On "60 Minutes" - what is happening to our country?

[question everything]

Hundreds of uninsured and underinsured people, mostly white, from rural areas (of red states) are driving long distance and spend the night in the parking lot to see a volunteer medical profession.

People with a history of heart surgery and cervical cancer who could not afford any follow up.

People with infected teeth, with bad eye glasses - all lined up to see volunteer medical provider at a warehouse.

And about 400 had to be turned away.

A group - Remote Area Medical Lifeline - that founded to help third world countries is now operating in our own.

No, Michelle, I am not "finally" proud of my country. I am ashamed of it.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/28/60minutes/main3889496.shtml

[Myrina]

1. ... aren't they about 7 years late in asking this question?

:mad: :puke:

[PA Democrat]

52. Yeah. They were too busy raking in the ad revenue from the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

[KansDem]

61. Eight years ago, Cokie Roberts was telling us all about Bush's "charm offensive"

:puke:

That's when I realize the USA media had jumped the shark and become just a propaganda machine for the corporatists.

[dflprincess]

69. If you're talking about medical care, they're at least 30 years too late

Ted Kennedy started raising the issue in the mid '70s.

[Kikosexy2]

71. I guess their...

family values wasn't the cure all?....the stupidity of America....sigh!

[Enthusiast]

80. The American people just didn't have

The American people just didn't have enough faith. If their faith was strong enough the lord would have protected them from illness. Dubya said.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. That's one of the saddest stories I have ever seen

I certainly hope that all those who tuned in to watch Obama and Hillary kept watching and saw that piece.

[SharonAnn]

38. In the Knoxville paper today, one of the local doctors pointed out that

only four of the doctors there were local. All the others came in from out of town/state. There were far more outsiders helping than there were locals.

Just amazing!

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. I wouldn't think any community would have that many doctors

They treated well over 1000 patients in 2 days.

I thought it was especially sad that this group originally went to other countries to provide health care but now stay busy enough right here in the USA.

[Occulus]

43. I wonder if that situation speaks to the state of public education....

:think:

[Duppers]

73. one of those area docs is a friend

of mine. Ron G. has volunteered with Stan for many yrs. and in Latin American too.

If anyone can and would like to help out financially with the work 'Remote Area Medical' is doing, please donate here:

http://www.ramusa.org/contact/donate.htm


Many thanks.

[AikidoSoul]

83. They probably came from blue states

... you know...those bleeding heart types.

[Swede]

62. Brock said 60% of RAMs are in the US now.

This is a surprising thing.

[dysfunctional press]

3. but americans DON'T WANT a "canadian style" healthcare system...

:eyes:

[Preston120]

14. Do You Really Think So?

Ever wonder where that slogan came from? From the AMA, maybe. From our pharmacology lobbies, maybe. Do you really think a person thats in pain and in need of medical care really cares about the Canadian Style healthcare system? I can just see someone in pain saying "Don't give me any relief if thats from a Canadian source."

[JerseygirlCT]

16. I've yet to talk to a Dr. who likes the current system. I don't think I'd

look to the AMA for blame.

The insurance companies, and pharmocological companies, OTOH, have plenty to lose if we were ever to straighten this mess out and actually provide care for everyone, from a single-payer.

[dysfunctional press]

30. actually, no, i don't...

that's what the eye-rolling was about.

whenever single-payer universal coverage is brought up in the media, there's always somebody there to say that americans don't want that type of system.

but i'm guessing that the vast majority would LOVE it.

what we need is a political system where politicians are willing to actually listen to their constituencies and act accordingly, without fearing retribution from one corporate sector or another in the form of diverted campaign cash.

changing the entire structure of the healthcare system is a BIG project, one that would likely take more than two years to bring to fruition...congressmen are elected to two-year terms, and anyone who tries too hard to get the system changed will find themselves with less campaign money, bad press, and some VERY well-funded opponents- first in the primary, and if they survive that, the general election.

to get real change from/through our government, we need to take the need for campaign cash out of the equation.

