Health and Sanity category archive
The Art of the Con 0
TPM explores the propaganda Republicans are using to promote their “they laughingly call it health care” bill. Here’s one; follow the link for the rest (emphasis in the original).
However, the CBO last week made clear — backing up what multiple other analyses have said — that Obamacare is not in or heading towards a death spiral.
“In CBO and JCT’s assessment, however, the nongroup market would probably be stable in most areas under either current law or the legislation,” the CBO said.
Ryan’s Derp, Return of Beyond the Palin Dept. 0
David Ruth explains that fantastical things sometimes come to pass.
This is probably the inevitable result when laws are cooked up by a speaker of the House of Representatives who has treated the post as if he is president of the Ayn Rand Society.
More at the link.
“Pre-Planning”* 0
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*One more time: Is there any other kind of planning?
It’s All about the Benjamins 0
Catherine Rampell looks at the backstory of the Republican “they laughingly call it health care” bill. A snippet:
(snip)
The presence of expensive tax cuts in a bill purportedly about health-care reform is not a side effect; it’s the entire point. They make it easier for Republicans’ (much bigger) individual and corporate tax cuts to sail through the Senate with minimal Democratic obstruction in a few months’ time.
“Suffer, Baby” 0
A writer to editor of The Roanoke Times recalls the suffering of a nephew stricken with cystic fibrosis at the age of six weeks and marvels at Republican efforts to gut health care coverage.
A snippet:
The Medicine Show 0
Reka Basu recounts a recent experience with U. S. medical care. She has been dealing with a dermatalogical problem that has cost her hundreds of dollars and many hours with the U. S. Medical-Industrial Complex. Then she was introduced to a cure in an unexpected way:
Actually, a beautician giving me a facial in an Indian beauty parlor had come up with it during my recent annual visit to India. Seeing my elbows, the woman dispatched a pedicurist to the drugstore next door to get me an over-the-counter ointment she said would bring signs of improvement in a week. And it did.
I bring this up not because my skin problems are of much consequence. On the contrary. If a beauty parlor employee can recognize symptoms and suggest a treatment that works after two doctors, a biopsy and several medications couldn’t, it suggests a larger problem with our profit-obsessed medical care system and pharmaceutical industry.
Follow the link for her theory as to why that particular over-the-counter salve is not available in the United States.
Note:
If you are using an adblocker, the Des Moines Register may ask you to turn it off. I don’t use an adblocker, but I do use NoScript in conjunction with a hosts file, so I needed to tell NoScript to “allow all” scripts on the page. I’m am quite willing to let legitimate newspaper websites think that I’m reading their ads. Newspapers need all the help they can get.
Designed to Fail? 0
Noz has a theory that the proposed Republican “they laughingly call it a health care” bill is designed to fail.
I’m not sure I buy it.
Applying Occam’s Razor, I suspect that this is the more likely backstory.
Pre-Planning* 0
Reminder: It’s all about the Benjamins.
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*As if there were any other kind of planning.
Ryan’s Derp, Surprise Surprise Dept. 0
Update:
Late yesterday, after I wrote this (yes, I do write stuff in advance), the Republicans opened the box. It’s every bit as horrible as imagined.
Click to see the image at its original location.
In related news, Catherine Rampell has reveals a secret:
Here’s the dirty little secret: Obamacare already gives Americans this freedom.
Follow the link for more.
