 12-year instead of a 5-year monopoly?

The answer is, of course, profit, and not just a little profit...a lot of profit. According to the pharmaceutical trade association, the average research and development costs are approximately the same for biologics as they are for conventional drugs. Not only that, generics face higher than normal barriers to entering the market. The FTC recently released a report entitled, “Follow-on Biologic Drug Competition” which addressed questions that have arisen about whether the price of biologics might be reduced by competition if there were a statutory process to encourage biosimilars or FOBs to enter and compete with pioneer (brand name) biologics once a pioneer drug’s patents have expired. The FTC did not recommend biologics any years of exclusivity protection.

Based on these findings, the Report concludes that patent protection and market-based pricing will promote competition by FOBs, as well as spur biologic innovation. It states that legislation to put a process in place for the abbreviated FDA approval of FOBs is likely to be an efficient way to bring FOBs to market, because of the time and cost savings it would provide.

In addition, the Report states that the 12- to 14-year regulatory exclusivity period is too long to promote innovation by these firms, particularly since they likely will retain substantial market share after FOB entry. The Report concludes that special procedures to resolve patent issues between pioneer and FOB manufacturers before FDA approval, which are not needed,
could undermine patent incentives and harm consumers. Finally, the Report states that FOB manufacturers are unlikely to need additional incentives – such as a 180-day marketing exclusivity period – to develop interchangeable FOB products.

Links:

Act and Myth of Exclusivity Incentive

Competition Counts

Frequently Asked Questions About Therapeutic Biological Products

Emerging Health Care Competition and Consumer Issues

See How Pay-for-Delay Settlements Make Consumers and the Federal Government Pay More for Much Needed Drugs: Hearing Before the H. Subcomm. on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, Comm. on Energy and Commerce.

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Follow-the-Money and Be-on-the Alert Links

ProPublica should be a must-read for every American. It is an independent, non-profit newsroom that really and truly produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Their work focuses exclusively on truly important stories, stories with “moral force.” They do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them.

Investigative journalism is at risk. Many news organizations have increasingly come to see it as a luxury. Today’s investigative reporters lack resources: Time and budget constraints are curbing the ability of journalists not specifically designated “investigative” to do this kind of reporting in addition to their regular beats. This is therefore a moment when new models are necessary to carry forward some of the great work of journalism in the public interest that is such an integral part of self-government, and thus an important bulwark of our democracy.

The business crisis in publishing and — not unrelated — the revolution in publishing technology are having a number of wide-ranging effects. Among these are that the creation of original journalism in the public interest, and particularly the form that has come to be known as “investigative reporting,” is being squeezed down, and in some cases out.

Here is an investigation everyone should read:

In the Loop: Pay Day Lenders Extensive, Expensive Ties to Washington Power Players. Charging interest rates as high as 400% to mostly the working-class, Pay-day lenders' "connections in the capital make clear that the industry has quietly -- and in a remarkably short time -- enmeshed itself into a network of Washington influence-peddlers skilled at putting a favorable sheen on a host of corporate causes."

Links to monitor:

Bailout Watch - is a collaborative effort to research, investigate, and analyze the federal government's bailout activities and publish resources and data for policymakers, the media, and interested citizens. Bailout Watch draws upon the expertise and resources of the partner organizations to identify specific data that should be disclosed (and made available in an online, indexed, searchable format), research and investigate government decision-making processes related to the bailout, and provide analysis and commentary about the effectiveness of different bailout programs.

Change Tracker - ProPublica has set up a page, with a feed, that monitors any changes to whitehouse.gov, recovery.gov, and financialstability.gov. Whenever there’s a change to any page on these sites, it’s noted in the feed. You can then view the old and new versions of the page side by side, with the changes highlighted.

Eye on Bailout Money

* A complete list of where the money's going, from AIG to the smallest community bank
* A map that charts all the bailed-out companies
* A timeline of major bailout events
* A running total of how much of the TARP bailout money has been committed
* Graphical breakdowns and plain language descriptions of the Treasury Department's bailout programs without confusing government acronyms
* A list of the banks that have returned the bailout money
* A snapshot of how mortgage servicers are performing in the foreclosure prevention program.
* The latest on the bailout from our blog and our links to the best bailout reporting

The Missing Memos ProPublica memo depository of the missing memos regarding legalities involving detainees, rendition, eavesdropping, using the military within the US, and free speech.