[Preston120]

32. I'll agree with ya, 100%

[BonnieJW]

65. It's not from the AMA.

I was in health care for 20 years and all the nurses and doctors I knew favored some kind of universal health care. The docs spend almost 50% of their money on patient reps who bill the insurance providers and try to get them to pay what they're supposed to pay. The nurses were terribly frustrated at not being able to provide care to people whose insurance providers refused payment.

[libnnc]

4. And coming to a peace rally near you...

big assed ray guns!

Sweet land of liberty. :sarcasm: :scared:

[hollowdweller]

13. The Peace Protesters as the target said it all about the REAL intended use.

[AntiFascist]

49. Wow, an anti-Christian weapon...

the demo "enemy" was holding signs saying "love for all" and "world peace".

[edhopper]

5. This and the man in Ohio in the first story

who worried about Obama being a Muslim made this week even more depressing than last week with Siegelman.

[wolfgirl]

54. I was dismayed to hear

that guy's remarks that he thought BO was a Muslim & the other lies. BUT,when I sat back and thought about it, I realized that the guy actually said he was "leaning" to voting for BO despite those concerns.

That tells me (or at least gives me hope) that BO is actually reaching people and getting beyond the lies & smears.
If this is actually occurring, BO can best McCain in the general election.


Ya know, as a woman I really wanted Hillary to be our candidate & I think she would be great. But I keep coming back to her vote on Iraq in '02 and most recently her support of the resolution on Iran. Those are votes that have placed my sons in a war and I just can't support her as long as we have an alternate for our party.

[Dover]

6. Ha!...just posted this in another forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x35251

Interesting to have a story about yet another Pentagon weapon, the ray gun, costing billions to develop,
and then showing all the people without even basic medical help in this country. Yeah, we have our priorities straight.

[immoderate]

57. those people without medical help are one of the reasons for the ray gun.

That's the "treatment" they'll get when they demand health care.

--IMM

[baldguy]

70. The uninsured, the unemployed, the under represented, the un-contented, the underclass.

In others words: us.

[Skittles]

7. we are turning third world

it's what happens when the top 1% get well over half the pie

[Catshrink]

8. I know this is callous, but whom did these people vote for?

Bush? Because he's a "Christian" man? Who opposes abortion? Who will fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here?

Is this another example of people voting against their best interests?

Flame away.

[Ilsa]

9. My husband was saying something similar when 60 in talked about

Ohio losing so many jobs and total state income under Bush. "Who did they vote for?" And mentioned people voting for something not intheir best interests because some threw a so-called morality wrench into the works.

BTW, and serious pro-life group ran am anti-Ron Paul ad, full page, in section one of our paper. This is Paul's home district, and he says he is pro-life, but this group said he is "states' choice", and they hate him for it.

[question everything]

10. Yes, this was my reaction. I don't know if you saw the program

there was one woman with bad eye glasses living on Social Security disability and at first it appeared that the vision line has closed.

She talked about "the Lord will provide" and this is when I was thinking about how many of these rural and perhaps not too educated people rely on their churches and on their pastors and I wondered whether their pastors in 2004 told them not to vote for Kerry "the baby killer."

I suspect, though, that most of them are too overwhelmed to even bother to vote.

[orleans]

50. that's when i started thinking the same thing. if the lord will provide

then why the hell isn't your church getting you some new fucking glasses?

then i started thinking...red state...
and voting
and one thought led to another

[Yavin4]

12. Tenn Voted for Bush Twice

In fact, Repubs love to point out that Gore lost his home state in 2000. Also, I recall that Tenn had an open revolt against TennCare, their state health plan for poor people.

[Preston120]

33. Nobody's Perfect!

You will also find racists, hypocrites, Makes you wonder how many real Christians are in the "Bible Belt".

