There's no doubt the unelected criminals in Washington are much worse, and if they allowed a fair election (big "if" there), we would all be very - if temporarily - happy. But what would really change?
The Democrats' Iraq plan authorized an additional $100 billion towards the occupation - $25 billion more than the Resident asked for. Whoever heard of ending a war by increasing funding for it?
With a few notable exceptions, the Dems didn't utter a peep about about two stolen presidential elections, preferring to protect their own images. That, they protect. Not labour, not reproductive freedom, and certainly not the equal rights of Americans in same-sex relationships.
What about health care?
From The Corporate Crime Reporter.
The Corporate Democratic Party is into snuff politics.
The target this month – single payer, Medicare for all.
The motive – protect the corporate health insurance industry.
Democratic snuff politics was on display yesterday on Capitol Hill.
Senator Ron Wyden was on the Hill surrounded by his corporate supporters – Steve Burd, CEO, Safeway Inc., Art Collins, CEO of Medtronic, Inc, H. Edward Hanaway, CEO, CIGNA, Steve Sanger, CEO, General Mills, and Ronald Williams, CEO, Aetna, Inc.
Wyden has introduced legislation that is similar to that introduced by Republican Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
All claim to create universal health care.
None can, do or will.
What's the common denominator between Wyden-care, and Romney-care and Schwarzenegger-care?
Individual mandates.
The individual must get health insurance or the individual is violating the law.
As opposed to single payer.
Which says to the health insurance companies – get out.
We will take care of our people.
If you sell basic health insurance, you are violating the law.
Everyone is in one insurance pool.
Nobody is out.
All are covered.
No bills, no co-pays, no deductibles.
No losing your health insurance when you change jobs.
No escalating premiums when you get sick.
Cheaper than the current system.
With better outcomes.
One approach sets up a system that outlaws individual wrongdoing.
The other sets up a system that outlaws corporate wrongdoing.
The corporate executives were at the press conference to support Wyden's plan and to push their own newly created Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform.
The key element focused on by the CEOs – a market-based health care system.
The goal – derail publically funded single payer legislation that will cut administrative waste.
The single payer bill has 70 sponsors in the House of Representatives and is supported by 52 percent of the American people.
When asked why he doesn't support single payer when 52 percent of the American people do, Wyden didn't blush.
"The people of my state, not a poll, but at the ballot box in 2002, they voted by about 3-1 against a single payer proposal," Wyden said.
Well yeah, after the insurance industry dumped millions to scare people into believing the government was going to take over their lives.
"If you go to a community meeting and take a poll in my state, what people want is coverage like their member of Congress gets," Wyden said. "They want benefits like their members of Congress. They want the quality of care that their members of Congress get."
But can't single payer deliver exactly that?
Mildly irritated by this question, Wyden reminds reporters in the room that single payer is not the topic of this press conference.
(No, the topic is snuffing out single payer.)
"My guess is that single payer is more government than Americans want, number one," he says. (The CEOs nod their heads in approval.)
"And number two – how do you get there from here?" he asks.
How do you get there from here?
Pass single payer.
Wyden actually means – how do you get there from here if you anger the CEOs of Aetna and CIGNA and all of the other CEOs standing behind him at the press conference by supporting single payer?
. . .
So, the political reality of health care in America can be summed up as a tale of Two Big Cons.
Big Con One – the conservatives offering prosperity for all and delivering cronyism and favoritism for the rich.
And Big Con Two – the progressive Democrats, promising universal health care, and then joining with corporate Democrats and corporate America to snuff out single payer.
Read the story here. Then talk to a Canadian to see how the system works. Single-payer is the answer. Canada has proven that.
I wonder if health-care advocates in the US are trying to demonstrate that. In light of the constant lies and disinformation the US media spreads about the Canadian health care system, an information blitz about how Canada's system really works is long overdue.
Perhaps I'll try to contact a few groups about that.
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