Open the Government is concerned that our government keeps from the American public information that we need to make our families safe, secure our country and strengthen democracy, a broad-based set of organizations formed OpenTheGovernment.org.

Side by Side Health Care Bills compare the Senate version of the health care reform bill with what it will look like with the House's changes.

Subsidyscope’s Financial Bailout Project. pulls together data on the financial institutions that are receiving benefits from the various federal programs so users can understand how and where taxpayer dollars are being spent.

It happened once:

“Army Surveillance of Civilians” (1972) - A Documentary Analysis” by the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate

“The following report by the Subcommittee staff analyzes certain computer print-outs and publications generated in the course of the Army’s domestic intelligence program.”

“The overwhelming majority of the reports pertain to the peaceful activites of nonviolent citizens lawfully exercising their constitutional rights of speech, press, religion, association, and petition.”

“These files confirm what we learned first from former intelligence agents – that Army intelligence, in the name of preparedness and security, had developed a massive system for monitoring virtually all political protest in the United States. In doing so, it was not content with observing at arms length; Army agents repeatedly infiltrated civilian groups. Moreover, the information they reported was not confined to acts or plans for violence, but included much private information about peoples’ finances, psychiatric records, and sex lives.”

“The size of these and other data banks confirms that the Army’s domestic intelligence operations did not begin with the Newark and Detroit riots of 1967. The events of that summer only expanded activities which had been going on, in varying degrees of intensity, since 1940, and which has its roots as far back as World War I.”

Maplight illuminating maps of all types

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Health Care: Who Do We Believe?

Health care in the industrial world...is it a privilege or a right?

The nation is divided on this issue. Clearly, the 50% who subscribe to "health care is a privilege" idea, the complacently covered, have decent health care insurance. I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen to you if you don't have health care? Oh yeah, you can die. No big deal, we all die anyway, but let's walk along the razor's edge of madness, and assume health care is a right, anyway. I know...insanity!

Okay, so the GOP wants to continue using the private marketplace to expand coverage and reduce costs. Uh...been there, done that. We already know that profit selects for the healthiest people with the stingiest policies. We already know that our current system leaves the people who need health care the most, submerged in a black hole of hopelessness. Yet, despite those facts, and that the results of a purely profit driven health care system, deliver huge profits for private industry, we continue to allow this tea bagging, GOP and corporate generated tide of propaganda re-baptize us into the "all-knowing" omniscient cult of the corporate enslaved market. Why? Because it's advertised as, "free", and we always believe what we're told.

So what if 50 million people lack access to health care insurance in the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth...as long as we're not one of them, what do we care? Well, considering the escalating unemployment and the escalating cost of anything and everything health care related, that hungry black hole may be closer than we think.

Now, last Thursday, President Obama, the Democrats and the Republicans gathered together to discuss live on television the overhaul of our health care system, however, Factcheck.org found the Health Care Summit ripe with errors and misleading remarks. Who are we to believe?

Well, rather than listen to the politicians beholden to the 35,000 lobbyists in Washington that dole out money to shape legislation, for example, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America who spent $26 million last year and drug companies who spent tens of millions more to buy off both the Democrats and Republicans, maybe we should, instead, take a look around, and look at the increasing number of good people losing health care insurance, look at the facts, the statistics, all of which come much closer to telling the truth than either party.

The Internet has made information as easy to acquire as ever before in history. Most of us don't even have to leave our homes...it's all right there at our fingertips. Nevertheless, it can be very confusing, and creating a workable health care policy for a nation this large is a daunting task. Our job, as regular citizens is to make sure our politicians are working for us and not against us, because that is what it is happening right now.

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Healthcare Insurance, Baseball and Antitrust Laws.

The insurance industry has everything to lose from real health care reform, that is, reforming the health care industry to serve we, the people, in the most efficient and effective way. The reason is obvious: profit. The better our health care system facilitates and benefits the health of we, the people, the less the insurance industry gains.

Americans United for Change, a grassroots organization working to return America to the "traditional progressive values that have defined America – economic fairness, opportunity, national and economic security and democratic leadership" released a TV ad airing on cable stations in Washington, D.C. noting that Major League Baseball (MLB) and health insurance companies are two of the few organizations exempted from antitrust laws.