[my2sense]

11. This is pathetic

I wonder how many people watched this? This should be on headline news, cnn, msnbc and the front page of every paper in this country. Unbelievable. What's next - more and more families living on the streets because jobs are drying up and they can't afford housing.

:grr:

[margotb822]

28. The GOP wants to keep it hidden

It would ruin their fantasy that poor, urban minorities are the only ones that need "handouts." And then how could they get all those people to keep voting for them??

[xxqqqzme]

85. it will only be headline news when

those reporting the selected news no longer have health care. Then we'll hear all about it.

[Yavin4]

15. Before Everyone Gets Too Upset About the 60 Minutes Piece Read This

Read about how the people of Tenn openly revolted against a state health insurance plan:

Snip:

Tennessee lawmakers abandoned their efforts to pass a state income tax, aimed at funding the state’s government-run health care system, after protesters chanting “No new taxes” broke windows in the capitol building in Nashville on Friday, July 13.


The drive to fund TennCare led to the legislature’s proposal for a first-ever state income tax on Tennessee residents . . . a plan that clearly did not go over well with the state’s taxpayers.

Tennessee lawmakers have been wrestling with TennCare, the failed state-run Medicaid health care plan, ever since President Clinton’s national health care plan failed to pass Congress in 1994. TennCare acts as a single-payer health care system by virtue of numerous Medicaid waivers authorized by the Clinton administration. Notes Patrick S. Poole of the Tennessee Public Policy Institute, “TennCare covers one out of every four citizens in the state and consumes one-quarter of the state's annual budget.”

TennCare is the largest state Medicaid program in the country. While universal coverage and single-payer proposals have gained some attention in states across the country, no other state has embarked on such a grandiose effort down those paths. Incorporating universal coverage and single-payer goals into the state's Medicaid system has created a program difficult to maneuver, finance, and modify.



http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=571

[question everything]

20. There were also people from GA

And I have to wonder how many of the revolt was by the poor people in pain.

Clearly these are not the people who would revolt against "new taxes."

Most people think only of their immediate families. It takes, well, a liberal, to think of others with no thought of personal reward.

I would say that the lawmakers of TN abdicated their fiduciary responsibility for the people of TN.

I think that it was Karl Rove who, in 2004, observed that poor people do not vote.

This is another reason why it should be a federal issue not left to the states.

[gauguin57]

60. I think I should wear an "It Takes a Liberal" T-shirt. Because yes, we're the ones ...

... who think about the welfare of ALL people, not just ourselves. We're the ones who don't mind paying taxes as long as our taxes are being used to help people with problems, the way the government SHOULD be helping them (instead of throwing money down a military rathole).

[question everything]

74. And when McCain "promises" not to send more money to the government

my initial reaction is: yes, until the same people who don't want to send money all of a sudden realize that life does not follow any script and they are grateful for any government help.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

21. you can bet money that the protests were promoted and agitated by

right wing hate radio and those stations got their funding from insurance companies.

[Yavin4]

29. Tenn Voted For Bush Twice

They even voted against native son, Al Gore. We get what we vote for.

[SharonAnn]

36. And this "taxpayer revolt" was ginned up by the right-wing radio hosts here.

Just wonderful!

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. The people who came for care were not only from Tennesee

Besides, don't you find it a bit callous to imply that anyone deserves to be without health care?

[Yavin4]

41. How Can You Help People Who Won't Help Themselves?

The people of Tenn openly revolted against TennCare, an in state health insurance plan. In addition, they voted against their native son, Gore, in favor of Bush, and they voted for Bush again in 2004. In either election, had they gone to the Democrat, Bush would not have won.

[proud2BlibKansan]

42. The people in that piece on 60 Minutes came from all over, not just Tennessee

I don't blame them for not having health care. Maybe they will now be inspired to vote for a Democrat, which is a god thing. But if we point at them and say they are getting what they asked for, they may not vote at all.

[orleans]

48. i can't help it. i did it too. i saw some of the 60 minutes piece

and thought "how horrible, those poor people and how wonderful that program is to go and help them."

then i thought: red states. they voted for this. and the rest of the world suffers because of it.

i can't help it.
i can't get over it.
i find it so difficult to forgive
i can't forget
i'm stuck
and i place blame
and my compassion level lowers

i no longer love unconditionally

if you tell me you're a republican, tell me you voted against gore and kerry, tell me that you couldn't be bothered to vote, tell me you don't want your taxes raised in case you hit the lottery & voted accordingly, tell me you don't want the "queers" to marry and voted accordingly, tell me you voted to keep your gun because every democrat wants to take it away--well, i think to myself: suck it up; it's too bad but the whole goddamn thing is too bad.

it might be cruel and cold, i know.
it might be heartless.

but i can't help thinking that way.

this is what has become of me.

[Yavin4]

56. They Had A State Health Care Plan In Place

And people literally pelted the state legislature with rocks to get it removed because they didn't want to pay any income tax to pay for it.

[catzies]

90. You're not alone in thinking that way, orleans.

:hug:

Let's hope that after we clean up the mess left us by the corrupt and failed ideology that is American Republican Conservatism that we can reclaim the values you mentioned. I mean, we still have them, but they had to go dormant to survive in these tough times.

[Middle finga]

17. Yep that's what happen when people would rather vote to keep

gays from getting married rather than vote for some liberal that may work to make health care affordable.

[Iris]

18. dead on.

[skooooo]

19. Some people live 100s of miles from a decent hospital...

Life has become pretty brutal under the republicans.

[Olney Blue]

22. I hope this story does some good.

[JPZenger]

23. People Avoiding Medical Tests to Avoid Insurance Rejection

I just read a newspaper article about how some people are avoiding some medical tests because they are afraid that it would cause them to be rejected for health insurance.

This is particularly true because insurance companies sometimes go back a few years to try to find a condition that you did not report on your insurance application. They wait until after you need the coverage. That was covered in Michael Moore's movie.

[blue neen]

24. This is very true.

Insurance companies will go back years to check you out.

[JPZenger]

27. People are paying cash for tests with independent groups

People are also paying cash for tests with independent organizations so they don't show up in their insurance records or their family doctor's records.

It creates a danger because family doctors have limited information.

[tyedyeto]

25. This '60 Minutes' segment

broke my heart.

People who have volunteered to see patients from a small segment of our society because they can not afford or are not eligible for health care insurance have my utmost respect.

But....... why the fuck are all these people denied the coverage that when someone who has just been elected to Congress (junior Reps and Sens) have adequate health insurance, when many have worked for years in a non-insurable job? Or when, if offered, is cost prohibitive.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

26. I knew someone at DU would be discussing that segment

that's why I still come here...

[Tashca]

31. Good show

I was so impressed with the guy that put the whole program together....to help the people of third world countries......then have something like 60% of there time spent in this country......

Did I get it right...he was the guy from Wild Kingdom that I used to watch get chased by wild animals in the background while Marlin Perkins was talking....I always felt sorry for him.

He is now living such a simple life and helping so many people ...so in need of help. Very impressive.

I hope this had a high veiwership....

[kiva]

34. I , too, am ashamed.

Watching those hundreds of people who had driven for hours, spending even more hours in their cars in the cold, for a "luxury" that is a basic need in other countries. Yes, ashamed is the right word.

[Swede]

35. Stan Brock is a true hero.

As are all the RAM volenteers.

[defendandprotect]

37. It's simply the GOP's "third world America" . . ..

And now the corporate-Democratic party is helping that along . . .
Can we have a war that we can't even afford --- ????

More than 1 BILLION every day to simply pay the interest on our national debt?

And the war --- $2 TRILLION --- !!!

The first Gulf War was $45 billion and other allies helped us pay for it ---

Where is the Democratic Party --- ?????