"When baseball players fix the games, they get in trouble. When health insurance executives fix the game, they get … rich."

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Poverty in the US is Trending Upwards

Poverty in the United States: 2008

Under the official poverty definition, an average family of four was considered poor in 2008 if its pre-tax cash income for the year was below $22,025. It's hard to imagine a family of four existing on twice that amount today.

In 2008, 39.8 million people were counted as poor in the United States—an increase of 2.6 million persons from 2007, and nearly the largest number of persons counted as poor since 1960. The poverty rate, or percent of the population considered poor under the official definition, was reported at 13.2%; up from 12.5% in 2007, and the highest rate since 1997. The recent increase in poverty reflects the worsened economic conditions since the onset of the economic recession in December 2007. Many expect poverty to rise further next year, and it will likely remain comparatively high even after the economy begins to recover. The incidence of poverty varies widely across the population according to age, education, labor force attachment, family living arrangements, and area of residence, among other factors.

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008

Data presented in this report indicate the following:

• Real median household income fell between 2007 and 2008, and the decline was widespread. Median income fell for family and nonfamily households, native-and
foreign-born households, households in 3 of the 4 regions, and households of each race categoryand those of Hispanic origin. These declines in income coincide

• The poverty rate increased between 2007 and 2008.

• The percentage of uninsured in 2008 was not statistically different from 2007, while the number.

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Higher Premiums for Elderly Under Comprehensive Health Care Reform?

One of the central goals of comprehensive health care reform is to eliminate discrimination by health status in order to reduce the financial burdens associated with poor health. Congress has discussed eliminating health-status discrimination, although there is much debate about whether it’s fair to charge people who are different ages different rates for insurance. Older adults tend to use more health care, so the question becomes, is it fair to set higher premiums for the same coverage for older Americans?

The Urban Institute calculated the financial implications of age-based premiums under three different scenarios (5:1, 2:1, and 1:1) for households of different ages, incomes, and sizes. Some have proposed allowing premiums for the older adults to be as much as 5 times as high as those for younger adults (5:1 rating), while others would limit the highest premiums to be twice that of the lowest (2:1 rating).

They found that the affordability of health care costs (premiums plus out-of-pocket expenses after government subsidy) will be strongly related to the age-based premium rating.

The full analysis, Age Rating Under Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Implications for Coverage, Costs, and Household Financial Burdens Timely Analysis of Immediate Health Policy Issues, can be found here.

This analysis uses the Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model (HIPSM) to compare the financial implications of the premium rating choice

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Republican Health Care Reform: Don't Get Sick and Die Quickly

When lobby firms are spending millions ($380 million in the last few months) fighting Obama healthcare reforms, and considering there are six lobbyists for every member of Congress, I'm afraid propriety and protocol just won't do.

Finally, a Democrat with guts, who doesn't sound like he will cave to special interests, stood up to the Republicans regarding health care reform. Alan Grayson, a Democrat with guts Harvard educated attorney and former businessman from Florida, took to the floor of the House of Representatives with a set of cards that demonstrated his interpretation - based on a recent Harvard study that concluded the US health care crisis is costing more than 44,000 lives each year and that uninsured, working-age Americans have a 40% higher risk of death than their insured counterparts - of the Republican Health care plan.

The first card stated that step one of the Republican health care plan was “Don’t get sick”. Step two stated: “And if you do get sick...”. Step three stated: “Die quickly”.

When Republicans demanded an apology, Grayson issued an apology to the dead:

"In the face of demands for an apology from the House GOP, he went back to the floor on Wednesday and offered an apology -- not to the GOP, but "to the dead," people who've died for a lack of health insurance. "I apologize that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America," he said. On CNN, he called Republicans "foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals."

Later, Grayson issued another apology, but again, not the Republicans, but to the Anti-Defamation League, saying, “In no way did I mean to minimize the Holocaust… I regret the choice of words, and I will not repeat it."

America's healthcare industry has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to block the introduction of public medical insurance and stall other reforms promised by Barack Obama. The campaign against the president has been waged in part through substantial donations to key politicians.

Supporters of radical reform of healthcare say legislation emerging from the US Senate reflects the financial power of vested interests ‑ principally insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and hospitals ‑ that have worked to stop far-reaching changes threatening their profits.