[DCKit]

45. Not to intentionally piss you off even more...

but new, realistic estimates put the cost of the debacle in Iraq at $3 trillion. As is usual with the fiscally responsible GOP'ers, expect THAT to double as well.

[DDQ]

44. Thank you Question Everyting I'm ashamed

[taught_me_patience]

46. As long as americans vote against their own interest

this is the problem you get. Its the grim but honest truth.

[donheld]

47. "I am ashamed of it."

After watching a piece like that how can one not feel shame.

[JCMach1]

51. I won't even show you a hospital in the 'private' system here in the UAE

you will start throwing things... It may not be 5-star, but it's pretty close (the free meal for the spouse was fantastic... as was the private room). My wife just had emergency surgery over the weekend. They kept her 3 days for a small procedure. Total bill (including emergency visit) was $137. It was that only because the doctor ordered a couple of exotic blood tests.

If those had not been done, the bill would have been a bank-draining $ 0.00.

The doctor: a 35+ years of experience OB/GYN who worked in Orlando before she retired at the lowest age. Now, she is living here on Social Security and working part-time making what she would full-time in the States.


What isn't broken about the American health system!

[Vinca]

53. This was one of the saddest news pieces I've ever seen.

These were the people the pro-insurance people don't want you to see. They were not 20 somethings who opted for a car sound system instead of health insurance, they weren't skid row bums nodding off on booze, they were not welfare queens with a herd of babies. They were, for the most part, the average American. Some referred to them as the "working poor," but you don't have to be poor to be unable to afford the massive insurance premiums, deductibles and co-pays. Sometimes, like a person in my family, you can't buy insurance at any price because of a pre-existing condition. Sometimes you've hit the "magic" age when the insurance companies don't want you and they jack the price up until you can't afford it. It doesn't matter that you've never filed a claim. I know, because if Remote Area Medical Lifeline set up shop near me, I'd be in line. As the lady with the thick glasses said, "You'd think, in the wealthiest country in the world . . . "

[Echo In Light]

55. The collapse of illusory rep democracy: Elites no longer bother maintaining the illusion

[dixiegrrrrl]

86. Amern to that

[catzies]

91. Frank Zappa's observation coming true:

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way, and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theatre."

[jzodda]

58. That story is the story of how I live

Living as a diabetic, not able to afford testing supplies and my medication provided to me by my parents doctors who have to put it in their name or I would not be able to afford the meds. (which involves humiliating begging)

No insurance will take me for anything affordable due to my "pre-exisiting condition". They want more money a month then I make in salary or reject me outright.

So when I got a foot infection 4 weeks ago due to an ingrown toe nail I had to go without treating it hoping it would get better on its own. I was in a state of denial because I knew it would be expensive to treat it without insurance. Finally after it got to the point where I couldn't even put shoes on because of the pain 24/7 I went to the foot doctor and he operated on me for $300 which was $150 off the regular cost he would charge the insurer. Add $50 for the medication and thats what I face each day when I wake up.

No health insurance, no way to get it really and facing a disease that I am not that well equipped to fight.

[fascisthunter]

59. My Mother and FAther, both Immigrants Regret Coming Here

Father enlisted in the military as soon as he became a citizen!!!! Was in the military for 15 years before he had to retire due to his kids. Both mother and father proudly voted Democratic, now they are not so proud.

Wake up Dems... you are losing your base just as the GOP is....

"WWe the People" are not your fools.

[kath]

82. But, but, but this is the greatest country in the world!

:banghead: :banghead:

[Javaman]

63. this is the result of the neo-con job on america and turning back

all that was created by the Dems since the 1930's. Welcome to dystopia.

[Supersedeas]

64. the reality that will rarely be televised by a Media Industry that relies on Insurance Ad $$'s

[lpbk2713]

66. All victims of the BushCo war on the Middle Class.

I saw that article and I really think a lot of these people
still don't have a clue how BushCo screwed them.

[juno jones]

67. Just had a tooth extracted in a public clinic about an hour and a half ago.

There is a several years waiting list for adults to become regular patients. I was fortunate that they could get me in as an emergency fairly expediently (this was the second appointment, the first visit I sat for 6 hours in the waiting room, hoping for a 'no-show'.)

The dentist and her assistant were wonderful. They were literally singing Bob Marley's "Don't Worry about a Thing" to me. Probably the kindest dentists I've ever encountered. Certainly kinder than the grumpy private-practice asshole who gave me the ill-fitting crown in the first place, who charged me everytime I came back to try to get it adjusted so it wouldn't cause pain. I lived with that piece o' shite for three years until the tooth beneath rotted away and it fell out because of the bad fit. Cost me over $1200 and it's gone now.

This story is making me cry...probably the emotions and codiene in combination..but there are many far worse off than me going without care because of poverty and remote location.

I've said it before, I would rather see a fleet of welfare mothers driving pink cadillacs than spend one more penny on war. There is enough here for all of us, and it is unfair that those who do the so-called 'menial' work (I consider no job 'menial')that keeps this economy going and lines the pockets of the wealthy not only go without the acknoledgement of their humanity and dignity, but without basic food, housing and medical care.

It is criminal.

[Bluenorthwest]

68. We need to tell our candidates

that their health care for profit plans suck and kill babies. Because they do. What good is 'Yes we can' if everything we want is 'No we can't'?
They both scoff at removing profit for the Insurance Companies, even as they remove from those companies the very risk that was the reason for those profits in the first place. Hell, if it is not my money, I'll insure everyone, and take a nice cut. We need Humana to push paper? I don't think so.
While the cadidate fanclubs duke it out, I wish they would stop and demand that these candidates take up policy objectives that the people want to see, like not for profit health care. Why kiss the butts of candidates who tell us we can not have what the world has, even while leading chants of Yes We Can in two languages?

If we can not solve this problem we are without worth as a nation, a culture and a people. Time to go back to the Old Country I think.

[raccoon]

72. Last year I went with a medical team to do this sort of thing in Honduras.

One of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

And it is happening HERE. :cry:

[Baby Snooks]

75. Can't blame the Republicans entirely....

There are community organizations, most of them faith-based, that offer access to dental and medical and optical clinics for people who "fall through the cracks" because they don't qualify for Medicaid or even hospital district services and can't afford health care or health insurance. But Hillary Clinton believes forcing people to pay for health insurance will magically make the problem go away. It won't and most likely will just create more cracks for people to fall through.

These organizations rely on contributions from local religious congregations. And from direct contributions. The lack of direct contributions is what is making access even more difficult for many because there is no way to subsidize the care. Which has to be subsidized even when the actual care is provided at literally minimum wage levels to many doctors. And it is not a rural problem. It is an urban problem as well. And a growing one.

Many are voting for Hillary Clinton believing her health care plan will solve it all. And when it doesn't, they will play the Republican game and just as the Republicans blame the Democrats, the Democrats will blame the Republicans. Instead of looking around their own community and asking how they might actually help someone in need.

What has happening to our country? Good question. One for Democrats to answer just as much as Republicans. Quite a few Democrats are living very nice lives. And deciding it is easier to blame the Republicans than write a check and forego something they really don't need.

[TomClash]

76. It's part of the class war

. . . being waged relentlessly and incessantly by the wealthy and their allies. And working class people of all colors get the worst of it.

This is why Dems have to have a fifty state strategy.

It's ALWAYS about money. ALWAYS.

[Baby Snooks]

77. Don't forget which class Madame Speaker represents...

Nancy Pelosi made a slip of the tongue when she commented about how if the Pink Ladies were homeless people in San Francisco she could just call the police and have them arrested. There is a class war. And it is just as much a war declared by wealthy Democrats as well as wealthy Republicans against the poor. They are neither, really, just Republicrats. Representing their own interests, really, rather than the interests of the American people.