The industry and interest groups have spent $380m in recent months influencing healthcare legislation through lobbying, advertising and in direct political contributions to members of Congress. The largest contribution, totalling close to $1.5m, has gone to the chairman of the senate committee drafting the new law.

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Measure of a Society: How Will America be Judged?

Jimmy Carter once said, "The measure of a society is found in how they treat their weakest and most helpless citizens. As Americans, we are blessed with circumstances that protect our human rights and our religious freedom, but for many people around the world, deprivation and persecution have become a way of life."

People around the world? How about people right here in our own country? We have a system in place that rewards and advocates for big business at the expense of the American people. For-profit business interests is our society's number one concern, even when human lives are at stake, or the quality of those lives.

Just ask the woman with breast cancer, who was denied insurance the day before her scheduled double mastectomy.

Just ask Wendell Potter, the whistle-blower against the insurance industry and former chief spokesman for Cigna Healthcare, who when testifying before congress said,

"I saw how they confuse their customers and dump the sick—all so they can satisfy their Wall Street investors. [...]"The thing they fear most is a single-payer plan. They fear even the public insurance option being proposed; they'll pull out all the stops they can to defeat that to try to scare people into thinking that embracing a public health insurance option would lead down the slippery slope toward socialism ... Putting a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor. They've used those talking points for years, and they've always worked."

And what about our incarceration rate - 2.3 million behind bars, as of 2008 - that makes the US, "prisonhouse of nations", a phrase coined by Mumia Abu-Jamal(not advocating for case, but I believe his phrase to be accurate), as well as our top ranking execution rate, following only China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in the number of executions in 2008. Is jailing non-threatening, non violent citizens by the boatload, simply another way to line the pockets of industry?

Just ask the millions of people arrested and jailed for possessing marijuana, a plant, far less toxic than alcohol and most prescription drugs, not to mention, its many medicinal properties. Would the legalization of this easily home-grown plant cause the pharmaceutical industry to lose the unconscionable profits they rake in year after year?

Just ask Sally Harpold, grandmother of triplets. She bought one box of Zyrtec-D cold medicine for her husband at one pharmacy. Less than seven days later, she bought a box of Mucinex-D cold medicine for her adult daughter at and other pharmacy, thereby purchasing 3.6 grams total of pseudoephedrine in a week’s time. Four months later, she ended up in handcuffs, arrested for her two purchases.

What about the death penalty?

Just ask the poor and the powerless, as nine times out of ten they are the ones executed.

Or, more specifically, ask Texas, which has accounted for 69% of all executions in the southern states since 1976 and 39% of all executions in the nation during the same period. The spike in executions in Texas occurred during the reign of George W. Bush who signed the death warrants of 151 men and 1 woman during his term.

Rick Perry broke the record of his predecessor when he presided over his 200th execution in June of 2009. Not only that, Perry just fired three from the board ready to probe the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, the one he denied a reprieve even after a detailed report by an arson expert said the evidence that Mr. Willingham had set the fire was flimsy and inconclusive. On September 18, 2009 Perry was quoted as saying that there was "clear and compelling, overwhelming evidence that he was in fact the murderer of his children"

Another measure of society is the way the culture disposes of their dead. If that's true, what will future historians say about us?

Just ask Detroit, too broke to bury their dead.. The number of unclaimed corpses at the Wayne County morgue in Detroit is at a record high, having tripled since 2000. 2000? You mean since George W. Bush took office? What a coincidence. Anyway, people just don't have the money to bury their dead and as unemployment in the area is approaching 28%, and many people, can't afford last rites; the other problem is that the county's $21,000 annual budget to bury unclaimed bodies ran out.

Jimmy Carter was not the only one who said the worth of society can be measured by the manner in which it treats its weakest member.

It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life-the sick, the needy and the handicapped." ~Hubert Humphrey

"The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering the prisons"
~Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." - Mahatma Ghandi

"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest." ~Cardinal Roger Mahony,

The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged, the unborn.
~Bill Federer

"A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying,"
~Pope John Paul II

If one believes that the worth and dignity of a civilization is judged by the way its weakest members are treated, we cannot help but look back in shame at our past. However, although we can do nothing to change the past, we can make up for it by setting a new course for our future. Currently, as a nation, we value money more than life. People serve money...an entity that does not exist in and of itself, as it is nothing without people and the infrastructure to support it.

Before we change anything we must reclaim our humanity. Once we do that, the rest will fall into place.

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