Were things really that much better for the poor under Bill Clinton? Not really.

[juno jones]

81. Right

"Were things really that much better for the poor under Bill Clinton? Not really"

no, they weren't.

[bjobotts]

89. The money party has two faces. Things were much better for poor

people during the Clinton Administration than 'now' but they began moving in the wrong direction during that period of time. They have never been where they should be. Half of our Defense spending would heal the situation and rebuild our infrastructure. It's a matter of priorities. It's a matter of regulating the greed of the military industrial-media complex. It starts by stopping the privatization of government, getting the profiteers out of our health care and our military and our election process. No more corporate lobbyists.

[japple]

78. I work at a "Christian" hospital. There are always groups

of employees going to foreign countries on medical missions, but they don't see the need in their own community. I have heard one of the most pious of the lot complain about "those patients who are over in OB who don't have insurance and have never gotten prenatal care."

This story makes me sad and ashamed.

[foxeyes2]

79. It's not just Tennessee

For the people who are blaming the voters in Tennesee for this problem let me tell you it's not just in Tennessee nor in Georgia nor in North Carolina. There are millions of uninsured and under insured people all across the country. I am sure they are in every State of the Union, many of them are your neighbors and some are members here at DU. The problem is far greater than some Tennesseans not wanting to have an income tax to expand TennCare but it is a problem of greed by the Insurance Companies and the Pharmecutical companies. It is the fault of politicians who do not have a backbone to confront the companies on behalf of the poor and middle class. This problem is caused by a lack of compassion among those in power and those who have access to those with the power. Some of the blame lies on those of us who have remained silent not just in word but also in deed. Until we as a nation look beyond our own needs to the needs of our fellow citizens and speak and act and keep on speaking often and keep on acting and often then nothing will change. To paraphrase Holly Near we must become a gentle angry people, we must have righteous indignation and apply pressure to our politicians of all parties and apply pressure to CEOS and Boards of Directors and the Media and everyone and anyone else who can help affect change. It is not enough to simply type a few words here on this board but we must do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. If not then the lines at these clinics will only grow longer, the need will only grow larger and numbers of untreated will grow unfathomable.

[L0oniX]

84. We pay all this federal tax and what do we get for it? A fucking war and no health care. n/t

WARNING: The revolution will not be televised!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTCQSk2l8bc

[bjobotts]

87. Most states do not allow for dental care to the poor and disabled.

We in our community in Springfield MO could not raise enough money for a dental/surgical tray for a new volunteer dental clinic where teeth could be pulled...and that's the only treatment. The clinic applied for federal and state aid for funds to buy this tray and were denied. Billions in Iraq but a $1500 dental surgical tray(reuseable)...forget about it.

Statistics are wrong on who has medical care, because most don't have enough and few poor could afford to have dental.

America...healthcare for the wealthy only and that's how they got wealthy, making everyone else pay them for care till they were broke.

REAGAN IS DEAD! His policies may live on but we are in the process of doing something about that as well. No more profiteering or outsourcing.

Remember...90% of Chinese billionaires are all Party Official's families.
That's what Bush and McBush economic policies have been headed towards with permanent tax breaks for the wealthy. Currently 20% of all wealth in America is in the hands of 1% of the people. These economic disasters must end before 20% of the people control all the wealth.

[Broadslidin]

88. Looking for an office job? The "Collection Agency" biz is the place to be these days......

Frequently,
flipping the diseased deadbeat's 'Permanent Record'
from one corporate collection computer to another....

Churning those hospital accounts,
giving each debtor your best aggressive shot..

Skimming off as much as 60% in fees from the gross collection
can really be a Heart Stopping financial reward...!

Tis the "American :patriot: Way" of doin the bizz.

[OwnedByFerrets]

92. K and R